EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – Four of the border’s most wanted criminal suspects are now in custody.
Federal officials in El Paso on Friday confirmed the capture of the two alleged human smugglers and two suspected murderers identified through tips from a call center for the Se Busca Informacion (Information Sought) campaign.
Se Busca is a collaborative effort between the U.S. and Mexico to apprehend individuals whose criminal activities know no borders. It consists of posters and billboards with mugs of suspects and an El Paso telephone number — (915) 314-8194 — that can be dialed from anywhere in the world.
The detainees were only identified by their last names. They include a 29-year-old woman named Polvon Torres wanted in connection to the disappearance of a 4-year-old child. Polvon was arrested on Oct. 25 at a U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint in Las Cruces, New Mexico, for illegal re-entry to the United States. She has since been charged with migrant smuggling conspiracy in connection with the missing child.
Federal officials identified another suspect as Rivera Zamora, 32, a Honduran male who allegedly used social media apps to recruit drivers in Eagle Pass, Uvalde and Carrizo Springs, Texas, to transport unauthorized migrants. He was arrested in Houston on Nov. 17 thanks to tips received at the Se Busca campaign’s El Paso call center. Rivera has a criminal history involving human smuggling and a pending charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, federal officials said.
A third suspect, an escaped murderer identified as Juarez Hernandez, a.k.a. “El Pompin,” was captured on Oct. 12 in Mexico. He was part of the bloody New Year’s Day riot at Juarez’s Cereso No. 3 prison that resulted in the death of 17 people, including 10 prison guards.
The fourth suspect in custody is Venegas Rodriguez, a.k.a. “El Barbas,” 33. He was arrested in possession of 6.8 grams of crystal meth on Nov. 27 in Aldama, Chihuahua. He has since been charged with homicide, attempted homicide, aggravated assault, robbery, possession and distribution of narcotics and illegal burial.
Officials with the U.S. Border Patrol, Customs and Border Protection and the government of Chihuahua, Mexico, announced the arrests at a news conference in El Paso.
“This initiative enhances border security by disrupting and displacing members of criminal organizations that represent threats to the community on both sides of the border,” said Gerardo Galvan, El Paso Border Patrol Sector division chief of law enforcement operations. “This Se Busca Informacion campaign absolutely depends on the collaboration of our communities, and we encourage the public to say something if you see something.”
The program began in 2018 in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas and has since expanded to Laredo and El Paso. CBP officials said they want to make it a border-wide effort. Chihuahua State Investigations Agency (AEI) Director Arturo Zuany said he is open to expanding the current program to possibly include not just 10, but 20 or 30 wanted suspects.
“Border security is a shared responsibility. Whatever we can do in either country is beneficial to both. […] And we are seeing results from the anonymous phone tips,” Zuany said. “The 10 individuals we feature in the campaign belong to different criminal groups that affect both countries. All of them are wanted for serious offenses, all of them have mid-level responsibilities within their criminal group.”
Although the detainees may be wanted for crimes in Mexico and the United States, the country in which they are detained has first crack at prosecuting them, law enforcement officials said.
“There are open investigations in Chihuahua. Those who were detained (in the U.S.) will have to respond to those charges first. Later, we will want them tried in Mexico,” Zuany said.
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