Mexico arrests Ciudad Juarez cartel hitman

(AFP) – 3 hours ago

CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico — Police have arrested the head of a gang of hitmen working for the Ciudad Juarez drug cartel linked to the March 2010 murder of a US consulate worker and a car bombing in this border city, local media reported Saturday.

Chihuahua Governor Cesar Duarte told reporters that Antonio Acosta Hernandez, alias "El Diego," is one of the main hitmen of 'La Linea' (The Line) and has a $1.2 million bounty on his head.

Local and federal police arrested Acosta after an intense shoot-out in the state capital Chihuahua, Duarte said.

The governor described "El Diego" as "one of the most severely violent criminal leaders."

Local media report that he is linked to several crimes in Ciudad Juarez, such as the killng of 14 youth at a party in January 2010 and the murder of a US consular officer, her husband and another American, also in 2010.

He has also been blamed for organizing a car bomb attack in July 2010 that left two policemen dead.

"La Linea" is considered an armed wing of the Gulf cartel, and has links with gangs such as "Los Aztecas," who hire them as hitmen.

According to official figures, organized crime-related violence has killed more than 41,000 deaths in Mexico since December 2006, when President Felipe Calderon launched an anti-drug operation involving more than 50,000 soldiers.

Ciudad Juarez, which borders the United States city of El Paso, Texas, is considered the most violent city in Mexico. In 2010 there were 3,1000 murders in the city linked to drug trafficking.

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