Wanted Mexican Fugitives Arrested and Released

SMITH COUNTY — The U.S. Department of State ordered the release of a former Mexican government official from custody after a Tyler traffic stop. One day after being told to release 41-year-old Hector Hernandez Javier Villarreal, the former secretary executive of the Tax Administration Service of Coahulia, Mexico, and his 28-year-old wife, Maria Teresita Botello, authorities said they are once again searching for the couple.

Smith County sheriff’s deputies arrested the couple last week, and federal officials transported them from the Smith County Jail to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement division, or ICE, of Homeland Security in Dallas. After their arrest, the State Department ordered their release. Villarreal and Botello are wanted for the embezzlement of hundreds of millions, possibly billions, of dollars through Villarreal’s office in Coahuila, Mexico. Smith County Sheriff, J.B. Smith said, in regards to the release, that some people just make mistakes and the paperwork to keep the fugitives was not received in time.