Law enforcement arrested a Kansas City man on July 1 for a plan he is accused of arranging to kidnap and torture a man over a large drug debt in recent months.
The man was unaware the plot he was organizing was with undercover law enforcement and informants who were pursuing a monthslong investigation into him, according to court documents.
Federal prosecutors in Kansas charged Carlos Niebla-Machado, 50, of Kansas City, with a count of attempted kidnapping in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Kan. on July 1, the same day he was arrested in Alma, Kansas, according to court documents.
Niebla-Machado is being held at the Leavenworth Federal Correctional Institution, according to U.S. Bureau of Prisons records.
Chekasha Ramsey, Niebla-Machado’s attorney, declined to comment for this story Thursday.
Federal and Kansas law enforcement began investigating Niebla-Machado in February based on information from an informant who reported the man claimed to have contacts to bring in large amounts of fentanyl pills and methamphetamines from California to the Kansas City metro, authorities allege.
The informant also reported that Niebla-Machado had said he wanted to have a man kidnapped because of a $300,000 drug debt the man owed.
An undercover Kansas Bureau of Investigation agent and the informant met with Niebla-Machado in March, and he allegedly confirmed he wanted a man kidnapped if he did not pay the debt he owed and spoke of forcing the man to sign over real estate and vehicles toward the debt.
In a May meeting with two law enforcement informants, Niebla-Machado reportedly said he was ready to move forward with the kidnapping plot. He further said he wanted the man tortured and then taken to Mexico, where he and his associates would turn the man over to a cartel, so they could force him to sign over property, a KBI agent wrote in court documents.
In a June meeting with two undercover agents, Niebla-Machado provided the man’s full name, age, address in Kansas City, photos of him and his vehicle and some background information on the man. Niebla-Machado said the man owed $300,000 and said he wanted him “tortured by cutting his fingers off and using a torch on (his) face to persuade (him) to sign over property as payment toward the owed drug debt.”
During the same meeting, Niebla-Machado also identified another man, a California resident, who owed $210,000 to “someone else,” and said he wanted that man killed, according to court documents. One of the agents asked if the money was owed to a cartel, and Niebla-Machado would not confirm the debts owed by the two men were actually owed to a cartel, a KBI agent wrote.
In a later encounter, Niebla-Machado said the California man owed money to people in Las Vegas and agreed that the man would be killed and his body dumped in the desert outside the Nevada city.
One of the agents told Niebla-Machado it would cost $15,000 for the kidnapping and another $10,000 for the killing. Niebla-Machado agreed to use a pistol and a truck, which law enforcement later confirmed had belonged to the planned kidnapping victim, as a down payment for the kidnapping and torture. The remainder of the cost, which wasn’t determined, would be collected later.
In another June meeting, three undercover agents, one of the informants and Niebla-Machado met in Topeka and traveled to a rural property in Wabaunsee County, Kansas, where the torture would occur. The group walked around the property, and Niebla-Machado confirmed the rural area would work.
KBI agents, Kansas City police and Homeland Security agents met the target of the kidnapping plot at his home in Kansas City on June 30 and told him of the investigation, according to court documents.
He agreed to cooperate with law enforcement and told them he had been working with Niebla-Machado to move a few hundred pounds of marijuana. The victim said there was an issue with the people he used to distribute the drugs and reported they never came through with the money to give back to Niebla-Machado, which created the debt he owed.
The man said he had given Niebla-Machado home furniture, electronics, about $20,000 in cash, a pickup truck and a tow truck to help pay off the debt. He estimated he owed around $100,000 but said the other man kept adding interest because he wasn’t paying fast enough.
Niebla-Machado made an initial appearance in court on July 3, and his next hearing was set for July 17.
Amanda Smith is a dedicated U.S. correspondent with a passion for uncovering the stories that shape the nation. With a background in political science, she provides in-depth analysis and insightful commentary on domestic affairs, ensuring readers are well-informed about the latest developments across the United States.
