5 Arrested in Kidnaping of Man for Smuggling Fee

Five people were arrested after they allegedly kidnaped a man they helped cross the Mexican border and held a gun on his friends to collect their smuggling fee, police said Tuesday.

Alejandro Legorreta, 18, was kidnaped Monday morning by the same people who helped him, his 18-year-old wife and 18-month-old child get to Azusa from Mexico, Sgt. Mike Gurbada said. He was held most of the day in a Compton house, Gurbada said, but later that day, five people drove him to Azusa to attempt to collect the $1,200 crossing fee.

The ring allegedly obtained papers for Legorreta’s family to walk into the United States from Tijuana and drove his family north from San Ysidro. Three of the people held him in a car in an Azusa convenience store parking lot while another used a gun to threaten his cousin and seven friends in a nearby apartment. The fifth person stood watch outside the building.