Border Patrol agents working an immigration checkpoint in New Mexico arrested a man wanted as a murder suspect in the Washington D.C. area. On Friday, agents working the Interstate 25 checkpoint north of Las Cruces encountered the man on a northbound commercial bus.
Agents encountered Juarez around 10 p.m. local time. He attempted to conceal himself from agents by hiding in the restroom of the bus but was ultimately turned over to the New Mexico State Police.
The Fairfax County Times reported earlier this week that 20-year-old Salvadorian national Abel Alexander Castro Juarez was being charged with second-degree murder in the fatal shooting of Jose Alexander Villa Lobo Guevara last weekend. Police in Fairfax County issued a warrant for his arrest.
"Border Patrol agents working at our interior immigration checkpoints play an important role in keeping our communities safe," El Paso Sector Chief Patrol Agent Gloria Chavez said in a press release. "Their vigilance will often identify those who are being sought by our law enforcement partners for a variety of serious offenses."
In May, Border Patrol agents apprehended a homicide suspect and an attempted murder suspect sharing a vehicle at the Otay Mesa Port of Entry in California.
On a typical day in 2019, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents arrested an average of 23 wanted criminals.
CBP employed 61,506 men and women in 2019, including 19,648 Border Patrol agents and 24,511 CBP officers. The agency also employed some 2,465 agricultural specialists, 597 pilots, 339 marine agents, 296 aviation enforcement agents, and 979 trade personnel.