Suspects in the kidnapping and attack of a U.S. Border Patrol agent have been captured and an official statement from authorities reveals that the agent was hacked with a machete. Breitbart Texas first reported on the issue and first reported the identity of one of the suspects. In this case, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) first tried to keep the matter from the public and then downplayed aspects of the attack.

The first report on the June 9, 2017, kidnapping and attack, “Border Patrol Agent Found injured on Side of Roadway after Attack,” revealed that the issue had occurred and that CBP had not prioritized alerting the public or other Border Patrol agents.

The second report, “Border Patrol Agent was Kidnapped, FBI Leads Investigation,” relied on Breitbart Texas sources who had provided the actual BOLO (Be On Lookout) that was sent to law enforcement officers and agents on the matter.

The third report, “FBI’s Suspect in Kidnapping of Border Agent is Cartel-connected, Deported 3 Times Prior,” revealed all of the details of the BOLO, named the suspect, and source claims that the listed suspect had been deported three times prior to the attack.

The recently released official statement directly confirms most of the information Breitbart sources provided. Other aspects, such as the immigration status of one of the suspects, is left unconfirmed by authorities though implied in the fact that one of the suspects’ residences is mentioned and the alleged illegal immigrant’s place of residence is omitted. The official statement from the Doña Ana County Sheriff’s Department is provided in full below:

TWO MEN SUSPECTED IN ATTACK OF OFF-DUTY AGENT IN CUSTODY

Two men accused in the brutal attack of an off-duty U.S. Border Patrol agent on June 9 are in custody.

On Tuesday, FBI agents in the El Paso Sector, with the assistance of Doña Ana County Sheriff’s detectives, arrested 33-year-old Sergio Ivan Vanegas-Quinonez on an outstanding warrant of aggravated battery (great bodily harm) and aggravated assault. He is currently in custody at the El Paso County Detention Center awaiting extradition to Doña Ana County.

Thursday, 31-year-old Fernando Puga of Las Cruces was taken into custody by Doña Ana County Sheriff’s detectives with the assistance of FBI agents. Puga is charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and attempted murder. He is currently being held at the Doña Ana County Detention Center on a $1 million cash bond.

According to court documents filed by sheriff’s detectives, Vanegas-Quinonez and Puga confronted an off-duty U.S. Border Patrol agent on Friday, June 9, as the agent was reportedly helping his mother at her tamale stand near the intersection of Stan Roberts and McCombs in northeast El Paso.

The agent reportedly left in his vehicle with Vanegas-Quinonez and Puga.

At approximately 11:40 p.m. that same night, a sheriff’s deputy was dispatched to Paradise Lane, just off Shalem Colony Trail west of Las Cruces. Upon his arrival, the deputy reported finding a 30-year-old male subject who appeared to be suffering from multiple lacerations to his head and arms.

The male subject was later identified as the off-duty agent who reportedly left with Vanegas-Quinonez and Puga from northeast El Paso. The victim said the two men were armed with a gun and a machete. Detectives say the victim was struck repeatedly with the machete.

The gun was later discovered to be a pellet gun.

Sheriff’s detectives began to piece together details of the attack with an earlier call for service, one that happened just before 9 p.m. on the same night in the 100 block of Amparo Road in Chaparral.

Deputies responded to that location on what was initially believed to be an unrelated domestic dispute. When they arrived, it was learned that Vanegas-Quinonez had been at the house, demanding to see his ex-girlfriend. The woman’s sister told deputies Vanegas-Quinonez threatened her with what appeared to be a handgun. The sister described the vehicle Vanegas-Quinonez was in as an older-model red Nissan – the same vehicle that sheriff’s deputies located on the side of McCombs Road, just south of the New Mexico/Texas state line.

The vehicle matched the description provided by the victim on Amparo Road. Physical descriptions of the two suspects also matched between the victim on Amparo Road, the agent and his mother.

The victim remains in critical condition at UMC.

The incident is still an open investigation, in cooperation with the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas, and the Third Judicial District Attorney’s Office.

Brandon Darby is managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded the Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and Stephen K. Bannon. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.

Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded the Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and Stephen K. Bannon. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook.

(Disclosure: Brandon Darby has spoken publicly about previously working undercover with the FBI and has testified in trials on their behalf. He continues to communicate with a variety of U.S. and foreign law enforcement agencies in connection with efforts to report on and expose transnational criminal organizations and to bring a voice to the victims of such groups.)