Tijuana cops decline bribe from human trafficker

One hundred pesos doesn’t cut it anymore if you want to beat the rap in Tijuana. And 1000 dollars won’t do the job either, as a coyote (human-smuggler) learned this week.

The suspect, Leonel Rivera Ayala, was arrested by Tijuana cops around the intersection of Calle Primera and Calle F. Martinez in the Zona Centro and charged with the crimes of “privación ilegal de la libertad” ( false imprisonment) and “intento de soborno” (in essence, bribing an official in order to avoid procecution).

Officers of the municipal police canine unit had received a complaint regarding the kidnapping for ransom of a man and a woman. The caller had indicated to police that the missing persons had been looking for a coyote to get them into the U.S. two weeks prior.

It was Rivera who allegedly managed to convince the pair that he knew someone who could get them across the border “sin ningún riesgo” (with no risk).

The 51-year-old Rivera then drove the pair to an isolated area, where they were met by a quartet of armed masked men in a truck, who kidnapped the couple. They were subsequently forced to call their relatives and have them make a 3000-dollar deposit to a bank account for their return.

After 21 hours of captivity, the payment was made and the couple was released from the rustic hide-away miles from civilization. In making their way back to the highway, the pair met up with a federal police patrol and told them of the incident.

A couple of weeks later, one of Rivera’s victims reportedly spotted him in the Zona Centro. Upon his arrest, Rivera allegedly offered cops 100 pesos (about ten dollars) to let him go. When the cops snorted derisively at the offer, Rivera said that he would give them 1000 dollars, if only the police would accompany him to his house. Police took him to jail.

Source: El Mexicano