http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/met ... 82329.html


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HoustonChronicle.com -- http://www.HoustonChronicle.com | Section: Houston & Texas News

Oct. 23, 2006, 10:46PM



Jail escapee surrenders at border
Associated Press

BROWNSVILLE - One of the five illegal immigrants who escaped from a privately run South Texas jail along with a former police officer surrendered to federal agents at a border checkpoint, officials said Monday.

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Joel Armando Mata-Castro, a 31-year-old Mexican citizen, walked up to the checkpoint Sunday night and identified himself to Customs and Border Protection officers, who identified him as a fugitive on federal escape charges, CBP spokesman Felix Garza said. Mata-Castro was being held at the Cameron County Jail.

He's the only inmate captured after they escaped from the East Hidalgo Detention Center in La Villa on Sept. 19 by overpowering a guard with a homemade knife and gaining access to several exit doors.

Authorities have said they suspected the men had crossed the border into Mexico, about 20 miles away.

The five illegal immigrants are alleged members of the drug gang Raza Unida. Former McAllen police officer Francisco Meza-Rojas, the supposed ringleader of the escapees, was two weeks away from trial on drug-trafficking charges.


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HoustonChronicle.com -- http://www.HoustonChronicle.com | Section: Houston & Texas News
This article is: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/met ... 82329.html