A suspected drug trafficker slipped away from police after putting his GPS monitor on his cat.
Diego Martinez-Espinoza, a 24 or 25-year-old Mexican national, is believed to be in the country illegally and was awaiting trial on charges of possession of more than 40 pounds of cocaine with intent to distribute.
The Virginia man was fitted with a GPS ankle monitor that would ding and help authorities insure he was in his house, as court ordered.
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In February, the monitor notified police that the tracker was being tampered with, but every time Martinez-Espinoza was checked on, he was found in his home.
This caused, "a belief on the part of the person assigned to monitor Martinez-Espinoza that the GPS unit was malfunctioning" and he was issued a replacement.
On March 2nd, authorities received an alert that the tracker ran out of power, yet monitors didn’t immediately visit the suspect.
When Martinez-Espinoza's landlord finally went to check on him, he had disappeared.
Left behind was his cat, fitted with the GPS monitor, which could have been pinging for as long as three days.
A new warrant has been issued for his arrest, and felony charges of violating the terms of pretrial release have been tacked on alongside the drug smuggling charges.
Investigators believe Martinez-Espinoza has contacts in North Carolina and U.S. marshalls are currently involved in a search.
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