Quick Facts
Biography
Agustín Vásquez Mendoza is a Mexican citizen who was sought for four years in the late 1990s by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) as the 445th FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitive for his alleged participation in a drug conspiracy which led to the death of a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Special Agent.
Biography
DEA Special Agent Richard Fass was murdered while acting, in an undercover capacity, as a buyer of methamphetamine from Vásquez. He was arrested in Puebla by Mexican authorities on July 9, 2000.
According to the DEA, on June 30, 1994, Vásquez and associates Rafael Rubio Méndez, Juan Vásquez Rubio, and Eduardo Aceves Vásquez, shot Special Agent Richard E. Fass in Glendale, Arizona, and robbed him of US$160,000 they believed was to be used for the purchase of methamphetamines. He was indicted in Phoenix, Arizona, on July 11, 1994 and was entered into the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives' database on August 3, 1996 at place 445. He remained on the run for four years until his arrest.
Capture
On January 29, 2005, the DEA announced Vásquez’s extradition from Mexico to stand trial. He was transported to Phoenix, Arizona, to be tried for First Degree Murder, Conspiracy/Armed Robbery, Attempted Murder, Attempted Armed Robbery, Kidnapping and First Degree Burglary.