San Ysidro
Mexican officials arrested two New Jersey men Thursday in connection with the kidnaping of a Tijuana boy who was returned to San Ysidro after the family paid a $33,000 ransom.
Baja California State Judicial Police Cmdr. Jaime Sam Fierro said Joseph Doo Chueng Yip, 19, and Li Jian Hui, 23, also known as Francis Lee, were arrested in connection with the kidnaping of 11-year-old Rodolfo Yee.
The boy was kidnaped Tuesday morning in Tijuana as his mother was about to drive him to school in Chula Vista. The mother was told she would be contacted later, Fierro said.
She was called later that day and told to bring the ransom money that night to the parking lot of a San Ysidro Kmart store.
The family, which owns a Chinese restaurant in San Ysidro, borrowed the ransom money from friends, Fierro said.
He said a third man, Seng Kau Lai Phillips, 26, the alleged mastermind of the crime, is believed to be in the United States with the money, Fierro said.
The two arrests were made in an apartment in the Playas de Tijuana area, he said.
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