Authorities arrest two ‘dangerous fugitives’ – Metro Puerto Rico

The Puerto Rico Violent Offender Task Force (PRVOTF), working in conjunction with U.S. Marshals Service units and police department partners across the country, has arrested two dangerous fugitives who were searched in separate operations and different locations in Puerto Rico.

Luis Crespo-Cumba, 48, wanted on federal warrants for money laundering and conspiracy to distribute cocaine and marijuana in the District of Puerto Rico and the continental United States, was arrested on August 20 in the Central District of Puerto Rico, California, in response to an incidental tip sent by PRVOTF members to the USMS Central District of California; he was successfully located and arrested with the assistance of the Los Angeles Police Department.

“A federal grand jury in the District of Puerto Rico returned a 60-count superseding indictment charging 18 individuals with importing cocaine and marijuana into the District of Puerto Rico and the mainland United States and money laundering. The investigation is ongoing. HSI and HSI are leading the investigation, working with the Puerto Rico Police Department, the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Customs and Border Protection (CBP), CBP Air and Marine Operations, the United States Postal Service, the United States Marshals Service (USMS), the Puerto Rico Department of the Treasury, and the Barcelona City Police Department. To date, over $6 million in U.S. dollars and U.S. assets, approximately 10 firearms, and over 2,000 kilograms of narcotics have been seized,” said Stephen W. Muldrow, U.S. Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico.

Crespo-Cumba is one of the most wanted criminals in the city of Mayagüez, accused of leading the Mayagüez massacre in 2020. In January 2023, Judge María Del Pilar Vázquez of the Mayagüez State Court in Puerto Rico issued an in absentia warrant for the arrest of Crespo-Cumba on murder and weapons law charges in the amount of $2.5 million. Crespo-Cumba has been accused of domestic violence and drug-related crimes.

José Pabón-Custodio, 35, who was wanted on a federal warrant charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute a controlled substance and violations of the Weapons Act, was arrested without incident on August 21 in Florida by the U.S. Marine Corps Florida Caribbean District Police Department Fugitive Force Task Force (FCRFTF) in response to a collateral tip filed by the PRVOTF.

On September 25, 2019, a federal grand jury in the District of Puerto Rico returned an indictment charging 50 defendants with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute a controlled substance, said Rosa Emilia Rodríguez-Vélez, former U.S. Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico.

Agencies assisting in the investigation include Homeland Security Investigations, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Puerto Rico Police Department, the Ponce Strike Force and the U.S. Marine Corps.

According to the indictment, since 2013, the drug trafficking organization to which Pabón Custodio belonged has distributed heroin, crack, cocaine and marijuana within 1,000 feet of the public housing projects of José N. Gándara Hogares de Portugués in the city of Ponce and other areas of southern Puerto Rico, all for profit and financial gain.

“We want our citizens to know that the U.S. Marshals Service in Puerto Rico continues to work strategically with state, local and federal law enforcement agencies across the country,” said U.S. Marshal for the District of Puerto Rico, Wilmer Ocasio-Ibarra. “We remain focused on pursuing those who think they can evade justice by fleeing our region. This is yet another example of how fugitives like Crespo-Cuamba and Papon-Custodio may have believed that our Deputy U.S. Marshals and their federal and state partners would not leave our jurisdiction to come knocking on their doors. They are wrong. “The U.S. Marshals Service will never stop until we find them and bring them to justice.”

Ocasio-Ibarra also urged citizens to continue working with the U.S. Navy and police departments to provide information that will help them continue to make meaningful arrests to make communities safer.

The U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) encourages the community to continue working with our deputies to find clues that may help locate this offender by contacting our local field office at (787) 766-6297, calling the U.S. Marshals Service Communications Center at 1 (800) 336-0102 or submitting a tip using the USMS Tips App.

The FCRFTF has extensive experience conducting complex short-term and long-term investigations and utilizes all available resources by working in partnership with multiple law enforcement agencies. The Task Force has a long history of success in arresting and prosecuting violent organized crime/gang members of FCRFTF personnel, further strengthening the positive relationship with the United States Attorney’s Office and the Puerto Rico Department of Justice to combat gang-related violence and organized crime in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

The mission of the FCRFTF is to locate and apprehend fugitives, with a priority on those wanted for violent crimes. Established on July 1, 2008, the task force is supported by eight federal agencies and 101 state and local agencies and operates in the South, North and Central Districts of Florida and the U.S. Virgin Islands.