By IANS/EFE,
Mexico City : Mexican marines have rescued 17 people being held hostage in two houses in Matamoros town, near the border with Texas, the navy said.
Marines launched an operation in one house and found 11 people, who were “being held against their will” and whose relatives, “the majority of them with residences in the US, were being subjected to extortion… via telephone calls,” the navy said in a statement Wednesday.
The first operation led to a search of a second house, where six other hostages were found.
The hostages’ relatives have deposited different amounts of money to guarantee the hostages’ well-being and their later release, according to the navy initial investigation.
A guard at one of the houses has been detained after five kg marijuana and a rifle were found in his possession.