PRESIDIO, Texas – U.S. Customs and Border Protection Officers assigned to the Presidio port of entry arrested a 53-year-old Mexican national who was wanted in connection with a 1993 California slaying Monday.
“This arrest demonstrates just one of the many roles CBP plays in keeping our communities safe by taking dangerous criminals off of our streets,” said Presidio Port Director John Deputy. “I applaud our officers for their role in bringing this person to justice.”
The apprehension was made shortly after 11 a.m. when Jose Angel Barraza Gomez arrived at the port of entry from Mexico to obtain paperwork to renew his expired I-551 resident alien card. CBP officers noted that the card had expired 14 years earlier and initiated an inspection. CBP officers fingerprinted the subject and received information that he was wanted. CBP officers contacted the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department to confirm that the subject presenting himself for inspection was the person being sought in California. The LASD provided information confirming that Barraza was wanted for a slaying which occurred in El Monte, Calif. in 1993. CBP officers took Barraza into custody and turned him over to the Presidio police department. He was booked into the Presidio County Jail in Marfa awaiting extradition. Barraza had been living in Camargo, Mexico.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers’ primary mission is anti-terrorism; they screen all people, vehicles, and goods entering the United States, while facilitating the flow of legitimate trade and travel into and out of the United States. Their mission also includes carrying out traditional border-related responsibilities, including narcotics interdiction, enforcing immigration law, protecting the nation’s food supply and agriculture industry from pests and diseases, and enforcing trade laws.