Saturday, January 22, 2005

FBI List Female Suspect As a Man

One of the people sought by the FBI in connection with a tip that Chinese nationals had entered the United States illegally with the intent of committing terrorism in Boston is Mei Xia Dong. Dong was listed in the January 20 FBI alert as being, "male, possible DOB 11/21/77 and Chinese passport #G08386268."

Today, in an update, the FBI announced that,

Mei Xia Dong, Chinese/female(originally thought to be male), was located upon being identified as one of 14 subjects allegedly involved in a Boston terror plot. Mei Xia Dong was located in a U.S. Customs and Border Protection detention facility in the San Diego , CA , area. She was arrested for an immigration violation by U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agents on November 11, 2004 , and had remained in custody since that time.
I find it curious that the FBI was able to identify Mei Xia Dong's Chinese Passport number and her date of birth but did not know that he was a she! A number of possible scenarios came to mind...
--Perhaps mainland China has seen a recent upsurge in sex-change operations?
--Perhaps some low-level FBI geek wrote in the wrong thing in the blank space after the word "Sex." Perhaps he had intended to write Yes" and, thinking better of it, got confused and entered "Male" instead of "Female?"
--Perhaps there has been a high-level coverup involving Max Factor and foundation make-up? or

Click on picture for larger image
--Perhaps we have inadvertently stumbled upon an historic moment...the first time since the sixth day of creation where a woman has been pulled out of a man!
On the other hand, I suppose we can all benefit from a good ribbing once in a while!