Three suspects have been arrested in the murder of a federal border agent and assaults against two other agents who were shot early Thursday off the coast of the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico.
Three male Puerto Rican residents, including two confirmed U.S. citizens, were taken into FBI custody mid-Thursday, just hours after three federal agents from U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Air and Marine Operations were shot while attempting to interdict two boats. A fourth suspect was fatally shot by U.S. agents.
“One of the occupants of the vessel died on the scene and the other was arrested,” CBP said in a statement issued at 4 p.m. EST Thursday. “Later in the morning, another Marine Interdiction crew intercepted another vessel with two occupants on board. Inside the vessel contraband was found along with firearms. The two individuals, who are US citizens, were arrested.”
BIDEN’S BORDER NUMBERS FOR OCTOBER BREAK RECORD WITH 277,464 ENCOUNTERS
Nelson Marlon Rivera Suárez, de 45 años y con residencia en las Parcelas Hill Brother en San Juan, es uno de Los detenidos según mis fuentes. pic.twitter.com/H9n0cJRsS7
— Limarys Suárez (@Limarys_Suarez) November 17, 2022
Nelson Marlon Rivera Suarez, 45, and Osvaldo Hernandez Camacho, 35, were walked past a crowd by police from several federal agencies, according to ABC 5 Puerto Rico reporter Limarys Suarez.
A third suspect, 24-year-old Edgardo Luis Matos Santos of Ponce, Puerto Rico, was separately arrested.
The shootout happened 14 miles off the coast of northwestern Puerto Rico. Three federal agents were shot, according to a federal officer and a statement from CBP.
The agents were from the CBP’s Air and Marine Operations arm. AMO agents work the air and sea to patrol for human and drug smugglers. The incident took place around 8 a.m. local time, one hour ahead of Eastern time.
ACTUALIZACIÓN- Edgardo Luis Matos Santos, de 24 años y del residencial Del Portugués en Ponce, oficialmente es el tercer arrestado y uno de los presuntos gatilleros q disparó esta mañana contra agentes federales de CBP en medio de intervención en altamar en la zona de Cabo Rojo pic.twitter.com/mmb7RfG6Av
— Limarys Suárez (@Limarys_Suarez) November 17, 2022
The agents were “involved in an exchange of gunfire with individuals on board a suspected smuggling vessel upon approach 14 miles off the coast of Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico,” CBP confirmed to the Washington Examiner.
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One law enforcement source there said the agents interdicted the smugglers as they had been transferring drugs on board to another vessel.
