The Region - News from May 26, 1987

Sheriff’s deputies said they broke up an alien-smuggling ring that was holding 22 illegal immigrants for ransom. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said it learned of the scheme when a man called to say smugglers who had brought his wife and 18-month-old daughter into this country for a fee were refusing to release them unless he paid another $600 in ransom. Detectives said they watched as the man paid the ransom and the woman and child were freed at a doughnut shop in the City of Industry. Officers said they followed the suspects to a nearby home, where they found 20 aliens and arrested eight suspects--four of them juveniles--on suspicion of kidnaping. The aliens, who said they had been threatened with harm if they attempted to escape from the smugglers, were turned over to the Immigration and Naturalization Service.