The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) officials charged two men Tuesday in connection with the murder of two witnesses, including a pregnant woman, allegedly to thwart a drug trafficking investigation.
Authorities have released the identity of alleged drug trafficker Benjamin Madrigal-Birrueta, 22, who was charged with the murder of Washington state residents Cesar Armando Murillo, 44, and Maira Sofia Hernandez, 33, who was six months pregnant at the time of her death, and possession of a machine gun in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Additionally, authorities charged Ricardo Orizaba, 21, as an accessory after the fact to murder. (RELATED: Customs And Border Patrol Officers Seize Drugs Worth Over $9 Million In One Weekend)
“These executions were an assault on our justice system, designed to silence witnesses and instill fear,” U.S. Attorney Tara McGrath stated. “The obligation to protect witnesses is paramount and the United States will fully prosecute intimidation and violence designed to interfere with the justice system.”
US Coast Guard personnel unload bundles of seized drugs in front of the Cutter Bertholf on September 10, 2020, in San Diego, California. (Photo by SANDY HUFFAKER/AFP via Getty Images)
Officials began investigating Madrigal-Birrueta after drugs were seized from vehicles at San Diego area ports of entry between August and October of 2021. Authorities claim Madrigal-Birrueta was responsible for importing the drugs, alleging he was “a leader in a criminal enterprise” that violated federal drug laws, according to the press release.
By August 2022, court filings suggest officials tracked a group “operating” in Yakima, Washington where Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents then interviewed Murillo and Hernandez. However, days after the meeting, Murillo and Hernandez were murdered and buried in the nearby high-desert area. HSI officials, with the help of local agencies, searched for the two victims for nearly a year before finding the bodies on Sept. 13, 2023, and autopsy reports declared that the victims died from multiple gunshot wounds to the head.
“Court filings describe how these charges follow an exhaustive, year-long investigation that employed geophysicists, ground penetrating radar, aircraft, laser imaging, chemical testing of the soil, numerous cadaver dogs, and other law enforcement techniques to search for the victims’ remains. HSI Special Agents successfully recovered the remains on September 13, 2023, aided by a Washington State Police Crime Scene Investigations team,” the press release stated.
In addition to finding Murillo and Hernandez, the HSI’s investigation into Madrigal-Birrueta’s organization had seized “methamphetamine, cocaine, fentanyl, multiple firearms — including a machine gun — and body armor,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.
Federal courts in Washington state and California ordered Madrigal-Birrueta and Orizaba to be held in custody pending trial.