Border Report – FBI: ‘La Chely’ arrested, deported in connection with multiple murders

EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — A woman who was wanted by the Mexican government for her alleged involvement in five homicides and is suspected in multiple other murders in Ciudad Juarez was arrested in El Paso after a multi-agency investigation, the FBI El Paso Office announced in a news release.

Michelle Angelica Pineda, aka “La Chely,” was arrested on Thursday, Feb. 15, the FBI said.

Local law enforcement, including the FBI Safe Streets Gang Task Force, learned that Pineda had entered into the United States illegally and was allegedly operating a drug trafficking ring for the “Artistas Asesinos” gang from Mexico.

“Pineda was known for her extreme brutality such as dismembering bodies, removing hearts, and placing the hearts in front of ‘Santa Muerte’ altars and statutes,” the FBI said in its news release.

In the early morning hours on Thursday, FBI El Paso agents, U.S. Border Patrol BORTAC or special tactical operators, El Paso Police Department Gang officers, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers discovered several firearms, machetes, fentanyl pills, powdered fentanyl, heroin, cocaine, Xanax, and methamphetamine in the El Paso motel room she was found in, according to the news release.

Pineda was arrested by CBP officers, according to the news release. FBI and U.S. Border Patrol agents then escorted her to a port of entry to be transferred into the custody of the Chihuahua State Police and the state attorney general of Chihuahua.

“Today’s deportation highlights the swift action of our agents and our significant partnerships by successfully taking a violent assassin off our streets and putting her back into the hands of Mexican law enforcement to be tried for her crimes,” said John Morales, FBI El Paso special agent in charge. “Working hand-in-hand with our partners whether in law enforcement, the private sector, and with foreign law enforcement agencies are paramount in order to keep people like Pineda from bringing violence and drugs into our lives and poisoning our communities.”

“Through shared determination, local, state, federal and international agencies joined forces to stand as testament to the power of collaboration in the pursuit of justice, transcending borders to safeguard our communities,” said El Paso Sector Chief Patrol Agent Anthony “Scott” Good.  “I could not be more grateful to this alliance of law enforcement partners”. 

The investigation was the result of a multi-agency effort from the FBI’s Safe Street Task Force, located at the Texas Anti-Gang Center which includes the FBI, the El Paso Police Department Gang Unit, the El Paso Sheriff’s Office Narcotics Division, El Paso Independent School District Police Department, U.S. Border Patrol, CBP, and private sector firm Leo Technologies.

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