ICE deports 2 fugitive Mexican murder suspects captured in Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Two Mexican nationals, who fled to the United States to avoid prosecution for separate murders in their native country, were turned over to Mexican authorities Tuesday following their recent capture in Los Angeles by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Oscar Campos Nava, 22, aka Alfonso Campos Nava, and Ruben Israel Duran Vera, 25, aka Miguel Lopez Bera, were remanded to the custody of representatives from the Mexican Attorney General’s Office at the border crossing in San Ysidro, Calif., Tuesday morning under tight security.

Campos was arrested July 9 at his Los Angeles residence by ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) officers assigned to the local ERO Fugitive Operations Team. Campos is wanted for fatally shooting his wife, Jazmin Nalleli Rodriguez Gallardo, on a street corner in the Acuiles Serdan neighborhood of Chihuahua on Feb. 4, 2012. Jazmin was a Chihuahua State police officer at the time of her murder.

Department of Homeland Security databases show Campos was arrested by the U.S. Border Patrol Feb. 22, 2012, for illegally entering the U.S. and removed to Mexico two days later. On Oct. 8, 2012, authorities in the Morelos Judicial District issued a warrant charging Campos with the murder. After receiving a tip from Mexican law enforcement that Campos might be living in the Los Angeles area, ERO officers tracked him down and took him into custody. The officers subsequently reinstated Campos’ prior removal order, paving the way for his repatriation to Mexico Tuesday.

Duran is wanted by Mexican authorities for the brutal slaying of a 17-year-old boy August 23, 2010. According to the Mexican arrest warrant issued in September 2010, Duran attacked the teen with a knife and a machete in front of the boy’s grandmother, who was then beaten by the suspect. Recently, Mexican law enforcement alerted Los Angeles ERO that Duran might have fled to the Los Angeles area. After conducting further investigation, ERO officers located Duran and took him into custody July 11 in Huntington Park, Calif.

"Both of these fugitives are suspected of cold-blooded slayings and there’s a real risk they could commit violent acts again," said David Marin, field office director for ERO Los Angeles. "ICE is using its unique immigration enforcement authorities to protect our communities from criminal aliens who pose a threat to public safety, including suspects fleeing justice in their own countries. As these criminal fugitives are discovering, they can’t outrun the law."

Tuesday’s removals demonstrate the expanded bilateral cooperation to identify, arrest and repatriate Mexican fugitives who have fled to the United States to avoid prosecution. ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Mexico Office of International Affairs is working closely with the Government of Mexico as part of this effort. Many of those arrests involved homicide-related charges or other violent crimes.