| Minor Character: Miami | |
| Name | Wesley Habeck Javier Lopez Steve Raymer |
| Gender | All male |
| City | Miami |
| Occupation | Hunting store owner (Habeck) Executive firm consultant (Raymer) Smuggler and enslaver (Lopez) |
| Pathology | Criminal Organizations Serial Killers Serial Kidnappers and Captors Serial Rapists and Pedophiles (possibly) |
| Modus Operandi | Abduction Slavery Illegal Hunting |
| No. of Victims | 9+ killed 14+abducted 2+enslaved 14+presumably tortured and/or sexually victmized |
| Status | All incarcerated |
| Portrayed By | Chelcie Ross (Habeck) Oscar Torre (Lopez) Neil Hopkins (Raymer) |
| First Appearance | Hunting Ground |
The Everglades Immigrant Hunters (so named in this wiki) are a group of human traffickers, captors, and serial immigrant hunters and murderers appearing in Hunting Ground in CSI:Miami.
History[]
Little is known about the smuggling and hunting ring, other than for an unknown amount of time, they smuggled people from poor and dangerous countries in only to enslave the women and children and force the men to run through the Everglades and be murdered by paying hinting clients. The ring came to light and the crosshairs of the CSIs when finding two of the latest immigrants, Enrique, a Cuban whose wife Maria and daughter Liliana were also kidnapped, and Jean Guiton, a Haitian smuggled in with his brother Henri. Enrique is shot with a compact bow and specially designed arrow by paying hunter Steve Raymer from a perch in a tree, leaving the perch and a bow behind. Fearing for his family, Enrique, while pinned to a tree trunk gives his locket to Guiton to give to his family. When Horatio Caine finds Guiton near a dead Enrique, Guiton screams in French for Caine to kill him, which confuses Caine, despite Guiton still being taken into custody. The team notices the two men have ankle wounds suggesting they were shackled to each other, as well as Enrique with a "9" brand on his arm and Guiton branded with "10". Walter Simmons speaks to him in French, but despite giving his name, he avoids much of their questions out of fear from the ring as well as being deported back to Haiti. Caine then comes in, knowing he can speak English, and insisting the crimes are a serious matter, pleads for information from him, knowing he's a victim too. Guiton finally tells them about the smugglers lying to them, promising better lives, but only imprisoning them when they entered the country, the men being separated merely to be hunted and murdered. Enrique was speaking to Guiton just before his death, hoping he'd give his locket to his family, knowing he was most likely going to die and hoping they'd remember him fonder than his murder. Guiton then reveals his brother Henri is still a hostage, fearing for his life and thus tried to not reveal the ring as much as he could. Caine promises to save all the captors, and Ryan Wolfe and Natalia Boa Vista go back and find the compound bow, with Calleigh Duquesne testing it and proving it as the murder weapon. They all soon find out not only is the bow a pro weapon, but the arrows are uniquely designed in two locations, North Carolina and a Miami shop owned by Wesley Habeck. Habeck is interviewed and he gives them Raymer's name, as he paid for the gear under his credit card. Raymer's brought in and interrogated, but he denies the shop, murdering Enrique, and even the credit card purchase, as he says his card stolen. They then go by the criteria of which immigrants were smuggled in based on past records, and Javier Lopez is revealed to be the captor. The police raid the house, arrest and shoot all of Lopez' men, and rescue the immigrants, including Maria and Liliana, all but Henri Guiton and another immigrant planned for the next hunt. Enrique's family are devastated to hear he's dead but are brought into protective custody with Jean. Lopez is threated with torture by burning with a hot grill fork by Caine and Eric Delko to give the name of the immigrant purchaser: it's Wesley Habeck. Habeck's out of the shop, but the van with the victims' shackles is found in the back, leading the CSIs to plant a tracker to catch Habeck in the act. Gathering more evidence from the bow, including DNA from a leech and Boa Vista injuring her arm testing out the bow. Bot the DNA and the wound finally trace the bow to Raymer, proving he shot Enrique. He tries cutting a deal by attempting to confirm Habeck is a major player in the hunting ring, but they already know about Habecks involvement and horatio tells he’s getting the death penalty for murder 1 as Enrique was unarmed when he was murdered by Steve and also the tracker reveals something else: Henri and another man are being released to be hunted next. Boa Vista and Frank Tripp follow the hunters, and after a lengthy chase, both hunters are taken down, and Henri and the other immigrant are rescued. Caine personally targets Habeck and threatens him with a shotgun to try and make him run. When Habeck does, he trips and falls, crying as Caine aims the gun and counts down closer to one. He then steps away from Habeck and the police arrest him immediately. The entire ring is loaded onto a prison bus and incarcerated, Jean is reunited joyously with Henri, and Maria and Liliana have Enrique's locket returned to them by Jean.
Known Members[]
- Wesley Habeck (branded the immigrants, shackled them, and forced them to run; took payments from hunting clients and provided weapons)
- Javier Lopez (smuggler and captor of the immigrants)
- Steve Raymer (paying hunter; murdered Enrique)
- Two unnamed hunters (both incarcerated)
- Multiple unnamed smugglers and hunters (all incarcerated)
Modus Operandi[]
The hunters targeted immigrants from struggling or dangerous countries, including Cuba and Haiti, lying about "better lives" in America. How they were smuggled in isn't certain, but once they arrived, Javier Lopez and his gang would hold them captive in old homes, the men separated from the women and children. it's heavily implied the women and children were forced into slave work and sexual exploitation, likely being tortured, molested, and raped, even killed when rebelling too much. The men were particularly chosen, shackled to each other's ankles and branded on their arms with a number denoting where they are as the next victim, to be driven out to the Everglades and forced to run by Wesley Habeck for their lives, while paying clients hunted down the running men for sport, implied to often be with guns, knives, and even compound bows and arrows, specifically designed for the murders. The men would eventually be killed if they didn't escape, the latter being far less likely. The traffickers would regularly repeat this with more and more waves of falsely imprisoned immigrants.
Known Victims[]
- Presumably kidnapped, enslaved, tortured, raped, and/or killed more immigrants before the events of Hunting Ground
- Eight unnamed immigrants (kidnapped, branded, shackled, and most likely murdered with hunting weapons by Wesley Habeck, Javier Lopez, and numerous hunters)
- Maria and Liliana (Cuban immigrants; surnames unknown; kidnapped and enslaved by Javier Lopez; both were rescued)
- Enrique (a Cuban immigrant and Maria's husband and Liliana's father; surname unknown; kidnapped, branded with "9", and shackled by Wesley Habeck and Javier Lopez; shot with a compact bow and specialized arrow, pinning him to a tree, by Steve Raymer)
- Jean Guiton (a Haitian immigrant; kidnapped, branded with "10", and shackled by Wesley Habeck and Javier Lopez; nearly murdered by Steve Raymer, but was rescued)
- Henri Guiton (a Haitian immigrant and Jean's brother; kidnapped, branded with "11", and shackled by Wesley Habeck and Javier Lopez; nearly murdered by two unnamed hunters, but was rescued)
- Unnamed immigrant (kidnapped, branded with "12", and shackled by Wesley Habeck and Javier Lopez; nearly murdered by two unnamed hunters, but was rescued)