Female fugitive from the US arrested by Jalisco police in Tonalá

A foreign woman identified as Macalla Lee Knott, accused of crimes committed in the United States, was arrested in Tonalá by Jalisco state police.

According to data from the Minnesota Department of Corrections, the 29-year-old woman had been a fugitive since June 3, 2020. She is charged with federal crimes for drug trafficking and allegedly for homicide committed in both North Dakota and Minnesota.

The fugitive served a year in prison for drugs in that Minnesota in 2017 and was released on November 5, 2018.

Previously, authorities were close to arresting her twice in Mexico, one of them in the state of Quintana Roo and another in the municipality of Tlajomulco de Zúñiga, but she managed to escape.

The Jalisco Security Secretariat reported that the arrest of the fugitive was carried out as part of collaboration and coordination with US authorities.

The state agents obtained information that Macalla was residing in the country illegally, so when they arrested her, they informed the immigration authorities and confirmed her stay in Mexico illegally.

The Secretariat considered that the detention was carried out under a gender perspective and respect for human rights and individual guarantees. Policewomen from the Ateneas group were responsible for the transfer and protection of the detainee until she was handed over to the United States authorities.

The state agency considered coordination and collaboration with other authorities essential.