Posted on 04/04/2008 5:03:45 PM PDT by SwinneySwitch
El Paso (AP) - U.S. authorities unsealed an indictment against a suspected Mexican drug trafficker identified as one of several men wearing military uniforms in a high-profile border standoff two years ago.
Jose Rodolfo Escajeda, 31, was charged with conspiracy to import and distribute controlled substances, according to the two-page indictment unsealed March 26. He was indicted in 2006.
Matthew Taylor, a spokesman for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, said Friday investigators don't know where Escajeda is but consider him armed and dangerous.
Mexican authorities identified Escajeda as one of several men appearing to be Mexican soldiers who had crossed the Rio Grande and were helping suspected drug smugglers elude U.S. law enforcement during a chase in January 2006.
Taylor said Escajeda, whose brother was arrested in Mexico last year for his alleged role in that failed smuggling attempt and standoff, is also thought to be responsible for some of the rising violence in Ciudad Juarez, a hard-scrabble Mexican city just across the Rio Grande from El Paso.
Investigators believe Escajeda, nicknamed "Riquin," ran his drug trafficking operation from Guadalupe, in the Mexican state of Chihuahua, about 25 miles southeast of El Paso.
Taylor described Escajeda as a "significant" player in the drug trade around Juarez. He is charged in the indictment with smuggling about 200 tons of marijuana.
"His was a significant trafficking organization that covered 120 miles of border," Taylor said. "He covered a lot of the area around El Paso. When you have that much control of the border and the area, it's pretty significant."
The 2006 incident started when sheriff's deputies in Hudspeth County tried to stop three sport utility vehicles believed to be loaded with marijuana. The deputies chased the SUVs to the Rio Grande, where the brief standoff ensued. In photos of the incident, a military-style Humvee can been seen on the Mexican side of the Rio Grande.
No shots were fired and the smugglers escaped back into Mexico, but they abandoned nearly a half-ton of marijuana.
At least one man believed to have been involved in that incident has since been shot to death in Juarez.
At the time, the confrontation strained relations between the U.S. and Mexico, while local authorities and others suggested not enough was being done to track down and prosecute smugglers who initially were thought to be rogue members of the Mexican military.
"There was a lot of press back then that nothing was being done, but you have to realize that when you are dealing with two counties and four states it just takes time," Taylor said.
Escajeda was indicted about 10 months after the failed smuggling attempt. It's unclear why the indictment was unsealed now or if other members of Escajeda's group have also been indicted.
Indictment? Of a Mexican drug smuggler? Wow I am shocked!
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