Back to Mexico; U.S. hands over suspected killer

Back to Mexico; U.S. hands over suspected killer

Posted on Jan 18, 2008 in Narco Wars by PMC Comments Off

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents met Mexican federal agents on the Lincoln-Juarez International Bridge on Wednesday to transfer custody of a prisoner wanted in Mexico for homicide and drug trafficking, authorities said.Officials with the Agencia Federal de Investigacion, who took custody of Juan Garcia-Flores, 36, said he is wanted in Guanajuato and the border state Coahuila.

Though ICE officials only confirmed the alleged drug trafficking, AFI agent Jesus Garcia said Garcia-Flores was also being sought on homicide charges in Mexico.

He declined to comment on how long Garcia-Flores had been sought by Mexican law enforcement. Garcia did not clarify whether the alleged homicide occurred in Coahuila or Guanajuato.

According to ICE, Garcia-Flores sold and distributed marijuana in Mexico.

U.S. officials turned Garcia-Flores over to Mexican agents after he served a five-year prison sentence at the Three Rivers Correctional Institute, located about 120 miles northeast of Laredo.

Shackled and surrounded by at least three ICE agents at all times, Garcia-Flores, dressed in a gray sweatshirt and sweatpants, carried a small duffel bag and walked across the bridge in silence. He was met in the middle of the bridge by at least a half-dozen AFI agents bearing automatic guns across their chests.

After being unshackled at the ankles by U.S. agents, AFI authorities strapped a body armor vest on Garcia-Flores before escorting him into Nuevo Laredo.

On the U.S. side of the Lincoln-Juarez International Bridge, ICE agents from San Antonio’s Special Response Team and Laredo’s ICE division secured the perimeter before walking onto the bridge. They entered through a gate located at the dead-end corner of Santa Ursula Avenue and Zaragosa Street.

ICE agents also sat inside a vehicle at the corner of the streets holding rifles and other vehicles blocked in the van carrying Garcia-Flores.

Garcia-Flores’ prison sentence in the United States was the result of a March 2003 conviction for possession of more than 100 pounds of marijuana with intent to distribute, ICE said. Nina Pruneda, a spokeswoman for ICE, said he was also arrested in 1990 for possession of cocaine.

On Nov. 29, 2007, Garcia-Flores was released from Three Rivers and taken into ICE custody. At that time he began immigration proceedings, which includes appearing before a judge in immigration court for a determination on his status in the United States, Pruneda said.

The prisoner transfer Wednesday is an example of the cooperation between Mexican and U.S. officials to catch criminals on both sides of the border, Pruneda said. Anytime someone is wanted for a crime in Mexico, ICE does its part to help, and vice versa, Pruneda said.

“Those who think they can outrun the reach of the law by hiding out in the United States will find out otherwise,” said Marc J. Moore, field office director for ICE detention and removal operations in San Antonio, in an e-mailed statement. “ICE is working closely with our law enforcement counterparts both here and abroad to ensure that the United States is not used as a refuge for criminals or violent offenders.”

Tags: AFI, Extradition, ICE, treaty, US-Mexico