Murder suspect handed over to Mexican authorities

NOGALES, Ariz. - A Mexican national wanted for homicide in his native country was turned over to representatives from the Mexican Attorney General's Office (PGR) at the border crossing in Nogales, Ariz., Monday morning by officers from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Jose Antonio Mendoza-Serrano, 25, has been charged with homicide and the use of a firearm in Culiacan, Mexico. Prosecutors for the Justice of Baja, California Central District issued an arrest warrant for Mendoza on Nov. 10, 2009.

In June 2009, Mendoza was caught by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the Calexico Port of Entry in California while attempting to smuggle approximately 55 pounds of marijuana into the United States. Mendoza was convicted and served six months in federal prison before he was transferred to the Florence Detention Center in Florence, Ariz. An immigration judge ordered him removed to Mexico on Dec. 23, 2009.

After coordinating with the PGR and U.S. Customs and Border Protection Field Operations at the Dennis Deconcini Port of Entry in Nogales, Ariz., ICE Detention and Removal Operations officers turned Mendoza over to PGR officials at the port Monday morning.

Since fiscal year 2007, ICE officers assigned to the agency's Detention and Removal Operations program nationwide have arrested 215 fleeing foreign criminal fugitives from countries around the world.