The Left is fond of applying inflammatory descriptors to actions and events to generate emotional responses in the public. That’s how riots become “insurrections.” It’s also how lawful arrests become “kidnappings.” It’s not so surprising, therefore, that criminals should attempt to monetize that practice for their own purposes.
A case in point is what happened recently in — where else? — California. There, the family and lawyers of a 41-year-old illegal alien named Yuriana Julia Pelaez Calderon of Los Angeles claimed that she had been “kidnapped” on June 25 by “masked men in unmarked cars.” She was then allegedly taken to the Mexican border and forced by an “ICE staffer” to sign self-deportation papers. Her daughter set up a GoFundMe account to garner donations to assist in her return and filed a missing persons report with the police, who notified the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
The whole story was a scam. Ms. Calderon was not in federal custody and had not been seized by federal agents. She was in hiding, hoping to make a buck off her alleged “disappearance.” On July 5, she was found in a Bakersfield parking lot and arrested for real for conspiracy and making falso statements.
HSI agent Eddy Wang made the following announcement about the scam:
My office invested valuable time and resources working this alleged kidnapping investigation only to discover that it was a hoax. Diverting critical law enforcement resources is not only reckless and irresponsible, but it also endangers the community. The real cost of a fraud like this is the amount of fentanyl not seized, child predators not removed from the communities and human trafficking victims not rescued because law enforcement redirected resources to recover the defendant.
We want to assure the public that allegations of criminal activity will be thoroughly investigated by HSI and our law enforcement partners and that those who engage in fraud and deception will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
For more, see Fox News.