Police Seek Motive for Man’s Abduction : Investigation: Officers believe that reported kidnaping at gunpoint may be linked to the victim’s criminal past.

A man awaiting sentencing on drug charges was taken from his auto detailing shop over the weekend, and police said they are investigating the abduction and whether it is related to his recent conviction in New York.

Juan Escobar, 29, was to be sentenced Jan. 6 on federal drug charges, said Lt. Jim Winder of the Brea Police Department, which serves the city of Yorba Linda.

Although police said they were unable Sunday to determine a specific motive for the abduction, they speculated that the reason for the kidnaping may be rooted in Escobar’s criminal past.

“Mr. Escobar is a (convicted) drug dealer,” Winder said. “We do believe (the kidnaping) is probably related to his past drug dealings.”

No ransom demands have been received by Escobar’s wife, Gloria, Winder said. The couple resides in Yorba Linda.

Escobar was reportedly kidnaped shortly after 2 p.m. Saturday when several men and women armed with handguns arrived in a white Toyota van at Classic Car d’ Elegance, 22605 La Palma Ave., Winter said.

No one was injured, but witnesses to the abduction were tied up by the suspects, Winter said. The witnesses later freed themselves and notified authorities.

Gloria Escobar, 33, disputed police accounts that her husband had been convicted of drug charges.

“It is not true,” she said during an interview at the Yorba Linda home where she and her husband have lived for two years. “This is discrimination because we are Colombian. Everybody thinks that because we’re Colombian we sell drugs.”

Gloria Escobar said she does not know why anyone would have kidnaped her husband.

“I just want him back,” she said.

However, police said Escobar was “recently convicted on a large-quantity drug deal” in New York in a case originally investigated by the Drug Enforcement Agency. Details of the case were not immediately available.

Times staff writer Ajowa Ifateyo contributed to this report.