La Linea Active in the Valley of Juarez

A former Juárez police officer suspected in 18 murders and belonging to a drug cartel cell was one of multiple arrests during the weekend by the Mexican army, military officials said Sunday.

Ex-officer Miguel Angel Delgado Carmona, 39, and suspected accomplice Roberto Gonzalez Lazalde, 34, were captured Saturday afternoon after a vehicle chase following an extortion attempt of a Juárez funeral home, officials with Joint Operation Chihuahua said.

Soldiers with the Fourth Infantry Battalion began chasing the van moments after four men had delivered a note to the funeral home stating "Call today (a telephone number) without excuse, attention La Linea."

Two of the men exited the Dodge Caravan at a street corner and escaped.

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El Rikin In Custody

The Mexican Army has captured Jose Rodolfo Escajeda a/k/a El Rikin who is "a high-ranking member of the Juárez drug cartel" which smuggles drugs into the United States across a 120 mile stretch along the Texas border below El Paso as reported by El Paso Times:

"Soldiers found him Friday in Nuevo Casas Grandes, a community south of Juárez. Law officers allege that Escajeda is responsible for smuggling drugs into the United States for the past 10 years. He was alleged to be part of the Carrillo Fuentes drug organization, and controlled the Valle de Juárez region across the border from Fabens, Tornillo and Fort Hancock. Mexican authorities and the DEA attributed many murders, arsons and several recent beheadings to his gang."

CNN reports that El Rikin further is suspected in connection with the July slayings of U.S. citizens Benjamin LeBaron and his brother-in-law, Luis Widmar, who "were beaten and shot to death after armed men stormed into their home in the town of Galeana, Mexico":

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