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FBI Nabs One Of Its Top 10 Fugitives Wanted Since 1998

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Image courtesy FBI

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The FBI arrested a man this week believed to be a "major enforcer" and hit-man for a Mexican drug cartel responsible for importing coke into Los Angeles.

Authorities have been looking for Joe Luis Saenz since 1998 when he was accused of fatally shooting two gang rivals and then just weeks later kidnapping, raping and murdering a woman who was his girlfriend and the mother of his child. He's also accused of killing a fourth person in Whittier in 2008. The FBI put up billboards recently asking for the public's help finding him.

The FBI collaborated with the LAPD, the sheriff's department as well as the Mexican government, and Saenz was arrested late Thursday afternoon in Mexico, according to a release from the FBI. He was flown back to Los Angeles with an FBI escort last night, the Los Angeles Times reports.

At this point Saenz is believed to be 36 or 37. For more information about Saenz, the investigation to find him and his lengthy rap sheet, check out the FBI's recent releaseabout him.

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