Fugitive from FBI’s Top Ten Most Wanted list arrested at record speed

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Brandon Drenon

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The FBI added Samuel Ramirez Jr to its Top Ten Most Wanted list on Tuesday morning and less than two hours later he was in handcuffs, an arrest of record-breaking speed.

After authorities captured Ramirez “without incident” in Culiacán, Sinaloa, Mexico, on 10 March, he was deported from Mexico to Washington state where he now faces murder charges, the US justice department said in a press release.

A warrant for Ramirez’s arrest was issued in 2023 over the murder of two female victims at the Stars Bar and Grill in Federal Way, Washington, on 21 May.

His capture also came after the FBI had raised the reward amount for information leading to his arrest from up to $25,000 (£18,888) to $1,000,000.

The justice department said Ramirez was arrested one hour and 13 minutes after he was announced as the 538th addition to the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list. The previous record, set in 1969, was two hours.

“This Department of Justice is arresting the FBI’s Top Ten Most Wanted criminals as quickly as they are added to the list,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in the press release.

Fugitives who have allegedly committed a variety of crimes are put on the list, which at one point featured Osama bin Laden, mostly because they have committed serious crimes, are considered dangerous and their whereabouts are not widely known.

Currently half the people on the list are accused of helping international gangs traffic drugs into the US and the one woman, Ruja Ignatova, allegedly stole billions of dollars in a cryptocurrency fraud scheme.

Ramirez is set to face multiple murder charges in King County Superior Court, including first degree murder and second degree murder.

“Mr. Ramirez’s addition to the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted List brought attention to a case that has deeply affected our community and resulted in a swift apprehension of a dangerous fugitive,” Neil Floyd, an attorney for the Western District of Washington, said in the press release.

The two deceased victims in the shooting were not named. The FBI said a third person was also injured.

Ramirez is due to appear at King County Superior Court in roughly two weeks for his arraignment, the justice department said.

FBI

Washington

United States