Feds: Doc removed suspects' fingerprints

By MARK SCOLFORO
Associated Press Writer
Fri May 11, 5:12 PM ET

A Mexican doctor surgically removed drug traffickers' fingerprints, substituting skin from the soles of their feet, to help the traffickers avoid arrest, authorities said Friday.

The doctor, Jose L. Covarrubias, was arrested at the border as he tried to enter the U.S. on Wednesday, the same day he was indicted in connection with a marijuana-dealing ring based in Harrisburg.

The indictment says Covarrubias surgically removed the fingerprints of Marc George, a co-defendant named in the drug indictment. The doctor is believed to have performed the surgery for about four other people, Assistant U.S. Attorney William Behe said.

"We heard those stories, but we didn't believe them when we heard them during the course of the investigation," Behe said. "We caught Marc George and we all became believers."

Behe said George's hands are still mangled from the procedure, which authorities believe Covarrubias performed in mid-2005.