Federal agents in El Paso, Texas, have successfully apprehended and deported an international fugitive. The individual was sought by Mexican authorities for her involvement in gang-related assassinations.
Texas ranchers along the southern border are encountering a growing presence of Santa Muerte shrines on their properties, according to a report by The Center Square. Law enforcement officers conducting raids on stash houses have also come across these shrines. The shrines typically feature doll-sized skeletons representing a figure known as the “Grim Reapress,” dressed in a hooded robe and holding a scythe in one hand and a globe in the other.
The figure known as “Santa Muerte,” also referred to as the “Saint of Death,” is symbolic of death itself. Followers of this deity believe that she embodies the concept of the “Holiest Death,” or “Santísima Muerte.”
The FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin states that the Santa Muerte ideology has been evolving in Mexico for around fifty years and has now made its way into the United States and Central America. The cult’s influence has grown alongside its association with illegal drug trafficking in Mexico during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Known as the “saint of last resort,” Santa Muerte has always attracted followers who find themselves living in extreme circumstances.
In the early morning of February 15th, a joint operation involving FBI-El Paso agents, Border Patrol BORTAC operators, El Paso Police Department gang officers, and U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents took place. Their target was La Chely, who was staying in a local motel room in El Paso. She was apprehended, held in custody, and subsequently taken to a port of entry in El Paso. From there, she was deported and handed over to the Chihuahua State Police and the State Attorney General of Chihuahua (FISCALÍA).
According to John Morales, the special agent in charge of FBI-El Paso, the deportation of the individual emphasizes the quick response of their agents and the effective collaboration with Mexican law enforcement. He stated, “This successful operation has removed a dangerous assassin from our streets and ensured that she will face trial for her crimes.”
The arrest and deportation of the individual serve as a stark reminder of the alarming number of violent criminals who illegally enter Texas from Mexico. It also sheds light on the collaborative efforts of multiple agencies in apprehending such individuals.
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