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Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Mexico arrests "El Mayito", suspect linked to US agent's death

bY Peter Orsi
AP

Federal police have arrested another drug cartel suspect linked to last month's attack in Mexico that killed one U.S. agent and wounded another, authorities said Wednesday.

Mario Jimenez Perez, 41, alias "El Mayito," oversaw finances for the Zetas cartel in the northern state of San Luis Potosi, the Public Safety Department said in a statement. He allegedly ran payroll for cartel assassins, managed income from drug sales and acquired properties and communications equipment for the gang.

Federal police arrested him March 5 along with 16 other suspects who purportedly worked for the Zetas.

This "heavily armed group provided protection to leaders of the criminal gang ... and presumably worked as extorters, kidnappers and killers in addition to transporting, buying and selling drugs," the statement said.

Four of the suspects were hospitalized immediately, but officials did not say whether there was a shootout or provide information on their condition. Police seized firearms, drugs, vehicles, cell phones and radios.

The Public Safety Department did not give any details on Jimenez's alleged involvement in the Feb. 15 killing of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Jaime Zapata, who was shot dead by gunmen after they stopped his vehicle on a highway in San Luis Potosi. A second agent, Victor Avila, was wounded.

Mexican authorities have previously arrested a number of purported Zetas operatives allegedly involved in the attack. One of the suspects who allegedly took part in the shooting said gunmen mistook the agents' SUV for a vehicle used by a rival gang, the Mexican military said.

San Luis Potosi borders two northern states where the Zetas and the Gulf cartel have waged bloody turf wars. Zapata and Avila were temporarily detailed to the ICE attache office in Mexico City and were driving from the northern city of Monterrey to the capital when they were attacked.

Though it is rare for U.S. officials to be attacked, the U.S. government has become increasingly concerned about the safety of its employees in Mexico amid soaring drug violence.

In March, a U.S. employee of the American consulate in Ciudad Juarez, her husband and a Mexican tied to the consulate were killed when drug gang members fired on their cars after they left a children's party in the city across from El Paso, Texas.

In all, more than 35,000 people have died nationwide in drug violence since December 2006, when President Felipe Calderon launched an all-out offensive against cartels.

6 comments:

  1. I still dont get why ice officials were in mex to begain with. Arn't they immigratinon guys? Doesnt make sense, the might of been dea or somthing else and the ice tag is to cover them up. There deaths couldve been avoided

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  2. 1 U.S agent is killed,and within 1 month we have around 10 "suspects" arrested.Thousands and thousands of innocent people-including children,mothers,hard working fathers- getting murdered by drug gangs since 2006 and we have around a 5% arrest and conviction rate.....Hmmmm ???

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  3. you just dont mess around with a federal agent anywhere...

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  4. The ice is a cover, this guy was a cia mole, whats so hard to understand? The biggest most crooked cartel of all smells ezmoney...

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  5. This is el mayito? Man, they sure know how to put the guys that have been beaten with the ugly stick in leadership positions, I think I would flee the plaza just by looking at this monster.

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  6. To the first poster at 2:55- Try googling ICE, read the wiki, the information is all out there. A certain branch of ICE has the widest investigation authority of any U.S. LE agency. They've been in MX for years now. It's never really been kept a secret. I love the CIA conspiracy theory guys though, they crack me up. Some people just want so badly for everything to be some kind of conspiracy it's hilarious. I like the other guys nickname from the clip "El Gordo Panuchudo".

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