A Mexican judge sentenced a man on border authorities’ “most wanted” list to 80 years in prison for a botched kidnapping that resulted in the death of the victim.
Jesus Alfredo Martinez Mendoza, who is also known as “El Freddy,” was sixth on a 2019 list of the border’s “most wanted” by both U.S. and Mexican authorities, according to Border Report. Mendoza allegedly was a top heroin distributor for the Aztecas Old Guard gang. (RELATED: Mexico On The Verge Of Becoming A Police State After Bloody Weekend Of Drug Cartel Violence)
He was found guilty Monday for the February 2019 aggravated kidnapping of Adrian Alejandro Ruiz Felix, Border Report reported, citing Chihuahua state officials in Mexico. During the incident, Martinez Mendoza and two accomplices followed Ruiz Felix to the Las Misiones shopping center in Juarez, where they assaulted him and tried to get him in a nearby vehicle.
The abduction failed when a third party came to Ruiz Felix’s aid and Martinez Mendoza’s alleged accomplice began shooting, Border Report reported, citing previous police statements. Ruiz Felix was immediately killed.
A Border Patrol vehicle is pictured near the U.S.-Mexico border near Mt. Cristo Rey, as U.S. authorities, blocked by a federal judge from lifting COVID-19 restrictions that empower agents at the U.S.-Mexico border to turn back migrants, continue to enforce the Title 42 rules which result in the fast expulsion of migrants to Mexico or other countries, in Sunland Park, New Mexico, U.S. May 23, 2022. REUTERS/Paul Ratje
He has been in custody since he was arrested in January 2020, when he was allegedly carrying 5 kilograms of heroin in a backpack that he was going to bring across the border into the U.S., according to Border Report.
Martinez Mendoza was ordered to pay a $115,000 fine and still faces heroin trafficking and organized criminal activities charges, according to Border Report.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has seized around 231,000 pounds of drugs since October at the U.S.-Mexico border, 1,300 pounds of which was heroin, according to agency statistics.
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