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Smuggled Honduran Boy Rescued From Phoenix Apartment
PHOENIX — A man and a woman in Phoenix have been arrested on kidnapping charges for allegedly holding a boy from Honduras hostage.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a Florida woman reported Friday that her son was being held somewhere in Phoenix.
The 13-year-old had been smuggled from Honduras to the United States. The woman said smugglers were allegedly demanding more money for his release.
ICE agents traced the boy to a Phoenix apartment within ten hours, said a spokeswoman for the agency. The apartment was located in the I-17 corridor north of Bethany Home Road.
An American woman and a Mexican man were arrested at the apartment. ICE spokeswoman Amber Cargile said cases like this should make parents think twice about bringing their kids into the U.S. illegally.
“These human smuggling organizations are ruthless criminal networks,” Cargile said. “They view people, including children, as nothing more than a business commodity.”
The boy is reportedly unharmed and has been turned over to the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Refugee Resettlement.
So far, more than 66,000 child migrants have arrived at the Southwest border since October.