CHRISTMAS SPIRIT

Denyse Renne of the Express, why does your story on the alleged Colombian drug dealer begin with the phrase "In the spirit of the Christmas season..."?
At no point do you even try to flesh this out.
Did the Colombian tell the magistrate that he wants Santa to visit him in a private cell? Or that he wants to hold a Christmas party for invited guests?
You see, when you do things like that, you leave the reader with the (correct) impression that it was just hype to get them to continue reading the story. So when they finish the story and still have questions on their mind, they go away thinking STEUPS!