The State Department on Thursday paid tribute to the memory of U.S. Consulate worker in Tijuana, Edgar Flores Santos.
Flores, an employee of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), was killed in September 2020 while working inspecting pest traps in the Valle Redondo neighborhood of Tijuana’s La Presa district.
His name now accompanies, on a plaque located at the State Department headquarters in Washington DC, those of other U.S. embassy and consulate personnel who have lost their lives in the line of duty.
The plaque was unveiled in November 2010 to honor consular service members. A ceremony Thursday included and remembered seven other workers, including Flores.
“In honor of personnel employed locally overseas who have lost their lives in the line of duty, to terrorism, in an act of heroism or in other compelling circumstances while serving the U.S. government in a foreign affairs agency.” the plaque reads.
Flores, a Mexican national, worked for APHIS at the U.S. Consulate General in Tijuana on pest control and disease eradication programs in northern Mexico.
“Performing his work diligently in the field, protecting the agriculture produced in Mexico and the United States that feeds the world, Edgar gave his life in service to our community and our nations’ interests,” said Tom Reott, U.S. Consul General in Tijuana in a statement.
Following the murder, the Baja California Attorney General’s Office said they believed the crime was due to Flores being mistaken for a police officer.
Four people were arrested in connection with the homicide, according to a June 2021 statement from the prosecutor’s office.
In March 2022, Juan Carlos Olvera was sentenced to 30 years in prison for the crime.
Olvera, along with others, were allegedly meeting to carry out criminal activities, the prosecutor’s office said at the time. Flores later arrived at the same location aboard a Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck owned by the consulate when he was attacked with firearms, authorities said.
“The United States thanks the Baja California authorities who apprehended and convicted the criminals responsible for this senseless murder. His colleagues will remember this loss for his family and for both our countries, thanks to the plaque that will be placed in his memory in Washington, DC,” the U.S. consulate said in a statement.