Federal authorities say a former Peruvian Army sergeant has been apprehended in Texas on human rights violations for his alleged involvement in the 1991 killing of 15 villagers in the South American country.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in a statement Friday that agents arrested 48-year-old Dennis Wilfredo Pacheco-Zambrano in the West Texas city of San Angelo.
A division of ICE that tracks human rights violators and war criminals provided a tip that led agents to begin searching for Pacheco-Zambrano in the San Angelo area. He was taken into custody Monday.
ICE officials say Pacheco-Zambrano is wanted for participating in a military operation in Santa Barbara, Peru, that involved the torture, rape and killing of villagers there. ICE says the incident became known as the Santa Barbara Massacre.
