Rodolfo Adolfo Gimenez, Kidnapping, Florida 1977

Argentina War Criminal Fugitive Caught in Miami

MIAMI – A former Argentine military officer accused of committing atrocities against civilians during Argentina’s ‘dirty war’ in the 1970s has been arrested in Miami, officials announced Wednesday.

Rodolfo Adolfo Gimenez, 73, was taken into custody by U.S. Marshals Service personnel from the Southern District of Florida and agents from the Miami office of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement – Homeland Security Investigations. He is accused of being implicated in the unlawful imprisonment of 22-year-old Juan Marcos Herman, a political activist in student circles and a member of the anti-military Peronist Youth Movement.

Gimenez is specifically implicated in Herman’s kidnapping at gunpoint by a group of military personnel in July 1977. Herman was subsequently taken to a clandestine detention center in Buenos Aires where he was subjected to repeated mental and physical torture, and relentless interrogation. Herman was never again seen alive, and his remains have never been recovered.

Gimenez faces life in prison if convicted as charged.

According to officials, Gimenez fled Argentina in October 2013, traveling through Chile and ultimately seeking safe haven in Florida. INTERPOL Washington and investigators from the U.S. Marshals Service subsequently determined Gimenez had taken refuge in a safe house situated well within the Spanish-speaking community in Miami.

‘This is an excellent example of U.S. law enforcement and the Argentina government working together to apprehend a wanted fugitive,’ said Amos Rojas, U.S. Marshal for the Southern District of Florida. ‘The Marshals Service is dedicated to pursuing all those who choose to flee rather than face justice.’

‘I commend the work of all the law enforcement authorities involved in this investigation,’ said INTERPOL Washington Director Shawn Bray. ‘This is a great example of U.S. law enforcement agencies and their international partners sharing information to locate and bring criminals to justice. No matter how far and hard this fugitive ran he could not escape the coordinated international effort to locate him.’

INTERPOL Washington credits the combined efforts of INTERPOL, INTERPOL Buenos Aires, the U.S. Marshals Service, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement – Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the Transportations Security Administration, the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Diplomatic Security, and the U.S. Department of Justice Office of International Affairs.

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