Public Enemy No 1 Bank Robber Dies Aged 69

Story By: Jonathan MaciasSub EditorJoseph GolderAgency: Central European News 

Mexican gang leader Alfredo Rios Galena – who carried out over 100 bank robberies in the 1980s and was dubbed ‘public enemy number one’ by the government – has died in prison at the age of 69.

According to local media, Rios Galena died of a blood infection in a hospital in the city of Oaxaca in the southern Mexican state of the same name.

Picture Credit: CEN

The local authorities confirmed that Galena, who was also known as ‘El Feyo’ and ‘El Charro del Misterio’, was taken to hospital from the Federal Social Rehabilitation Centre Number 13, CPS-Oaxaca, where he was serving a 25-year prison term.

According to reports, he was arrested on 12th July 2005 in the city of South Gate in the US state of California.

Galena had been wanted by the Mexican authorities for over 20 years after an armed gang busted him out of court during his trial.

Picture Credit: CEN

Reports said he crossed into the US where he lived under the false identity of Arturo Montoya.

He was identified by US cops when his fingerprints matched with a criminal database while renewing his driving licence, according to local media.

As a young man, Galena was a paratrooper in the Mexican Army before joining the Radio Patrol Battalion of the State of Mexico (Banapem), which was in charge of watching banks, in 1978.

Picture Credit: CEN

After leaving the battalion in the early 80s, he reportedly formed a bank robbing gang using the knowledge he had picked up in his last job.

Local media said Galena was responsible for over 100 bank robberies and the Mexican government branded him public enemy number one.

According to reports, Galena died at the beginning of December 2019, but the Mexican authorities kept his death secret until 15th January.

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