El Paso CBP officers apprehend Colorado homicide suspect

Arresting murderers and terrorists is all in a day’s work for CBP. Check out the best homeland security books and learn how you can keep your community safe!

El Paso, TX – U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers working at the Paso Del Norte international crossing at the El Paso port of entry have arrested a man wanted on an outstanding homicide warrant from Colorado. He was being sought in Adams County, Colorado.

The arrest was made just before 6 p.m. Saturday after 21-year-old Roy Pena of Denver, Colorado, entered the United States from Mexico as a pedestrian border crosser. CBP officers initiated an inspection and determined that a homicide warrant had been issued for Pena a day earlier. CBP officers confirmed the warrant information and took the man into custody without incident. He was then turned over the El Paso Police Department and booked into the El Paso County Jail where he is currently being held without bond.

“CBP officers process approximately 12,000 pedestrians a day at the PDN facility. Their attention to detail and scrutiny of every single border crosser generates these types of fugitive apprehensions,” said El Paso Port Director Hector Mancha. “El Paso is a safe community and we believe the CBP inspection process plays an important role in keeping this community secure.”

While anti-terrorism is the primary mission of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the inspection process at the ports of entry associated with this mission results in impressive numbers of enforcement actions in all categories.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of our nation's borders at and between the official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.