WASHINGTON — This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (Interpol Washington), published as received.
WASHINGTON – Last week, INTERPOL Washington and members of the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) presented awards to the Fiscalía General de la República in Mexico City for their exceptional assistance in the capture of two individuals on the USMS 15 Most Wanted Fugitives list.
The fugitives, Edgar Salvador Casian-Garcia and Araceli Medina, were elevated to the list in February 2023, wanted by the Pasco Police Department in Franklin County, Washington, in reference to aggravated murder of a child, rape in the first degree of another child, and three counts of aggravated assault of a child in the first degree.
Acting on U.S. requests for provisional arrest for the purpose of extradition, and thanks to the diligent efforts of the Agencia de Investigación Criminal and INTERPOL Mexico, the pair was successfully arrested in Mexico on March 22, 2023, and subsequently extradited to the U.S. This operation also led to the recovery of five missing and endangered children. INTERPOL Washington issued two INTERPOL Red Notices and five urgent Yellow Notices regarding Casian-Garcia and Medina that were instrumental in their location and apprehension.
“It is a great privilege to honor the incredible work done by our partners in Mexico to bring these dangerous fugitives back to the U.S. to face justice for such heinous accusations,” said INTERPOL Washington Director Michael A. Hughes. “Criminals don’t stop at borders and neither do we. Through this remarkable example of international law enforcement collaboration, we have once again demonstrated that by working together, we can build a safer world.”
The charges came after Casian-Garcia’s biological daughters, 8 and 3 at the time, were found abandoned in Tijuana, Mexico, in mid-2020. Both girls showed signs of severe physical abuse. Subsequent forensic interviews done with one of the girls determined that Casian-Garcia and Medina had likely been physically abusing the children, as well as the girls’ seven-year-old brother, who is believed to have been tortured to death in Washington state and his body later dumped. His remains were found in a rural part of neighboring Benton County in February 2022.
After presenting the awards, INTERPOL Washington also visited INTERPOL Mexico to recognize its support and assistance in the case, as well as provide an operational update and discuss increased partnership opportunities.
A component of the U.S. Department of Justice co-managed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, INTERPOL Washington—the U.S. National Central Bureau (USNCB)—is the designated U.S. representative to INTERPOL. It serves as the national point of contact and coordination for all INTERPOL matters, coordinating international investigative efforts among member countries and the more than 18,000 local, state, federal, tribal, and territorial law enforcement agencies.
