Mexican Authorities Arrest Man In Border Agent’s Death

By E. EDUARDO CASTILLO Associated Press Writer

MEXICO CITY (AP) – Mexican authorities said Wednesday they had arrested a man in northern Mexico in the weekend killing of U.S. Border Patrol agent Luis Aguilar.

Jesus Navarro Montes, 22, was arrested in the northern state of Sonora on Wednesday, said a spokesman for Mexico’s federal Attorney General’s office who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with department policy.

Navarro was transported to the city of Mexicali in Baja California after he told Mexican authorities he ran over Aguilar on Saturday, the spokesman said.

Aguilar was trying to stop a suspected smuggler who had illegally entered the country from Mexico when he was hit by the vehicle, according to Agent Michael Bernacke, a spokesman for the agency’s Yuma sector.

The incident happened in the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area about 20 miles (32 kilometers) west of Yuma on Saturday.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)