Thread: Alleged Mexican drug cartel hitman brought down by traffic ticket

Alleged Mexican drug cartel hitman brought down by traffic ticket

Published On Mon Apr 30 2012
Lesley Ciarula TaylorStaff Reporter

A suspected Mexican drug cartel hitman who managed to hide for 10 years in Sandusky, Ohio, finally had his cover blown for a traffic violation.

Edgar Campos-Barraza was pulled over by Ohio State Highway Patrol officers for a “traffic code violation,” U.S. Border Patrol spokesman Kris Grogan told the Toronto Star.

And now he’s back in Mexico, under arrest.

“He was totally cooperative and there was no issue” when police pulled Campos-Barraza over, Grogan said.

The man known as “El Cholo” to the Sinaloa drug cartel in Mexico was wanted in the murder of a state police officer in Baja California, Mexico, and on aggravated kidnapping and criminal conspiracy charges, the U.S. Border Patrol said.

He had been living quietly — although illegally — in the small Lake Erie town for 10 years, U.S. authorities said.

“El Cholo” is a Hispanic racial slur used to refer to someone of mixed North American Indian and Mexican heritage.

Campos-Barraza was extradited to Mexico on April 12 and turned over to Mexican authorities at the San Diego-Tijuana crossing, the Baja California state attorney general's office confirmed.

He had been arrested Jan. 5 and held during extradition proceedings. After his arrest, he admitted that he was Campos-Barraza, who was wanted by Mexican police, authorities said.

Grogan was unable to say if he had family in Ohio.

World News: Alleged Mexican drug cartel hitman brought down by traffic ticket - thestar.com

Bet $100, this isn't in the Columbus Dispatch. (local newspaper)