Suspect in agent's death reportedly released

Federal officials ranging from the Yuma Sector Border Patrol chief up to the Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff expressed outrage Wendesday at the release in Mexico of a man accused in the death of Yuma-based patrol agent.

"I am outraged that this suspect was released from custody," said Yuma Sector Chief Patrol Agent Paul Beeson. "The men and women of this sector will not rest until the individual responsible for the murder of agent Luis Aguilar is brought to justice."

National Border Patrol Council president T.J. Bonner reported on Wednesday that an unidentified Mexican judge released 22-year-old Jesus Navarro Montes for time served in another case. Mexican judicial officials in Mexicali, Baja Calif., where Navarro was being held, could not be reached by The Sun for comment Wednesday.

It could not be determined immediately what charges Navarro Montes faced, what charges Mexican authorities presented to the judge in seeking to hold him, whether Navarro Montes had petitioned for bail nor the circumstances of his release.

Calls to the U.S. attorney’s office in San Diego seeking to determine the status of any extradition request or U.S. charges were not immediately returned. An online federal court database does not list any charges filed by prosecutors against Navarro Montes in Southern California.

Shortly after Aguilar’s death, federal officials in San Diego had declined comment, citing an ongoing investigation, and Mexican officials did not indicate whether the U.S. had formally requested Navarro Montes’ extradition.

Mexican law normally requires suspects to face justice in Mexico before they can be extradited.

A U.S. law enforcement official said Wednesday that the Mexican attorney general’s office has put out a law enforcement notice seeking Navarro Montes.

Navarro was arrested Jan. 22 in the northern state of Sonora in Mexico and was being held in a Mexicali prison. Mexico had sought him for allegedly smuggling migrants.

Navarro was the suspected driver of a smuggling vehicle that struck and killed Aguilar on Jan. 19 as Aguilar tried to deploy spike strips to stop the vehicle in the Imperial Sand Dunes. The vehicle was fleeing U.S. law enforcement officers at the time.

Border Patrol spokesmen in the Washington, D.C., headquarters did not comment on the matter but instead issued a prepared statement from the Department of Homeland Security.

"We are shocked and appalled to learn that Jesus Navarro Montes was recently released by a Mexican judge," Chertoff said in the statement. "Navarro Montes is a suspect in the murder of Border Patrol Agent Luis Aguilar. Agent Aguilar was killed in a heinous act of violence on Jan. 19 in the Yuma Sector, while attempting to stop two vehicles that illegally entered the country and were absconding into Mexico."

Chertoff also said in the statement, "We are working with a determined Mexican Government, and our Department of Justice, to seek swift justice for the Aguilar murder. We have also assured Agent Aguilar's family that every resource is being called upon in the relentless pursuit of justice."

Bonner added that the U.S. government has made numerous inquiries with the Mexican government regarding Navarro's release, which happened last week.

"To my knowledge we have not received any satisfactory answers yet what this happened," Bonner said. "And why our government was not notified."

Bonner went on to say although Navarro was released sometime last week, the Border Patrol did not find out about it until Wednesday.

"He is free man out walking the streets in Mexico. We have no idea where he is now."

Authorities believe Navarro left Mexicali in Baja California and was headed for the United States in a Hummer carrying drugs on the day the agent was killed.

According to previous articles in The Sun, after the killing, Navarro allegedly drove to Mexicali and gave the Hummer to accomplices for safekeeping.

He was later arrested in Ciudad Obregon, Son., and transferred to Mexicali, where he was detained on the smuggling charge.

"Agent Aguilar's murder represents a tragic example of border violence," Chertoff said in the prepared release. "We are placing our highest priority on combating and ending the increase in violence, and the American public stands with the men and women of the Border Patrol as they carry out their heroic service."

"Every Border Patrol agent in the country is outraged and stunned by this," Bonner said. "It's very frustrating for front-line agents to watch the killer of one of their own to walk free after only serving less then five months. It is a terrible injustice and completely unacceptable."

---

James Gilbert can be reached at
jgilbert@yumasun.com or 539-6854. The Associated Press contributed to this report.