UPDATE: Sheriff says Smith County kidnapping ‘directly related’ to cartel
UPDATE: Smith County Sheriff Larry Smith revealed to KETK that he believes the kidnapping is related to cartel activities.
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“The kidnapping we had this last week is directly related to the cartel, no doubt about it, 100% directly related to the cartel. They try to extort money out of a citizen here in Tyler, Smith County who probably was involved with the cartel. He just better thank his Lord that we have the detectives we’ve got here, that we’re able to catch him and work with other agencies to free him when he got to Fort Worth,” Smith said.
SMITH COUNTY, Texas (KETK) — Two men have been charged in connection to a weekend kidnapping.
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According to an arrest affidavit, on March 17 at around 4:06 p.m., the Smith County Sheriff’s Office 911 emergency dispatch received a call from a woman claiming two men in a red Honda passenger car had put a gun to her husband’s head and forced him to get in their car before driving away with him.
The woman told police two of her husband’s sons followed the Honda car and pulled over at a donut shop on Highway 271. Officials said both sons were told to leave and were shown guns as a threat. During this time, the sons were reportedly told the kidnappers wanted $10,000 ransom to get their father back.
The suspects also allegedly called the victim’s wife demanding money for his return. Investigators were then able to ping the phone number and it reportedly appeared to be heading westbound towards the Dallas area.
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The victim’s wife told investigators that she received a phone call from the suspects where she told them she did not have the $10,000. The suspects then reportedly demanded $5,000 and then whatever she could collect.
At this time, the phone reportedly began to ping near the Fort Worth/Arlington area and the Fort Worth Police Department was contacted and made aware of the situation.
Fort Worth PD were able to locate the red Honda near the location of the last ping and made contact with the occupants. The victim was reportedly found in the back seat of the car and the suspects were detained and found to be in possession of two guns.
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Police identified the suspects as Julio Cesar Cordova, the driver, and Walybert Eron Cordova Rascon, a passenger.
During a search of the vehicle, officials said they found two guns, narcotics, drug paraphernalia and what appeared to be a tracking device.
Julio and Walybert were charged with aggravated kidnapping for ransom or reward and a $750,000 bond.
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