August 11, 1999

INS Arrests Ensenada Mass Murder Suspect
19 Died in Execution-Style Massacre Last September

LOS ANGELES — Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) Special Agents of the Los Angeles Fugitive Alien Removal Unit last Saturday arrested a suspect in the murder of 19 people in Ensenada. Manuel Escalante (also known as Manuel Ross Cuenca), a 24-year-old citizen of Spain and resident of Ensenada, Mexico, was arrested near his home in Walnut Park following a closely coordinated surveillance operation. The effort was coordinated by members of Operation Equal Justice, a U.S. Marshals (USMS) task force, along with special agents of the INS, the USMS, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and representatives of the Office of the Attorney General of the Mexico Attaché in Los Angeles.

Escalante is alleged to be part of a gang associated with the Arellano-Felix drug cartel, thought to be behind the massacre of 19 people on September 17, 1998. He allegedly carried out the execution-style shooting of 21 people, which included 10 children and 11 adults belonging to three families. The 21 people were dragged from their beds, lined up against a wall, and shot with high-caliber automatic weapons.

The surveillance started on August 7 at daybreak, when authorities followed Escalante’s mother and sister on a five-hour bus ride from Ensenada, Mexico, to the Tres Estrellas De Oro Travel Agency in Walnut Park, Calif. After arriving at the travel agency, the two women exited the bus and waited for a ride. A few minutes later, a male suspect, later identified as Escalante, arrived and picked up the women. Agents followed the suspect’s vehicle to the 100 block of 28th Street, south of downtown Los Angeles, where they closed in and made a "felony stop."

Escalante was arrested and held on violations of his non-immigrant status by INS authorities. He was transferred to the USMS after a provisional arrest warrant for 19 counts of first degree murder and kidnapping was issued by Mexican authorities. He will remain in Marshals Service custody pending extradition to Mexico.

— INS —