As part of their guilty pleas, Zapata Espinoza, Venegas and Nava admitted to being members of a Los Zetas "hit squad" and to participating directly in the Feb. 15, 2011, ambush of the two special agents
Mexican killer of ICE agent extradited to U.S. linked to ATF's Fast & Furious
One of the prime suspects in the murder of a member of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Special Agent Jaime Zapata, and the attempted slaying of his partner, Special Agent Victor Avila was extradited to the United States by the Mexican government for his part in the drug-cartel's ambush. U.S. Department of Justice officials said that although 34-year-old Jose Emanuel Garcia Sota (a/k/a Juan Manuel Maldonado Amezcua, Zafado or Safado), of San Luis Potosi, Mexico, had been charged on May 6, 2013, he made his second U.S. court appearance on Friday more than two years later. The case is believed to have been linked to the botched Fast and Furious operation run by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).