Runaway Wanted for 2004 Murder in US Found Working as Mexican Police Officer

A criminal known as “The Devil,” who was wanted for the fatal shooting in Ohio two decades ago, has been arrested in Mexico where he worked as a local cop, living a double life, the US Marshals Service said in a release.

Antonio “El Diablo” Riano, aged 72, was taken into custody in Mexico’s Zapotitlan Palmas last Thursday. He was charged with first-degree murder in connection with the shooting dead a 25-year-old man Benjamin Becarra near a bar in suburban Cincinnati in December of 2004.

Riano fled the country after the alleged shootout. Later he was added to the “Most Wanted” list of the Butler County Sheriff’s Office and even appeared on an episode of “America’s Most Wanted.”

Despite the case going cold, the authorities finally tracked down “El Diablo” in another country in an unexpected role.

“When Riano was arrested in Mexico, he was found to be working as a local police officer,” the Marshals Service said.

“The United States Marshal Service, through our violent fugitive task forces, assists our state and local law enforcement partners to apprehend the area’s most dangerous fugitives. This arrest is the result of the ongoing sharing of information between the agencies and the determination of the investigators who refused to give up on this case,” Michael D. Black, U.S. Marshal for the Southern District of Ohio, said in the statement.

Riano was extradited to the US Cincinnati and taken to the Butler County Jail to await court proceedings.