Phoenix: Ground Zero For The Nation's Kidnappers

Phoenix, Ariz. is the nation's fifth largest city -- a fast-growing metropolis that's become Ground Zero for a unique problem that has law enforcement coming face to face with a new form of an age-old crime.

In the Valley of the Sun, the new trend in kidnapping for ransom is criminals targeting other criminals.

Authorities tell AMW that the players are hardcore drug dealers, smugglers, and leaders of coyote organizations who are being snatched and extorted for money by their underworld rivals.

Because of Arizona's prime location on the U.S.-Mexico border, police say that most kidnap victims and suspects have ties back to Mexico's seedy underworld.

While overall crime in Phoenix may be down, cops say these kinds of kidnappings happen at a rate of one a day -- and that's just the ones that go reported.

Due to the nature of the unsavory characters involved, police figure that the actual number could be double that. It's this epidemic of abductions that has made Phoenix the nation's unofficial kidnapping capital.

To counter the growing tide of abductions and subsequent violence, the Phoenix Police Department formed a special unit of detectives focused on kidnappings and home invasions.  As a result, they've become the country's experts in the field.

Federal agencies like the FBI, ATF and ICE have joined the effort, forming a task force called "HIKE".

When AMW touched down in Phoenix to ride along with Phoenix police and HIKE while they attempt to recover an abducted associate of a drug trafficker, it became apparent that the streets of Phoenix have become a battleground for this new struggle for money and power.

That night in April 2009, the focus was on one thing -- to safely locate and rescue the kidnapping victim who had been taken from his family's home in broad daylight by a group of men in ski masks. 

To lure the suspects in, cops set up a money drop which paid off. They arrested two men who tried to grab the ransom money, but other suspects got away, resulting in a high-speed chase involving a dozen unmarked SWAT cars and police cruisers.

One suspect ditched his truck and tried to take cover in a nearby neighborhood. Cops dragged him out from underneath a house and put him in handcuffs. Another high-speed chase across town led to a major freeway shut down and another arrest. While that was good news, cops still didn't have their victim located.

For several hours, police believed that the kidnappers were planning to kill their victim now that the ransom had fallen apart, and a number of arrests had been made.

But it was not to be.

In fact, the abductors had released him and told him to run, and not to look back. He ended up walking home and eventually came clean, thanking the police for all their efforts.

While this abduction plot had been foiled, authorities in Arizona still need help bringing two more to justice.

Genaro Garcia-Jimenez, 26, is one suspected leader of a kidnapping ring that cops would love to get behind bars.

He stands 5'8" tall and weighs 165 lbs. He has been known to travel between Phoenix and northern Mexico, but with all the recent border violence, cops believe he's still in the Phoenix area.

Another ringleader was caught on surveillance cameras as he dropped off two henchman for a money drop.  While the two suspects were arrested, the ringleader, known only as Chuey, remains at large.

The only clue cops have is an enhanced image of his face that was picked up from his car window -- a car that was discovered days later in the middle of the desert.

Cops have no idea who he really is, but hope that AMW viewers can help.