An El Salvador man remained in federal custody Monday after he allegedly kidnapped his 22-month-old son from Houston and then tried to smuggle three Central American immigrants into the United States last week. Mexican authorities said they arrested Fredy Antonio Fuentes Gutierrez, 29, Thursday after they received information that he was staying in the area. Fuentes allegedly kidnapped his son from his mother Brenda Alvarez in Houston and took him to Mexico last week.Alvarez could not be reached for comment Monday. Houston area law enforcement officials could not confirm the kidnapping report at press time. Fuentes remained in custody Monday at a federal prison west of Matamoros on charges of illegally entering Mexico. Officials with the Mexican federal attorney general's office said the El Salvador native could also face human smuggling charges for allegedly taking between $2,000 and $3,000 to smuggle three Central American immigrants into the United States. One of the immigrants identified Fuentes as a member of Mara Salvatruchas, a Central American gang accused of operating large smuggling rings with alleged connections to al-Qaida. Law enforcement officials said Monday they now believe that Fuentes might belong to a different gang. "He belonged to another gang," said Mario Rubiano Ruiz with the federal attorney general's office. "We didn't find any of the identifying tattoos for members of Mara Salvatruchas that we usually see such as the letters 'M-S' or the number '13.'"
Although Rubiano did not identify the suspected gang connection, he said they were just as dangerous as Mara Salvatruchas. U.S. Consul John Naland said a woman contacted the consulate early last week and told them that Fuentes had kidnapped their child and taken him to Mexico. The woman gave consulate officials the father and child's names as well as the hotel where they had been staying. Naland said the consulate passed the information to Mexican authorities. Cmdr. Omar AlanÃÂs with Tamaulipas State Police said his men found Fuentes and the three immigrants Thursday afternoon driving in a black Toyota Land Cruiser on the highway to Playa Bagdad near the intersection of Avenidas Teotihuacän and Lauro Villar. They were handed over to federal immigration authorities and are expected to return to their countries of origin. AlanÃÂs said his men arrested Fuentes and notified the American Consulate in Matamoros and met the child's mother at one of the international bridges. "Mexican police and immigration officials were very good in getting the child back to his mother," Naland said.