Third Guilty Plea to|Kidnapping Conspiracy

SAN DIEGO (CN) - A third man on Tuesday admitted conspiring to kidnap people who owed money for drugs.

Antonio Zermeno Garcia, 40, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit kidnapping, which is punishable by up to life in prison, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

His co-conspirators pleaded guilty in April. They are Luis Miguel Salas Rodriguez, 31, and Carlos Alberto Andrade-De La Cruz, 36.

All three admitted that in March they planned to kidnap three people who owed them money for drugs. They admitted they planned to kidnap them in San Diego and take them to Tijuana.

"Defendant Andrade-De La Cruz further admitted that he was an organizer and leader of this kidnapping conspiracy and that he illegally crossed into the United States on March 14, 2012 in order to locate the first victim with the assistance of defendants Salas Rodriguez and Zermeno Garcia," the U.S. attorney said in the statement.

Salas Rodriguez and Andrade-De La Cruz are to be sentenced on July 19, Zermeno Garcia on Aug. 12.

No hometowns were given.

Cross-border violence from drug trafficking has become increasingly common. At least 70,000 people have died in the past six years as Mexico's army, Judicial Police and state police fight with drug cartels for control of the drug traffic to the United States.

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