Ruthless Kidnapping Rings Reach From Desert Sands to U.S. Cities

CAMPBELL, Calif.—Ande Zerasion's voice chokes up reliving the sound of his daughter pleading for help: "Baba, I am in Sinai. Please call me."
It was early October, recalls Mr. Zerasion, a 35-year-old refugee from the tiny African country of Eritrea who emigrated here five years ago but had been forced to leave his family behind. Escaping the country with her uncle, his 14-year-old daughter, Samhar, had tried to follow a similar path to freedom. But the two had vanished in August and kidnappers had contacted Mr. Zerasion's brother in Tel Aviv, demanding $80,000 for their lives.
It was the kind ...

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