ESCAPE FROM FEDERAL PRISON LASTED 24 YEARS

Mario Huerta, who escaped from a federal prison in El Paso 24 years ago Is busted in Tijuana after U.S. Marshals received tip about his Mexican hideout

Mario Huerta was in to the sixth month of his 10-year sentence for cocaine possession when in November 1993 he escaped from the federal Las Tunas prison in El Paso, Texas. He eluded capture for 24 years.

Huerta, 26 at the time, remained on the lam until last week when he got busted by Mexican cops at his hideout in Tijuana. The Mexican cops then dumped Huerta, now 50, across the border into the arms of U.S. Marshals at the San Ysidro border crossing.

The capture was made possible after a U. S. Marshals Task Force in San Diego received a tip as to where Huerta was hiding out.

Huerta will be returned to El Paso where he will face an additional federal prison escape charge.