Deported MS-13 leader escapes and may be headed this way

Houston Chronicle:

A reputed killer and leader of one of the world's most notorious street gangs escaped during a botched custody transfer in Honduras and has been a fugitive for more than a year, the Houston Chronicle has learned.

Ever Anibal Rivera Paz, the alleged chief of the Honduran arm of the Mara Salvatrucha gang, was being extradited on charges of plotting a massacre that left 28 people, including six children, dead on Dec. 23, 2004.

Also known as "El Culiche," The Tapeworm, Rivera Paz was last seen boarding a deportation flight from Houston to Honduras on Nov. 17, 2005, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement records.

The FBI fears Rivera Paz may have returned to the United States or may be headed that way, according to a confidential May 2006 FBI bulletin obtained by the Chronicle.

"Officers should be aware that he has threatened to assassinate any officer that attempts to apprehend him," the bulletin states.

Honduran officials confirmed Rivera Paz's disappearance but said they were never notified that he was scheduled for deportation.

U.S. immigration officials insisted that the Honduran government was notified in writing through multiple channels that "Culiche" was headed back after a stint in a U.S. prison for re-entering the country illegally.

...

Nine months before Rivera Paz disappeared, top FBI officials and then-President of Honduras Ricardo Marduro called news conferences to announce his capture. He was arrested by a Texas state trooper near Falfurrias on Feb. 10, 2005, after a traffic stop about 110 miles from the border.

Twelve days after the arrest, U.S. officials matched Rivera Paz to a Department of Homeland Security alert, based on Honduran intelligence, that warned he could be heading north to avoid prosecution in the massacre. His arrest was called a major blow to Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, and a model of international cooperation.

Now, two years after his arrest, the Rivera Paz case has raised serious questions about security procedures in both countries and about the integrity of the deportation process.

...

Luisa Deason, an ICE spokeswoman in Houston, said U.S. authorities notified the Honduran government that Rivera Paz would be deported that day. She said ICE listed his name on a roster of deportees arriving in Honduras who had criminal records in the United States. The Honduran government also issued travel papers for Rivera Paz, she said, clearing the way for his deportation.

"We executed that removal order and turned everyone on that flight over to the government," Deason said. "If there's a question after that, perhaps what you need to do (is) ask that government."

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There is much more including a description of the terrorist attack he is accused of. The story does not explain what happened to the other deportees on the flight. It does say that Honduras's process of handling deportees is chaotic. They apparently go through a different part of the airport than regular passengers and there are apparently several thousand of them a year. What probably needs to happen is a special process for high value deportees like this guy. A man accused of mass murder and terrorism should not be lumped in with illegal farm laborers.