Dating apps used in Mexico to lure and kidnap U.S. citizens, officials warn
U.S. citizens who visit Mexico are being warned that they may be at risk of being kidnapped by people who lure them in through dating apps, according to federal officials.
The U.S. Consulate General Guadalajara warned that the victims of such schemes were kidnapped in Puerto Vallarta and Nuevo Nayarit areas in recent months, according to a news release. The consulate did not say how often this type of crime has occurred or whether any suspects have been arrested.
Victims and their family members were extorted for large amounts of money in order to be released, officials said. Some of the victims met their captors in residences or hotel rooms.
Officials didn't specify the dating apps that were used but urged people to be careful while using dating apps in Mexico. Authorities also suggested that app users only meet in public places, avoid isolated locations, and tell a loved one where they plan on going, details of the person they're meeting and the app being used. They also advised people to trust their instincts and to call 911 in case of emergency.
Read more: Why Mexico is banning drug war ballads
The Mexican state of Jalisco, which includes the city of Puerto Vallarta, has been classified as 'Level 3: Reconsider Travel' due to kidnappings and crime. The state of Nayarit, which includes the city of Nuevo Nayarit, has been classified as 'Level 2: Exercise Caution' because of crime.
Dating apps have also been used in the U.S. to target victims.
In Los Angeles this spring, four people violently robbed and shot at a victim whom they met on a dating site, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
On April 28, a male victim met with a woman he connected with on a dating site near South Occidental Boulevard and Beverly Boulevard, according to the LAPD. Two more people arrived in a vehicle and one man pointed a gun at the victim and demanded his property. The assailants then went through his car and forced the victim to hand over his phone and provide the lock code.
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Miami Herald
2 hours ago
- Miami Herald
How the LAPD's protest response once again triggered outrage, injuries and lawsuits
LOS ANGELES - Bridgette Covelli arrived near Los Angeles City Hall for the June 14 "No Kings Day" festivities to find what she described as a peaceful scene: people chanting, dancing, holding signs. No one was arguing with the police, as far as she could tell. Enforcement of the city's curfew wouldn't begin for hours. But seemingly out of nowhere, Covelli said, officers began to fire rubber bullets and launch smoke bombs into a nearby crowd, which had gathered to protest the Trump administration's aggressive immigration enforcement campaign. Covelli, 23, grabbed an electric bike and turned up 3rd Street, where another line of police blocked parts of the roadway. Deciding to head home, she turned to leave and had made it about two blocks when she felt a shock of pain in her arm as she fell from the bike and crashed to the sidewalk. In a daze, she realized she was bleeding after being struck by a hard-foam projectile shot by an unidentified LAPD officer. They kept firing even as she lay on the ground, she said. "No dispersal order. Nothing at all," she said. "We were doing everything right. There was no aggression toward them." The young tattoo artist was hospitalized with injuries that included a fractured forearm, which has left her unable to work. "I haven't been able to draw. I can't even brush my teeth correctly," she said. She is among the demonstrators and journalists injured this month by LAPD officers with foam projectiles, tear gas, flash-bang grenades and paintball-like weapons that waft pepper spray into the air. Despite years of costly lawsuits, oversight measures and promises by leaders to rein in indiscriminate use of force during protests, the LAPD once again faces sharp criticism and litigation over tactics used during the past two weeks. 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After paying out millions over the last decade for protest-related lawsuits, the city now stares down another series of expensive court battles. "City leaders like Mayor Bass [are] conveniently saying, 'Oh this is Trump's fault, this is the Feds' fault.' No, take a look at your own force," said longtime civil rights attorney James DeSimone, who filed several excessiv force government claims against the city and the county in recent days. Bass said in a statement that she "heard a number of accusations about the LAPD." "[Y]ou can be sure that we will do an evaluation of all of it, because one thing about our city, like a lot of other cities, just about everything is videotaped, including law enforcement and including people who are protesting," the statement said. 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A spokesperson for the Sheriff's Department said in a statement that the agency "has not received reports of any 'friendly fire' incidents." Some protesters allege LAPD officers deliberately targeted individuals who posed no threat. Shakeer Rahman, a civil rights attorney and community organizer with the Stop LAPD Spying Coalition, said he was monitoring a demonstration snaking past LAPD headquarters on June 8 when he witnessed two colleagues who were demanding to know an officer's badge number get shot with a 40mm so-called less-lethal launcher at close range. In a recording he shared of the incident, Rahman can be heard confronting the officer, who threatens to fire as he paces back and forth on an elevated platform. "I'm gonna pop you right now, because you're taking away my focus," the officer is heard saying before raising his weapon over the glass partition that separated them and firing two foam rounds at Rahman, nearly striking him in his groin. 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15 hours ago
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I've lived in Seattle for 22 years. If you want to have a good time in my city, there are 6 things you need to know.
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