Ariel Rios

Ariel Rios (April 5, 1954-December 2, 1982) was an undercover special agent for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), killed in the line of duty. Member of the Presidential anti-drug task force in South Florida.

Biography

Rios was born in New Haven, Connecticut to Puerto Ricans parents. Rios graduated from William Howard Taft High School in February 1972, and immediately enrolled in John Jay College of Criminal Justice in Manhattan and received his B.S. in Criminal Justice in 1976. He married his sweetheart Elsie Morales right after graduating. Started working as a guard with the Washington D.C. and New York City Department of Corrections, he worked his way up to the Internal Affairs Unit. He then joined the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and took the oath of office on December 3, 1978. He completed his formal training at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Glynco, Georgia in 1979. After training , he was assigned to the New Haven office on June 3, 1979.

On December 2, 1982, as part of the Presidential anti-drug task force in South Florida, Special Agent Rios and his partner, Alexander D'Atri, were sent into a "buy and bust" undercover operation to negotiate a large cocaine deal from suspected drug traffickers. The meeting took place at the Hurricane motel in West Flagler Street, Miami. Everything was going well until one of the suspects standing by the window, noticed other agents closing in. When he pulled a gun, Rios moved forward in an attempt to disarm the man and save his fellow agents, while struggling with the drug dealer, he was shot in the face. Rios died on the scene and his partner was seriously wounded. He was survived by his wife and two children. Rios was buried in Jayuya, Puerto Rico, a beautiful mountain village where Rios had once told his father he could rest forever.

On April 20, 1983 the district court sentenced Agustin D. Alvarez(41) and Mario C. Simon(41) to life plus 50 years in federal prison, for the first degree murder of a federal agent and assault against a second federal officer, cocaine conspiracy and distribution of cocaine, and using of a firearm during the commission of a felony. Oscar Hernandez(54) to 30 years in prison, Victoriano Concepcion(33) to 25 years in prison, Eduardo Portal(47) to 22 years in prison. Two other men were sentenced for lesser charges.

On February 5, 1985 the block-long federal building at 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington DC that used to house the ATF Headquarters was officially renamed the Ariel Rios Federal Building in his honor. Now houses the United States Environmental Protection Agency headquarters.

References

*Very Special Agents, by James Moore (retired ATF agent) University of Illinois Press 2001 ISBN 0-252-07025-9
*Forgotten Heroes, by William Wilbanks. Published by Turner Publishing Company, 1997 ISBN 1563112876
* [http://cases.justia.com/us-court-of-appeals/F2/755/830/52465/ United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit. - 755 F.2d 830]