Arsenio Laborde Figueroa, nicknamed Canito, henchman of the notorious criminal Carlos (Wassa) Cotto Cruz, and Brandon Ríos Maldonado, both considered by the authorities as extremely dangerous, yesterday cut their electronic ankle bracelets that were placed on them after having obtained their freedom through habeas corpus resources while they waited to be tried.
Canito, 37, had been arrested on January 25 in the La Lorenzana residential area, in San Lorenzo, on charges of murder in the first degree and infractions of the Weapons Law. Judge Sonya Nieves determined cause for arrest and set him bail of $ 2.7 million.
According to police reports, on December 4, 2020 and in the La Marina sector in San Lorenzo, Carlos Cotto Cruz, 34, known as “Wassa”, Pedro Ocasio Hernández, 25, known as “Chino”, Arsenio Laborde Hernández, known as “Canito”, Carlos Benítez Rolón, known as “Charlie”, and three other individuals known as “Gemelo”, “Cano” and “Carita Feliz”, allegedly planned and committed the murders of Alex Elías Díaz and Jesús Elías Crespo.
Brandon, 26, was indicted on April 1 for the kidnapping and murder of real estate broker Rosa Castillo Carranza, 53. The victim had been kidnapped on March 17 in Carolina in the middle of a carjacking.
Two days later, her body was found with multiple gunshot wounds on the shores of the PR-31 highway in the Caimito neighborhood, in the Hoyo Frío sector, in Juncos.
The Pretrial Services Program sought arrest warrants for the fugitives, who are being wanted by personnel from the Police Department of Corrections and Special Arrests.
