Burning Atlanta

I've posted a number of stories about kidnappings in Phoenix and mentioned that crime in Mexico is spilling over into this country. Recently, I posted two stories about kidnappings in the Atlanta area. Same kind of crap. Illegals and money are way too often behind it. Whether it's drug money or human smuggling money, doesn't matter.

I have to talk out of my behind for a moment because I don't have the verifiable facts to make this claim but I feel very safe about it. It's my understanding that kidnappings for ransom nearly vanished in this country but, now, there's an epidemic.

Get 'em, Phoenix.

Phoenix is in the middle of a kidnapping epidemic, police said.

Last year the Phoenix police department handed 359 extortion-related kidnapping cases, Sgt. Phil Roberts said. The ransom demands in these cases can range from $50,000 to $1 million, he said.

Officers said even though this epidemic affects mostly drug and human smugglers, each kidnapping call that comes into the department becomes a rescue mission.

"It doesn't matter to us whether he's a drug dealer, he's a coyote, or whether he's legal or illegal," Roberts told 5 Investigates. "We look at it in the robbery unit as it's a human life. It's a human being out there that's being tortured and we're going to do everything we can to rescue that person."

The Phoenix police department is now considered one of the best local police departments in the country when it comes to kidnappings and hostage situations, officials said.