Thread: Suspect in immigration agent killing held in US

Suspect in immigration agent killing held in US

sanluisobispo.com
By NEDRA PICKLER | Associated Press
Published: 8:35 am Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2011

An alleged Mexican drug cartel member accused of shooting at U.S. immigration agents has arrived in the United States to face murder charges.

A spokesman for the U.S. District Court in Washington says Julian Zapata Espinoza (es-pih-NOH'-sah) was arraigned Wednesday morning and is being held in jail.

The charges included murder and attempted murder for the Feb. 15 attack on a Mexican highway that killed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Jaime Zapata and wounded colleague Victor Avila.

Zapata Espinoza is known by the nickname Tweety Bird, apparently because of his short stature. He was captured along with five other suspected members of the Zeta cartel during an army raid a week after the shooting and recently was extradited to the United States.

The Mexican army said Zapata Espinoza admitted killing Zapata in what he claimed was a case of mistaken identity, with the Zetas mistaking the ICE agents' Chevrolet Suburban for one used by a rival gang.

Zapata, a 32-year-old native of the Texas border town of Brownsville, was on assignment from the ICE office in Laredo, Texas, where he served on the Human Smuggling and Trafficking Unit as well as the Border Enforcement Security Task Force.Avila, who served on a unit to deter human trafficking and was based in El Paso, was shot in the leg and recovered.

ICE, the investigative arm of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the second largest investigative agency in the federal government, enforces immigration laws and is primarily responsible for arresting, detaining and deporting people who are in the U.S. illegally. It also investigates drug cases in the U.S. and Mexico and other types of trafficking.

Mexico is fighting heavily armed and powerful drug cartels that supply the U.S. market. Since President Felipe Calderon launched a military crackdown against drug trafficking shortly after taking office in December 2006, almost 35,000 people have been killed in drug-related violence.

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