American detectives utilized social media to locate a fugitive in Oaxaca, Mexico, two decades after he allegedly shot a man outside an Ohio bar. They discovered that he had unexpectedly taken on a new role as a police officer.
Antonio “El Diablo” Riano, now 62, faced first-degree murder charges and was arrested in Zapotitlan Palmas, then transferred to U.S. Marshals in Mexico City on Thursday, per the agency’s news release.
Riano fled Ohio after allegedly murdering 25-year-old Benjamin Becarra on December 19, 2004, outside the Roundhouse Bar in Hamilton, Ohio, approximately 30 miles north of Cincinnati.
According to witnesses, Riano and Becarra engaged in a dispute inside the bar, and when the argument escalated outside, security footage reportedly captured Riano fatally shooting Becarra in the face.
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Antonio Riano is shown in his latest mugshot, taken last week after his 20-year evasion came to an end. (Butler County Sheriff’s Office)
“Upon Riano’s arrest in Mexico, it was discovered he was working as a police officer locally,” stated the U.S. Marshals office. A photo taken at his arrest shows him in his police uniform.
When the 62-year-old was apprehended at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, a WKRC-TV reporter inquired about his police career choice. In Spanish, he responded that he “wanted to help the people of Mexico.”
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When asked if he killed Becarra, he denied it, stating, “No, I did not.”
Obtaining an indictment for Riano was straightforward, as police revealed to the outlet—Butler County sheriff’s deputies discovered security footage of Riano purchasing bullets just hours before the shooting at a local Walmart, along with the murder weapon hidden beneath the floorboards in his Ohio home.
“We had all the necessary evidence compiled,” Mark Henson, a detective from the 2004 case, shared with WKRC. “We had a direct indictment against him. It was just a matter of finding him.”
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Antonio Riano in a mugshot from 2004. (Butler County Sheriff’s Office)
Henson noted that he tracked Riano to New Jersey, where he had a sister, before finding out he had returned to his hometown in Oaxaca.
“I’m not going to lie; at that moment, I was questioning whether we would ever apprehend him,” Henson said to WKRC-TV.
Prior to his arrest, Riano was on the Butler County Sheriff’s Office’s “Most Wanted” list and even featured on an episode of “America’s Most Wanted.”
Authorities began “actively searching” for Riano in January of this year, stated Paul Newton, a former deputy working on the case who’s currently at the Butler County Prosecutor’s Office.
Zapotitlan Palmas Police Department in Oaxaca. (Google Maps)
The investigation led them to his Facebook page, where they discovered he was working as an officer for the Zapotitlan Palmas Police Department and residing in Oaxaca.
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“My reaction was, ‘Oh my God, there he is!'” Newton recounted to WKRC. “He looked a bit grayer and older, but it was definitely him.”
When Riano fled, he left behind a wife and three children in Ohio, according to WKRC. Riano’s extradition has also been communicated to Becarra’s family.
