For Six Years, Augustin Vasquez Mendoza Ran.

He ran from Phoenix to Mexico-to Michoacan in the west, to Campeche on
the gulf coast, to Puebla in the central highlands.

He remarried. He changed his name. At one point, he hid in an area so
remote it was accessible only by horse or burro.

On Monday, authorities in Phoenix announced that Vasquez Mendoza's
long flight had ended on the streets of a small Mexican town, where
agents arrested him Sunday. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency says he
is suspected of masterminding a 1994 Phoenix drug deal that led to the
death of federal drug agent Richard Fass.

"It's been a long six years," said Phoenix DEA chief Thomas
Raffanello, who was holding back tears.

"Several years ago, I sat up here and promised you that we would not
rest until I could come back up and say that Augustin Vasquez Mendoza
has been captured and is being brought to justice."

Vasquez Mendoza is the second man suspected of killing an officer in
Arizona to be arrested in Mexico in the past month. Raffanello said he
hopes that sends out a message. "You don't kill a DEA agent or law
enforcement person," he said at a news conference Monday. "There's
nowhere you can hide."

Vasquez Mendoza was on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted List for four years
and is the last of four men wanted in Fass' death. Authorities will
now begin the extradition process, which could take weeks to more than
a year.

Fass' brother, Guillermo, said Monday that he almost didn't believe
it. "We're very elated," he said. "But we have mixed emotions-it
brings back memories of sadness, but we're happy he's been captured
and the capture was very successful."

Investigators wouldn't say much about Vasquez Mendoza's life in
Mexico, except that most recently worked on a farm or ranch in the
state of Puebla.

Two DEA agents spent the past six years traveling back and forth to
Mexico, Special Agent Alejandro Duran said. They worked with Mexico's
Federal Judicial Police to track Vasquez Mendoza throughout Mexico,
using fliers promoting a $2.2 million bounty.

People called from all over the world, Duran said, and authorities
came close a few times. But agents finally connected Vasquez Mendoza
to the small central Mexico town of Tehuacan about a year and a half
ago. They knew he frequented the city.

"We knew eventually he would turn up," Raffanello said. "We've been
casting this net for several months now."

The reward money will be split by several informants.

Vasquez Mendoza is charged with conspiracy to commit armed robbery,
first-degree murder, kidnapping and attempted armed robbery. Fass, 37,
married with four children, was shot while posing as a methamphetamine
buyer with $160,000 to pay for about 22 pounds of narcotics.

Investigators believe the dealers never intended to sell drugs, but
instead were planning to rob Fass. In a shootout, Fass managed to
wound one suspect, while two others were captured by fellow agents.

Juan Rubio Vasquez, who prosecutors say was the trigger man, was
sentenced to life in prison. Rafael Rubio Mendez received a 43-year
prison sentence. Eduardo Aceves Vasquez, who cooperated with
prosecutors, was sentenced to 21/2 years.

Investigators believe Vasquez Mendoza was not at the scene with the
other three, but masterminded the crime.

It was the second time in weeks that Mexican police helped solve the
killing of an American officer. Last month they arrested Rudy Romero,
wanted in the May 1988 death of Phoenix police Officer Ken Collings.

"Perhaps it's a new awakening in Mexico as well," Maricopa County
Attorney Rick Romley said Monday, "in the sense that those who come
into America, the United States, perhaps they know they are not going
to be able to hide in Mexico any more."