NEVADA COUNTY, Calif. — A man who walked away from a Northern California conservation camp over the Fourth of July weekend has been apprehended in Mexico, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
CDCR officials said 49-year-old Miguel Banuelos walked away from Washington Ridge Conservation Camp in Nevada County on July 4.
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Mexican authorities located and arrested Banuelos without incident at a residence in Tijuana around 11:20 a.m. Monday after receiving information from CDCR’s Office of Correctional Safety.
Banuelos is expected to appear before an immigration judge before being processed through a port of entry and returned to California. CDCR said he will be housed at a state prison, and his case will be referred to the Nevada County District Attorney’s Office for possible escape charges.
According to CDCR, Banuelos was received from San Diego County on July 23, 2025. He is serving a seven-year prison sentence for transportation or sale of a controlled substance and possession or purchase of more than four kilograms of heroin or cocaine.
His scheduled release date was April 20, 2028.
CDCR said that since 1977, 99% of people who have escaped or walked away from an adult institution, conservation camp, in-state contract bed or community-based program have been apprehended.