Tattooed Terror Busted By Marshals In Mexico

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Police say that Alvarado's body is covered in tattoos.

Ivan Javier Alvarado is infamous for his armed robberies, "dope rips," where one dealer robs another, and an extensive criminal history.  Alvarado was sentenced to 37 months in the slammer -- the maximum amount allowed by the plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney in San Diego.

But cops say the day after his last release from prison, he reverted to his old ways and went straight back to crime. Once released, police say Alvarado quickly returned to his old habits when he killed 19-year-old Manuel Chavez. 

Detectives say that Ivan goes by other aliases -- Duck, Plato, Lil Chino, and Ivan Boy -- and is very well known for having tattoos all over his body with gang insignias. 

Alvarado earned the name of "Ivan the Terrible" from the U.S. Marshals and has been arrested twice by the San Diego Regional Fugitive Task Force while carrying a loaded firearm. 

However, the murder suspect's life on the lam ended south of the U.S.-Mexico border when an AMW tipster gave authorities Alvarado's location in May 2009. 

AMW Capture #1069

Gangland Murder Suspect Nabbed In Mexico

Ivan Alvardo, a man wanted for the 2006 murder of a 19-year-old San Diego man, was arrested in Mexico on June 1, 2009.
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Thanks to a tip from an AMW viewer, a man sought for the 2006 murder of a San Diego teenager is behind bars once again.

Authorities say Ivan Javier Alvarado shot and killed 19-year-old Manuel Chavez on Jan. 23, 2006, and then went off the radar for more than three years.  That is, until an AMW tipster gave investigators his exact whereabouts south of the border.

On May 28, 2009, the U.S. Marshals Service ventured to Prima Tapia Mexico, in the region of Baja. 

He was arrested in the early morning hours on June 1, 2009, and was transported across the U.S.-Mexico border at Calexico later that afternoon.  U.S. Marshals handed Alvarado off to San Diego Police Dept. that evening.  He was arraigned in a San Diego Court on June 3, 2009.