CBT
11-11-2007, 08:38 PM
Mexican relishes hunt for US fugitives <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>
<o:p> </o:p>
By ELLIOT SPAGAT <o:p></o:p>
Associated Press Writer<o:p></o:p>
<o:p> </o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
<?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:City w:st="on">MEXICALI</st1:City>, <st1:country-region w:st="on">Mexico</st1:country-region> (AP) -- It's a <st1:place w:st="on">Hollywood</st1:place> theme older than "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" and as recent as "Thelma & Louise." Flee south of the border to escape the law.<o:p></o:p>
<o:p> </o:p>
Alfredo Arenas Moreno's mission is to convince fugitives that <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Mexico</st1:place></st1:country-region> is no hiding place, despite what the movies say.<o:p></o:p>
<o:p> </o:p>
Exhibit A: a <st1:State w:st="on">Nebraska</st1:State> teacher he caught on charges of fleeing the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">U.S.</st1:place></st1:country-region> with a 13-year-old student she was suspected of having sex with.<o:p></o:p>
<o:p> </o:p>
"They still have this image in their minds of the old Western movies, when the desperate would come to <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Mexico</st1:place></st1:country-region> and find a haven," he says. "That no longer works."<o:p></o:p>
<o:p> </o:p>
Arenas, 47, heads the <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Baja California</st1:place></st1:State> state police department's international liaison unit, whose only jobs are to provide security for visiting celebrities and hunt down people on the run. He says his unit captured 195 <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">U.S.</st1:place></st1:country-region> fugitives since 2001, including accused murderers, rapists and child abusers.<o:p></o:p>
<o:p> </o:p>
Arenas used a GPS tracker to find Kelsey Peterson, 25, in her car Nov. 2 in the parking lot of a shopping mall in this border city. The teacher was turned over to <st1:country-region w:st="on">U.S.</st1:country-region> authorities to face federal charges of transporting a child across state lines for sexual activity, ending a weeklong search, and agreed Wednesday to be extradited from <st1:State w:st="on">California</st1:State> to <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Nebraska</st1:place></st1:State>.<o:p></o:p>
<o:p> </o:p>
Arenas released the boy, an illegal immigrant, to relatives who live in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Yuma</st1:City>, <st1:State w:st="on">Ariz.</st1:State></st1:place> The eighth-grader told The Associated Press in <st1:country-region w:st="on">Mexico</st1:country-region> that he had sexual intercourse with the teacher, whom he called his best friend, and that the pair went to <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Mexico</st1:place></st1:country-region> to "get away for a while."<o:p></o:p>
<o:p> </o:p>
Arenas said Peterson entered <st1:City w:st="on">Tijuana</st1:City>, <st1:country-region w:st="on">Mexico</st1:country-region>, from <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">San Diego</st1:City></st1:place> with a car full of clothing, bottled water, toiletries, family photos, Disney DVDs and her dog, Miley.<o:p></o:p>
<o:p> </o:p>
The FBI agent, Mike Eckel, called later with a tip that the boy's relatives in Yuma agreed to deliver money to the pair at the Mexicali mall at 4:30 p.m. Arenas used the GPS system on the pair's cell phone to pinpoint the spot. He saw the boy standing 10 feet from the white 2006 Pontiac G6; Peterson was sitting inside.<o:p></o:p>
<o:p> </o:p>
His team of agents - three in <st1:City w:st="on">Mexicali</st1:City> and two in <st1:City w:st="on">Tijuana</st1:City> - is now pursuing about a dozen cases in the state, which straddles <st1:State w:st="on">California</st1:State>'s border with <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Mexico</st1:country-region></st1:place> and extends south to secluded beach towns. He said he is closing in on an accused child molester from <st1:City w:st="on">Orange County</st1:City>, <st1:State w:st="on">Calif.</st1:State>, who is hiding in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Tijuana</st1:City></st1:place>.<o:p></o:p>
<o:p> </o:p><o:p> </o:p>
Arenas, who stands 6-foot-4, weighs 245 pounds and sports a gray goatee, revels in tough talk. He says fugitives squirm at the prospect of spending time behind bars in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Mexico</st1:place></st1:country-region>.<o:p></o:p>
<o:p> </o:p>
"Mexican jails are real jails; we don't send you to the dentist if you have a toothache," he said. "<st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">U.S.</st1:place></st1:country-region> jails are like Holiday Inns - air conditioning, cable TV, three meals a day."<o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
He also shows a softer side. As he parted with Peterson, he told her that her dog would likely die in a Mexican animal shelter. She wept, and he pitied her.<o:p></o:p>
<o:p> </o:p>
By ELLIOT SPAGAT <o:p></o:p>
Associated Press Writer<o:p></o:p>
<o:p> </o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
<?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:City w:st="on">MEXICALI</st1:City>, <st1:country-region w:st="on">Mexico</st1:country-region> (AP) -- It's a <st1:place w:st="on">Hollywood</st1:place> theme older than "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" and as recent as "Thelma & Louise." Flee south of the border to escape the law.<o:p></o:p>
<o:p> </o:p>
Alfredo Arenas Moreno's mission is to convince fugitives that <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Mexico</st1:place></st1:country-region> is no hiding place, despite what the movies say.<o:p></o:p>
<o:p> </o:p>
Exhibit A: a <st1:State w:st="on">Nebraska</st1:State> teacher he caught on charges of fleeing the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">U.S.</st1:place></st1:country-region> with a 13-year-old student she was suspected of having sex with.<o:p></o:p>
<o:p> </o:p>
"They still have this image in their minds of the old Western movies, when the desperate would come to <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Mexico</st1:place></st1:country-region> and find a haven," he says. "That no longer works."<o:p></o:p>
<o:p> </o:p>
Arenas, 47, heads the <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Baja California</st1:place></st1:State> state police department's international liaison unit, whose only jobs are to provide security for visiting celebrities and hunt down people on the run. He says his unit captured 195 <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">U.S.</st1:place></st1:country-region> fugitives since 2001, including accused murderers, rapists and child abusers.<o:p></o:p>
<o:p> </o:p>
Arenas used a GPS tracker to find Kelsey Peterson, 25, in her car Nov. 2 in the parking lot of a shopping mall in this border city. The teacher was turned over to <st1:country-region w:st="on">U.S.</st1:country-region> authorities to face federal charges of transporting a child across state lines for sexual activity, ending a weeklong search, and agreed Wednesday to be extradited from <st1:State w:st="on">California</st1:State> to <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Nebraska</st1:place></st1:State>.<o:p></o:p>
<o:p> </o:p>
Arenas released the boy, an illegal immigrant, to relatives who live in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Yuma</st1:City>, <st1:State w:st="on">Ariz.</st1:State></st1:place> The eighth-grader told The Associated Press in <st1:country-region w:st="on">Mexico</st1:country-region> that he had sexual intercourse with the teacher, whom he called his best friend, and that the pair went to <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Mexico</st1:place></st1:country-region> to "get away for a while."<o:p></o:p>
<o:p> </o:p>
Arenas said Peterson entered <st1:City w:st="on">Tijuana</st1:City>, <st1:country-region w:st="on">Mexico</st1:country-region>, from <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">San Diego</st1:City></st1:place> with a car full of clothing, bottled water, toiletries, family photos, Disney DVDs and her dog, Miley.<o:p></o:p>
<o:p> </o:p>
The FBI agent, Mike Eckel, called later with a tip that the boy's relatives in Yuma agreed to deliver money to the pair at the Mexicali mall at 4:30 p.m. Arenas used the GPS system on the pair's cell phone to pinpoint the spot. He saw the boy standing 10 feet from the white 2006 Pontiac G6; Peterson was sitting inside.<o:p></o:p>
<o:p> </o:p>
His team of agents - three in <st1:City w:st="on">Mexicali</st1:City> and two in <st1:City w:st="on">Tijuana</st1:City> - is now pursuing about a dozen cases in the state, which straddles <st1:State w:st="on">California</st1:State>'s border with <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Mexico</st1:country-region></st1:place> and extends south to secluded beach towns. He said he is closing in on an accused child molester from <st1:City w:st="on">Orange County</st1:City>, <st1:State w:st="on">Calif.</st1:State>, who is hiding in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Tijuana</st1:City></st1:place>.<o:p></o:p>
<o:p> </o:p><o:p> </o:p>
Arenas, who stands 6-foot-4, weighs 245 pounds and sports a gray goatee, revels in tough talk. He says fugitives squirm at the prospect of spending time behind bars in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Mexico</st1:place></st1:country-region>.<o:p></o:p>
<o:p> </o:p>
"Mexican jails are real jails; we don't send you to the dentist if you have a toothache," he said. "<st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">U.S.</st1:place></st1:country-region> jails are like Holiday Inns - air conditioning, cable TV, three meals a day."<o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
He also shows a softer side. As he parted with Peterson, he told her that her dog would likely die in a Mexican animal shelter. She wept, and he pitied her.<o:p></o:p>