Feds remove Mexican drug kingpin, one of most wanted fugitives in world

(The Center Square) – Federal agents have removed one of the world’s most wanted fugitives from the U.S. – 20 years after he was indicted in Colorado, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

ICE’s Enforcement & Removal Office agents from San Antonio and Harlingen, Texas, removed a Mexican drug kingpin and leader of the Arriola Marquez Cartel: Oscar Arturo Arriola Marquez.

At one time, Arriola Marquez, now 54, was one of the world’s most wanted fugitives prior to his 2003-era U.S. District of Colorado indictment. In February 2003, he was first charged with conspiracy to distribute controlled substance, attempt/conspiracy to import/export controlled substances and money laundering, and a warrant was issued for his arrest.

In 2005, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control identified 30 companies and individuals associated with the Arriola Marquez Organization and Arellano Felix Organization.

Arriola’s operations, based in Saucillo, Chihuahua, Mexico, were linked to Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin Guzman Loera, “El Chapo.”

The cartel operations used two large cattle businesses as front companies for their illicit drug business, according to a federal investigation. They also used real estate firms, a currency exchange, an automotive sales company, a gasoline distributor, and a food processing/distribution conglomerate as fronts to transport, import and distribute multi-ton quantities of cocaine, marijuana, heroin and methamphetamine into the U.S. from Mexico.

It wouldn’t be until Feb. 2, 2006, that Mexican authorities would arrest Arriola. They’d hold him in custody until his extradition to the United States, which would take another four years.

On March 1, 2010, CBP agents paroled Arriola into the U.S. through El Paso, Texas, for criminal proceedings. He was then turned over to the U.S. Marshals Service.

Roughly two years later, on April 13, 2012, the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado convicted Arriola “of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and distribution of 5 kilograms or more of cocaine, conspiracy to import 5 kilograms or more of cocaine into the United States, and money laundering conspiracy.” He was sentenced to 270 months confinement.

While serving time at the Phoenix Federal Correctional Institution, ICE ERO-Phoenix agents determined Arriola should be removed from the U.S., according to federal law, and lodged an immigration detainer against him on July 12, 2015.

Within a month, ICE ERO-San Antonio agents gained custody of Arriola, issued him with a notice to appear, and transferred him to the T. Don Hutto Residential Center, in Taylor, Texas, in Williamson County, to await immigration proceedings.

On Aug. 16, 2023, ICE ERO-San Antonio agents received confirmation from a foreign service national investigator that Mexican authorities had an active warrant for his arrest. Two months later, on Oct. 16, 2023, an immigration judge ordered that Arriola be removed from the U.S. to Mexico.

On Nov. 1, one week ago, Arriola was removed to Mexico through Laredo, Texas. Mexican authorities took custody of him without incident.

While noting the significance of Arriola as a high value target, critics have raised concerns about the process, including taking two decades from when he was first indicted, to his arrest, extradition, imprisonment, and ultimate removal.

He is also only one of millions of foreign nationals illegally in the U.S. eligible for removal.

Last year, when questioning Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Florida, asked why over one million people in the U.S. illegally with deportation orders hadn’t been removed. The number has since gone up after nearly 4 million illegal border crossers were reported in fiscal 2023.

Mayorkas replied that the immigration system was broken and not everyone has been given due process.

Gaetz also estimated that “It would take 14.5 years to deport just the aliens DHS has released under the Biden Administration, when we have near 1.9 million aliens eligible for deportation currently.” Since then, that number has only increased.

Since January 2021, when President Joe Biden first entered office, over 10 million foreign nationals have been reported illegally entering the U.S.