Cartel member connected to the killings of 9 Americans was hiding in Albuquerque
By T.J. Wilham
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ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico (KOAT) — A cartel member who Mexican authorities say was involved in the massacre of three mothers and six of their children was hiding in Albuquerque.
About a month before U.S. Marshals took Gustavo Ivan Hernandez-Cabral, 24, into custody on Sept. 4, Border Patrol agents had apprehended him while crossing the border near Columbus, New Mexico.
The federal agents did not know he was connected to the 2019 massacre of three Mormon families and they deported him.
“In other words, they deported him just based on the illegal entry,” said Heston Sibert, former director of the Arizona Department of Public Safety who also commanded the Arizona border strike force. “They didn’t deport him because they found something outstanding. About his past or anything such as that.”
U.S. Marshals started looking for him after being alerted that he was wanted in Mexico.
Mexican authorities have now charged two dozen cartel members in connection with the November 2019 killings of Rhonita Miller, 30; Howard Miller, Jr., 12; Krystal Miller, 10; 8-month-old twins Titus and Tiana Miller; Dawna Langford, 43; Rogan Langford, 2; Trevor Langford, 11 and Christina Langford-Johnson, 31.
The victims — mostly Mormons from three families who had dual citizenship — were riding together in a caravan. Some were going to a wedding. Others were meeting up with their father in Arizona and the third family was moving back to North Dakota.
They had just left the ranch they were living at in the Mexican state of Sonora when two of the vehicles were attacked simultaneously. The vehicles were about 8 miles apart.
The attacks occurred about 55 miles from the New Mexico border.
More than 200 shots were fired and set their cars on fire. Court records show dozens of men were armed with AK-47s and AR-15 rifles.
“The ruthless nature of the cartel. It’s how they that’s how they remain effective, sadly,” Sibert said.
Five children survived the attacks. Mexican authorities said a drug cartel was involved, and at first, the victim’s families believed the attack was not targeted.
However, according to these federal court documents obtained by Target 7 — one of the mothers, 30-year-old Rhonita Miller — was related to some of the cartel’s harshest critics.
She was the mother of an 8-month-old also killed in the attack. Her father was part of a family that organized protest groups that spoke out against the cartels.
According to federal court documents obtained by Target 7, Hernandez-Cabral was first caught three miles north of the border by border patrol agents in July with a group of seven other undocumented immigrants.
Court records show they did not cross the border at a lawful port of entry.
Federal officials tell Target 7 they had no idea that Hernandez-Cabral was involved in the attacks at the time.
“If it’s good for criminals in the United States to go south, why wouldn’t it be good for criminals from the south to come north,” Sibert said.
Sibert says there is not a good system to help border patrol agents know who is being targeted for crimes by Mexican authorities or if they are part of the cartel.
“We’re not advanced enough for somebody not to hide here and hide in plain view,” Sibert said. “We have criminals coming to the United States to hide from all over the world.”
The surviving members of the families filed suit in federal court in North Dakota, claiming the cartel, Vicente Carillo Fuentes Organization, was trying to instill fear in those who live in that part of Sonora.
A federal judge awarded the families $1.5 million and federal records show U.S. authorities are in the process of seizing funds from bank accounts here in the United States.
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