Rogelio Mendiola had a murder warrant out of Cameron County. He was on the run for years. On Sunday, June 21, he tried to cross back into the U.S. at Eagle Pass. Officers were waiting.
Eagle Pass Police and U.S. Marshals grabbed Mendiola at Port of Entry II. He came over from Mexico. They took him right there.
The murder charge goes back to 2021. That year, the body of Genaro Urbano Gomez Castillo was found in Cameron Park. It started as a welfare check. It ended as a murder case. Cameron County Sheriff Eric Garza said four men shot and killed Castillo. Mendiola was one of them. Three others were caught fast. Mendiola posted bond and ran. He went to Matamoros, just across from Brownsville.
The warrant stayed open. No one stopped looking.
The U.S. Marshals Lone Star Task Force is built to find people on the run. They work with local cops. They also work with police in Mexico. That teamwork is what got Mendiola on Sunday.
Eagle Pass Police said this is what good teamwork looks like. Local, state, and federal officers all worked together. Police in Piedras Negras helped too.
After his arrest, Mendiola was taken to a federal jail in Val Verde County. He will stay there while Cameron County gets him back. He will face a murder charge when he does.
No court date is set yet. The other three men charged in Castillo's death still have open cases in Cameron County court.
Genaro Urbano Gomez Castillo was 42 years old when he died. His case sat open for five years. Mendiola lived free just south of the border the whole time. On Sunday, that ended.
