http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cct ... 231613.htm

Posted on Tue, Nov. 22, 2005

Four arrested in Mexican border city on child selling charges

ASSOCIATED PRESS


TIJUANA, Mexico - Four people -- including a U.S. citizen and a legal American permanent resident -- have been arrested in this border city and charged with child selling after two of them offered US$5,000 (euro4,250) to a father in exchange for his 3-year-old son, police said Saturday.

Jose Luis Garcia told authorities he was walking with his son on Octava street in downtown Tijuana on Friday when he was approached by a couple who said they wanted to purchase the youngster, who would then be sent to the United States by a couple who ran a child-selling ring, according to Tijuana police commander Genaro Carrillo.

In addition to cash, the couple offered to pay one year's rent for Garcia. During the exchange, Garcia flagged down a police cruiser and two municipal officers arrested the pair who had offered to purchase the child, Carrillo said.

Police identified the arrested couple as Jose Luis Almaguer and Ana Isabel Acosta, both apparently Mexican citizens.

During subsequent interrogations, the suspects named a U.S. couple, who was captured in Tijuana, a few blocks away from the site of the attempted child sale, Carrillo said.

Police identified the arrested U.S. citizen as David Rivera, whose name was confirmed by Liza Davis, a spokeswoman for the American consulate in Tijuana, across the border from San Diego.

Arrested with Rivera was Sinai Higuera, police said. Davis said Higuera was a U.S. permanent resident, but that she could not confirm her name.

Rivera was transferred to the custody of authorities for Baja California state, which includes Tijuana. Information about his age and hometown were not available, said Davis, who added that privacy rights prevented her from discussing the case further.