Two being held for kidnapping, extortion

PORTALES – Two Portales men are being held in the Roosevelt County Detention Center on charges that include kidnapping and extortion.

Pedro Marquez, 30, and Erik Pina-Martinez, 26, are accused of holding two men for ransom on the afternoon of Jan. 30. In at least one instance, “firearms were used to hold at least one victim against their will,” according to a criminal complaint.

The complaint shows a suspect said in a phone call “just give me the money and I won’t harm them.”

The incident was “motivated at least in part by a monetary debt owed by one victim to Pedro Marquez, who was attempting to collect on the debt,” the complaint alleges.

Both Marquez and Pina-Martinez were arrested and on Friday were being held at RCDC without bond, jail records show.