El Paso Doctor, Co-Worker Released From Juarez Prison

On Thursday, an El Paso doctor and his co-worker were released after spending a week behind bars in Juarez.

Dr. Justus Opot and Marisol Perez were facing drug charges. According to our news partners at Channel 44 in Juarez, a Juarez judge said there wasn’t enough evidence to keep them.

“I feel very good and I want to thank everybody, all the prayers everybody did and all the support,” said Marisol Arreola.

A grateful Arreola is breathing a sigh of relief that her husband and his co-worker are finally free.

As ABC-7 first told you Tuesday, both Opot and Perez are U.S. citizens living in Juarez.

The two work at the El Paso Mental Health and Mental Retardation Center and were on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.

MHMR spokesman, Rene Hurtado sent ABC-7 a statement Thursday afternoon. “We are very glad to hear of the release of two valuable members of our team. We are looking forward to them returning to work and caring for our consumers,” he wrote.

Opot and Perez said they found more than 100 lbs. of marijuana in Perez’s car trunk when Opot was putting his gym bag in the trunk.

“What I suggested to her, because it was her car, was the best thing to do is to take these things to the police,” said Dr. Justus Opot.

In an interview earlier this week, Opot said Perez drove to a federal check point in Juarez.

“She went to tell the officer that there were some boxes in the car and she didn’t know what the boxes were,” Opot said.

That’s when he said federal police arrested them.

Opot’s wife said this incident should serve as an example to Mexican authorities that there are honest people living in Juarez who have not been corrupted by the cartels.

“There is a lot of good people that will denounce, but they just have to show us how they want us to do it and they have to respect our rights so more citizens do what Justus did,” Arreola said.

She also said families in similar situations shouldn’t be afraid to fight for their loved ones.

“If they trust their own family, that they are doing the right thing, they have to speak, they have to raise their voice and they have to ask for their rights,” Arreola said.

Arreola told ABC-7 she isn’t sure if she and her husband will continue to live in Juarez. She said she’s a Mexican national, so it is something they plan to discuss.