US hands over alleged murderer, human trafficker to El Salvador
Pair had been in the United States illegally; woman had previously been arrested on similar charges in her country
EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) — U.S. authorities have sent two unauthorized foreign nationals to El Salvador to stand trial on murder and human trafficking charges. respectively.
U.S. Customs and Border Enforcement (ICE) flew Benito Arevalo Gochez Ruballo, 47, and Erika Beatriz Rivera Crespin, 35, in a charter flight from El Paso to San Salvador earlier this month, where Salvadoran officials took custody of them. Officers with the ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) made the transfer with help from the Security Alliance for Fugitive Enforcement (SAFE) in El Salvador.
Gochez Ruballo faces multiple charges in his native country including homicide, conspiracy in an aggravated homicide and criminal conspiracy.
Rivera Crespin is wanted for human trafficking, a crime for which she was previously arrested in 2019 in El Salvador. According to El Pais, Crespin was previously arrested in June 2019 in the city of Santa Ana, while allegedly operating from a funeral home. It’s not known if she served prison time for those charges.
ERO last month flew another Salvadoran fugitive to face charges in his home country. Eric Hernandez Bonilla, 24, was flown from Alexandria, Louisiana, to the El Salvador International Airport on Dec. 2. Hernandez Bonilla faces murder charges and was on El Salvador Police’s 100 Most Wanted list.
“Dangerous criminals, who attempt to evade justice in their home countries by seeking safe haven in the United States, will not find it here,” said Mary De Anda, acting field office director for ERO El Paso. “ICE is committed to identifying, locating, arresting and ultimately removing foreign fugitives to keep our country and communities safe.”