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For Immediate Release

Contact:
June 22, 2012 Michael E. Sharboneau
Deputy U.S. Marshal/Public Affairs Officer
Western District of Texas – El Paso Division
Serious Blow Dealt to Organized Crime;
R.I.C.O. Suspect Arrested at Paso Del Norte Port of Entry

El Paso, TX Today April Cardoza, 24, of El Paso, Texas was arrested by the United States Marshals Service. Cardoza has been a fugitive since March, 2011, when a federal arrest warrant was issued for Racketeering Activities, which included multiple instances of violent crimes. Cardoza’s charges were the result of an extensive, in depth joint investigation conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Federal Bureau of Investigation in El Paso, Texas. The culmination of this investigation resulted in a multi-defendant indictment which dealt a serious blow to organized crime in the El Paso, Texas/Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico area.

Procuraduria General de la Republica (PGR) of Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico located Cardoza in Juarez, Mexico late last night. PGR had been following up on information developed that Cardoza had been in the home of Ricardo Zuniga, a.k.a. “Nano”, the night of June 6, 2012, when he was arrested. Cardoza is the purported spouse of Zuniga who was recently returned to the United States to face capital murder charges stemming from a double homicide in June, 2009. Cardoza was an undocumented alien in Mexico. Cardoza was expelled from Mexico and returned to the United States at the Paso Del Norte Port of Entry where the USMS effected the arrest.

Robert Almonte, the United States Marshal for the Western District of Texas, stated “Law enforcement on both sides of the border is working together on many different fronts. We are proud to be taking part in serious efforts to curb the international crime predominant in our area and to decrease the amount of violence occurring in Juarez, Mexico.”

Additional information about the U.S. Marshals Service can be found at http://www.usmarshals.gov.

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