Kidnapped Salvadoran kids freed in Guatemala
Two women were arrested in the police raid of the house.
GUATEMALA CITY (AFP) - Police in Guatemala have freed four young Salvadoran children who were abducted and held for ransom as they tried to cross through the country in a bid to enter the United States, officials said Tuesday.
"Four Salvadoran children were found in captivity in a house, for whom $100,000 to $150,000 was being demanded from their relatives in the United States so they wouldn t be physically eliminated," national police chief Nery Ramos told reporters.
Two women were arrested in the police raid of the house, which was carried out after information from officials in El Salvador.
Authorities said the four children, aged 4, 9, 10 and 13, were healthy and unharmed. It was not known if the children had been traveling with adults or alone.
The United States has seen a fresh spike in the number of Central American children and families trying to cross its border.
Many are fleeing street violence waged by vicious gangs in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.
The United States this month launched an operation to raid homes on its territory to round up Central American immigrants who have deportation orders against them and send them back to their countries.
