ICE deports accused human trafficker and murder suspect to Mexico
SAN DIEGO – Two Mexican men wanted in their native country - one on human trafficking charges and the other for homicide - were turned over to Mexican law enforcement authorities Friday by officers with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO).
Bertin Emeterio-Tinoco, 48, and Crispin Rizo-Mendoza, 55, were transferred to the custody of representatives from Mexico’s Procuraduria General de la Republica (PGR) and Mexican immigration officials by ERO’s Special Response Team at the San Ysidro Port of Entry.
According to an arrest warrant issued by Mexican authorities in Tijuana, Baja, California, Emeterio-Tinoco is charged with trafficking one or more persons to another country for financial gain in August 2013. DHS databases indicate he was arrested Oct. 10, 2013, by officers with U.S. Customs and Border Protection when he attempted to illegally enter the U.S. at the San Ysidro Port of Entry. Emeterio-Tinoco was subsequently transferred to ICE custody and placed in removal proceedings. He was ordered removed by an immigration judge earlier this month.
Crispin Rizo-Mendoza is the subject of an arrest warrant issued by Mexican authorities in Leon, Guanajuato, in November 2006. The warrant accuses Rizo-Mendoza of fatally wounding a Mexican man after striking him on his head several times with a machete-like knife during an early morning fight in 1998. An autopsy concluded the victim died from head wounds.
Rizo-Mendoza, who was arrested by local authorities in Escondido in November 2015, was turned over to ICE after ERO determined there was an active warrant for his arrest in Mexico. Rizo-Mendoza was ordered removed by an immigration judge earlier this year, paving the way for Friday’s repatriation.
“The return of these fugitives to face criminal charges in Mexico is the result of the ongoing cooperation between U.S. law enforcement and our counterparts in Mexico,” said Greg Archambeault, field office director for ERO in San Diego. “Violent criminals who believe they can evade justice by fleeing to the U.S. should be on notice - they will find no refuge here.”
Since Oct. 1, 2009, ERO has removed more than 1,700 foreign fugitives from the United States who were sought in their native countries for serious crimes, including kidnapping, rape and murder. ERO works with the ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Office of International Operations, foreign consular offices in the United States, and Interpol to identify foreign fugitives illegally present in the United States.
Members of the public who have information about foreign fugitives are urged to contact ICE by calling the ICE tip line at 1 (866) 347-2423 or internationally at 001-1802-872-6199. They can also file a tip online by completing ICE’s online tip form.
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