The FBI said on Saturday that a lady from Northern California who was abducted in Mexico last year while walking her dog has been located safe and is returning to the United States.
What Happened?
Friday saw the release of 40-year-old Monica De Leon Barba, according to a news release from the FBI. Federal officials said that she had been held hostage ever since she was taken on November 29, 2017, while returning home with her dog after work in Tepatitlán, Jalisco in western Mexico.
De Leon Barba, who is from San Mateo, California, is currently travelling home, according to the FBI. Although no one has been taken into custody, the FBI is collaborating with Mexican authorities to identify potential culprits. No other information was given, and the reason for her kidnapping remained a mystery.
According to Robert Tripp, special agent in charge of the FBI’s San Francisco Field Office, “Our relief and joy at the safe return of Monica is profound.” We can now proceed with this case knowing that an innocent victim has been reunited with her family, even if the FBI investigation is far from done.
According to statistics from Global Guardian, a security risk intelligence company, Mexico has one of the highest abduction rates in the world, in part because of the organisation and opportunism of Mexican criminal enterprises.
Journalist Was Found Dead
Source: ABC News
Three current and former Mexican journalists were kidnapped earlier this month in the western Mexican state of Nayarit. The first journalist was later discovered dead, the second was later freed, while the third journalist is still unaccounted for.
Local authorities in the Jalisco city of Guadalajara said that an explosives assault there on Tuesday resulted in the deaths of three police officers and the injuries of ten other individuals.
The Jalisco New Generation cartel, one of Mexico’s most infamous gangs, is headquartered in Jalisco. The Justice Department referred to it as “one of the five most dangerous transnational criminal organisations in the world” in 2019. It was also “responsible for violence and significant loss of life in Mexico,” as well as the trafficking of tonnes of cocaine, methamphetamine, and fentanyl-laced heroin into the United States.
