БРАТЬ/ВЗЯТЬ ЗА ЖАБРЫ кого highly collVPsubj: human to pressure s.o. into acting or force s.o. to act as one demands
X взял Y-a за жабры = X put the screws (the squeeze) on Y
X put (turned) the heat on YX took (grabbed, got) Y by the throatX strong-armed Y.
Полный комплект (номеров) по идее должен был быть у секретаря Лодера, агента Органов... Но когда его взяли за жабры, выяснилось, что он загнал его на черном рынке за валюту атташе одного посольства (Зиновьев 1). In theory Id leaders secretary, a secret police agent.. .should have had a full set (of copies)....But when the screws were put on him, it turned out that he had sold them on the black market to an attache from a foreign embassy in exchange for foreign currency (1a).