Suspect caught in 'Fast and Furious'-linked killing of Border Patrol agent

Dan Nowicki | The Arizona Republic

Show Caption Hide Caption What was Operation Fast and Furious? The death of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry exposed a botched U.S. gun-smuggling operation.

PHOENIX — A suspect in the 2010 murder of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry has been arrested in Mexico, The Arizona Republic has confirmed.

Heraclio "Laco" Osorio-Arellanes, 38, was caught Wednesday as part of a U.S.-Mexico operation "at a ranch on the border of the Mexican states of Sinaloa and Chihuahua," Fox News reported in a story attributed to unnamed "senior law enforcement, Border Patrol and congressional sources" that it labeled "exclusive."

According to Fox News, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Border Patrol and the U.S. marshals participated in the task force that took Osorio-Arellanes, whom authorities believe shot and killed Terry, into custody.

"I can confirm that he was arrested today (Wednesday) at a ranch in Mexico," David Gonzales, U.S. marshal for the District of Arizona, told The Arizona Republic. "The extradition process kicks into effect now, and we'll be coordinating with the Mexican government to have him extradited to the U.S. as soon as possible."

The FBI has been offering a $250,000 reward for information that led to Osorio-Arellanes' location and arrest.

Russ Baer, a national DEA spokesman, told The Republic that the agency had no comment. A Border Patrol spokesman did not respond to a Republic request for comment.

Robert Heyer, Terry's cousin and chairman of the Brian Terry Foundation, said through a spokesman that the Terry family is not commenting due to the sensitivity of the ongoing investigation.

Terry, 40, was killed in a nighttime gunbattle on Dec. 14, 2010, in a remote canyon near Rio Rico — about 10 miles north of the U.S.-Mexican border in Santa Cruz Country — with what then-Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano called a "rip crew."

Rip crews generally target drug smugglers and undocumented immigrants.

Terry's death touched off a major political controversy after it was revealed that two guns recovered after the Arizona shootout were linked to "Operation Fast and Furious," a botched Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives gun-trafficking probe that lost track of hundreds of weapons.

The so-called "gun-walking" scandal resulted in the 2011 resignation of U.S. Attorney Dennis Burke. The Republican-controlled House of Representatives in 2012 voted to hold then-Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress over a dispute concerning "Fast and Furious"-related documents. A spokesman for President Barack Obama at the time characterized the House action as "a transparently political stunt."

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