Authorities apprehended a U.S. green card holder on Wednesday for allegedly trying to bring a drugged child into the United States using a counterfeit birth certificate, as stated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Gloria Lopez-Corona, a 24-year-old individual from Mexico, made an effort to cross the U.S. border with a five-year-old boy at the San Luis port of entry in Arizona. She presented a falsified birth certificate that was soon discovered to belong to a two-year-old child, not the boy she was with.
The child, confirmed to be an unaccompanied minor from Mexico, had been given melatonin gummies, causing drowsiness and confusion. Homeland Security Investigations confiscated the items suspected to have been used to drug the child.
The child’s mother admitted to giving him to an unknown woman to be smuggled into the U.S. (Immigration and Customs Enforcement)
Lopez-Corona, who was arrested by Homeland Security Investigations, faces charges for Alien Smuggling.
“This depraved individual drugged an innocent child and trafficked them into our country,” Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement to Fox News. “Under President Trump and Secretary Noem, DHS will protect children and stop the traffickers and smugglers that exploit children.”
Fox News’ Bill Melugin contributed to this report.
