The Alleged Assassin of the Garcia Commander Falls

The State Agency for Investigations in Nuevo Leon, managed to arrest one of the killers responsible for the death of the Secretary of public security of the city of Garcia, the retired brigadier general Juan Arturo Esparza, and his four bodyguards.

The head of the investigative agency, Miguel Angel Rivera said the alleged killer is named Ramiro Fernández de Luna, alias "The Chivis" who works as a private taxi driver in the city and is suspected to be a "halcón" (hawk) and "sicario" (hitman) for Los Zetas, the armed wing of the Gulf Cartel.

The brigadier general served as public safety secretary and had only been serving for 4 days when he responded to a cal for help from the mayor Jaime Rodriguez Calderon. Esparza was ambushed and killed while on his way to help the mayor by a group of about 30 Zetas.

Also killed on that day were three soldiers, two of which were the general's bodyguards and two policemen Juan Ramón Lugo Esparza and Oscar Galván Castillo, who were also responsible to act as personal bodyguard to the secretary.

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Mexican Police Suspect in Chief's Killing

Five police officers and five other suspects were arrested Thursday in the investigation into the assassination of an army general who had been appointed police chief of this northern Mexican town over the weekend.

Brig. Gen. Juan Arturo Esparza was the latest military officer killed after taking over a Mexican municipal police force plagued with corruption. President Felipe Calderon has acknowledged that police forces throughout Mexico are rife with officers in the pay of cartels, and he has relied heavily on the military to fight drug trafficking.

The attack Wednesday had its origins in an illegal quarrying company, said Alejandro Garza y Garza, the Nuevo Leon state attorney general.

He said one of the suspects was facing investigation for operating the company and enlisted the help of a local hotel owner with ties to a powerful drug cartel to intimidate officials in Garcia, a town outside the northern city of Monterrey.

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