(NEW YORK) — The husband of the owner of a New York City day care where a 1-year-old boy died following fentanyl exposure has been arrested, law enforcement sources told ABC News.
Felix Herrera Garcia was arrested in Mexico, on a bus in Sinaloa, after a manhunt that lasted more than a week, the sources said.
Following Garcia’s arrest, Mexican authorities who apprehended him provide further details regarding his capture in a statement. “In a coordinated manner, elements of the State Preventive Police and Municipal Police detained in Culiacán, a man of Dominican nationality with two arrest warrants in the United States,” the statement read.
“The police in the first instance detained the man for administrative offenses, so he was taken to Court in the state capital and due to his nationality, his details were checked with foreign authorities, who reported that the man had two arrest warrants for the crime of drug conspiracy and homicide of a child,” the statement said.
“Following these events, he was placed at the disposal of the corresponding immigration authorities in order to determine his situation and carry out the pertinent procedure established by the law of the neighboring country.”
Garcia was allegedly seen in surveillance images running out of the Bronx day care with heavy shopping bags as the children were suffering from fentanyl exposure, according to court records.
On Sept. 15, Nicholas Dominici, a 1-year-old, died following exposure to fentanyl at the day care.
Three other children, ranging in age from 8 months to 2 years, were hospitalized and treated with Narcan, police said. An analysis of urine from one of the victims confirmed the presence of fentanyl, officials said.
Investigators found a kilo of fentanyl stored on kids’ play mats at the day care, along with a device to press drugs into bricks for sale, according to court records. In a trap floor under the day care’s play area, investigators found fentanyl, other narcotics and drug paraphernalia, police said.
The first two to be arrested were day care owner Grei Mendez, who is Garcia’s wife, and Carlisto Acevedo Brito, who is Garcia’s cousin and Mendez’s tenant. They face federal charges of narcotics possession with intent to distribute resulting in death and conspiracy to distribute narcotics resulting in death as well as state charges including murder.
Federal authorities last week promised to hold accountable anyone linked to the day care.
This weekend, a third person, Renny Antonio Parra Paredes, was arrested. He was charged in federal court with conspiracy to distribute narcotics.
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