Mother Admits Giving Son Gummies Before Handing Him To Border Smuggler
It sounds like something out of a movie, but officials say a mother confessed to a shocking act involving her young son.
The disturbing incident unfolded at the US Southern Border, leading to serious charges.
Border Stop Uncovers Shocking Situation
It started as a seemingly routine attempt to cross into the United States.
Gloria Lopez-Corona, a 24-year-old lawful permanent resident from Mexico, approached the San Luis port of entry in Arizona on a Wednesday.
She wasn’t alone – a young boy, supposedly five years old, was with her.
Lopez-Corona presented a birth certificate for the child, but border officials immediately spotted a problem.
The document claimed the child was only two years old, a clear mismatch with the boy’s apparent age.
Child Found Drugged and Disoriented
Further investigation revealed a much more sinister situation.
The five-year-old boy wasn’t just being smuggled; he was also found to be sedated.
Officials determined he had been given melatonin gummies, leaving him sleepy and disoriented.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) confirmed the child was an unaccompanied minor from Mexico.
Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents seized items believed to have been used to drug the young boy.
Smuggler Claims Coercion
Faced with the evidence, Lopez-Corona’s story began to unravel.
She eventually admitted that she was not the child’s mother and that the birth certificate she presented was fake.
Lopez-Corona, who has her own two-year-old child back in Mexico, offered an explanation for her actions.
According to the New York Post, she claimed she was forced into smuggling the child by an individual who threatened her family.
She stated she didn’t report the threat because, in her words, “she did not trust the police in Mexico.”
Lopez-Corona alleged she was instructed to drive to a specific location where an unknown person placed the drugged child into a car seat in her vehicle.
She also claimed she was offered $1,500 for the smuggling attempt but turned the payment down.
Officials Condemn ‘Depraved’ Act
Authorities strongly condemned the incident, highlighting the dangers faced by vulnerable individuals at the border.
Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin issued a sharp statement.
“This depraved individual drugged an innocent child and trafficked them into our country,” McLaughlin told Fox News.
“Under President Trump and Secretary Noem, DHS will protect children and stop the traffickers and smugglers that exploit children.”
Lopez-Corona was arrested by HSI and now faces serious federal charges for Alien Smuggling.
The Tragic Family Connection
Investigators managed to locate the drugged child’s actual mother, identified as Reyna Cecilia Hernandez Reyes, also a Mexican citizen.
The intended destination for the smuggled child was reportedly Los Angeles, where his father resides.
Further digging revealed the father’s own troubled immigration history.
According to reports cited by the New York Post, the father was smuggled into the U.S. himself around three years ago.
Federal agents discovered he had been deported three times prior to his most recent illegal entry, underscoring the challenges of repeated border violations.
Mother’s Shocking Admission Revealed
During the investigation, the young child himself provided a crucial piece of information.
The five-year-old reportedly told agents “that he was given gummies by his mother.”
Confronted by investigators, Reyna Cecilia Hernandez Reyes made a startling admission.
She confessed to giving her own son the melatonin gummies before handing him over to Lopez-Corona, the unknown woman tasked with smuggling him into the United States.
The plan was orchestrated to reunite the child with his father in Los Angeles.
Following her admission, Reyes was also charged in connection with the attempted smuggling plot that endangered her son.
The child was reportedly returned to Reyes after the incident.
This case highlights the dangerous and often hidden elements involved in human smuggling across the border, particularly the exploitation and endangerment of children.