Two men and a woman are wanted in connection with the kidnapping of Briant Rodriguez

May 18, 2009 - PRLog --  
By MICHAEL WEBSTER: Syndicated Investigative Reporter. May 18, 2009 at 5:00 PM PST
 

Liberato Vega

NAME: Liberato Vega
RACE: Hispanic
AGE: 30
DOB: 8/18/1978
HEIGHT: 5'9
WEIGHT: 130

Israel Ledesma Moreno

NAME: Israel Ledesma Moreno
RACE: Hispanic
AGE: 28
DOB: 12/30/1981
HT: 5'6
WT: 150
 
  

Claudia Acosta-Serrano
 
Wanted as Person of Interest
Kidnapping
NAME: Claudia Acosta-Serrano
RACE: Hispanic
DOB: 10/01/1987
AGE: 21
HT: 5'9
WT: 120
HAIR: BROWN
 
According to law enforcement Claudia Acosta-Serrano is the girlfriend of Liberato Vega. Investigators believe Acosta-Serrano was in communication with Vega after the kidnapping and met with him in Mexico.
Acosta-Serrano has ties to San Bernardino County, Riverside County and Mexico.
Acosta-Serrano is considered a person of interest and wanted for questioning.
The three are believed to be illegal aliens who where living in the U.S. but are now believed in Mexico.
 
Mexican police and American law enforcement are searching border cities in Mexico and seem confident they will found them.

The three-year-old boy snatched by armed men from his California home who was recently found alive, wandering the streets of Mexicali in Mexico.
According to sheriff investigators Briant Rodriguez is a U.S. citizen and underwent health checks in the hospital in his home town of San Bernardino after being found in Mexicali and was given a clean bill of health by Doctors.
The young Rodriguez was kidnapped nearly two weeks ago by the two men who tied up the rest of his family and stole money and property from his home.
Organized, well-financed and violent Mexican drug cartel kidnapping cells are targeting a growing number of U.S. citizens; many victims are believed family members of drug dealers. The MDC's are ordering murders, kidnappings and other violence against innocent Americans and some of the victims are children like Briant.
 
 An un-named Mexican official says that he believes that the kidnapping of Briant is retaliation for owing the MDC’s cash for drugs.
 
Authorities believe this kidnapping was an attempt to terrorize the family for retaliation purposes.
 
Many American residents were kidnapped and held for ransom in Mexico and others kidnapped from the United States and taken to Mexico like Briant.
According to the  FBI's violent-crime squad in San Diego in the past have said “It's not a pleasant experience. Victims have reported beatings, torture and there have been rapes.  . . . Handcuffs and hoods over the head are common,” he said. “I would certainly be concerned,”  
Often the kidnapping groups as sophisticated operations similar to terrorist cells, each with a boss and clear divisions of labor. Usually, one group is involved in scouting, another carries out the kidnapping, a third holds the victim and a fourth handles the ransom.
Investigators close to the investigation say Briant was very lucky “We've had victims held for days to months.
Not every victim is Hispanic, but there have been “very few cases where a tourist is targeted at random,” said Eric Drickersen, who supervised the FBI's border liaison office in San Diego.
Some of the kidnappings go unreported because people fear retribution, Drickersen said.
From Texas to California border cities are where most Americans are being killed by assassinations and executions. But other Americans are being killed by the long arm of the Mexican drug cartels which reach deep into America. There are accounts of Mexican drug cartel surrogate terrorist’s invading the U.S. by crossing the porous international border and killing Americans in Dallas Texas, Atlanta Geo, New York City, Phoenix Ariz, Las Vegas Nevada, and reached as far away as Shelby County Alabama where five people were found murdered gangland style by Mexican nationals.
 
Many Americans were kidnapped in the U.S. and taken to Mexico where they were murdered. Still other Americans were abducted and slain in Mexico while visiting, others where shot gangland style in country. Dozens of U.S. citizens have been kidnapped, or held hostage, or killed by their captors in Mexico and many cases remain unsolved. Moreover, new cases of disappearances and kidnap-for-ransom and Americans being killed continue to be reported.
Anyone who may have information regarding the Briant Rodriguez case may contact Sergeant Doug Hubbard or Detective Jon Minard at (909) 387-3589 or the FBI at (310) 477-6565.
Callers wishing to remain anonymous may contact the WE-TIP Hotline at 1-800-78-CRIME (27463).
For related articles and wanted photo's go to: www.lagunajournal.com

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