Thread: Mexican army arrests three alleged hit squad members

Mexican army arrests three alleged hit squad members

By Daniel Borunda / El Paso Times
Posted: 11/23/2009 05:18:49 PM MST

The Mexican army on Monday announced the arrest of three members of Los Linces (the lynxes), a hit squad belonging to the Juárez drug cartel.
Military police arrested the suspected hit men Friday after gunshots were exchanged by occupants of two vehicles on Avenida de los Aztecas.

Police identified the suspects as Andres Vasquez Espinoza, 36; Roberto Piña Castañon, 21; and Jesus Alberto Santiago, 41.

Military officials said Los Lynxes allegedly took orders from three men, including Alberto Acosta, who ordered them to carry out 26 murders in Juárez. Targets included people who refused to pay extortion "quotas."

Acosta is also known by the monikers Arnold, El Diego and El Blablazo. The other suspected leaders are Juan Diaz, whose aliases are El Canelo, El Rojo or El Leopardo, and a third man only identified as El Fantasma (the ghost).

Among the 26 murder victims were five people slain in the Coco Bombo bar in May, several members of a rival drug cartel and three independent drug dealers in the Mariscal area. Independent drug dealers are known as "chapulines," or grasshoppers.

The squad also allegedly collaborated with "El 7," the leader of a hit squad known as Los Babicoras. Los Babicoras is suspected in the killings of two Cipol police officers on Thursday and six people shot and killed earlier this month in the Amadeus strip club. Those victims included Staff Sgt. David Booher, an off-duty member of the U.S. Air Force.

Daniel Borunda may be reached at
dborunda@elpasotimes.com; 546-6102.

http://www.elpasotimes.com/newupdated/ci_13851989

Suspects arrested in slaying of U.S. Air Force staff sergeant in Juárez strip club

By Aileen B. Flores / El Paso Times
Posted: 11/22/2009 12:00:00 AM MST

• Fighting the border drug war
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Mexican authorities arrested two suspects in the slaying of a U.S. Air Force staff sergeant earlier this month in a Juárez strip club.

The two "sicarios," or hit men, have confessed to being part of the Juárez cartel group "La Linea" and to have carried out several slayings, including those of Staff Sgt. David Booher and five other people at the Amadeus club, Enrique Torres, Joint Operation Chihuahua spokesman, said in a news release.

Authorities identified those arrested as José Gabriel "El 12" Moreno, 29, and Juan Pa blo "El 14" González Favela, 19.

On Nov. 4, a group of gunmen entered and opened fire in the strip club on Ejercito Naciónal Avenue. According to his friends, Booher was shot when he tried to help one of the wounded victims. Police found his body in a VIP section of the club.

Booher, 26, a medic, was stationed at Holloman Air Force Base near Alamogordo. He was raised by his widowed mother in Juárez, and his late father was a U.S. citizen.

Booher became the first active member of the U.S. military known to have been killed in Juárez since the war between drug cartels began in January 2008.

The suspects also confessed to the attack of the coordinator of the state public safety department, Luis Prieto, and his bodyguards last month and to the slayings of four Chihuahua state police officers Thursday in Juárez, officials said.

Torres said the suspects told police that their main duty was to kill people and to extort businesses, especially in the area of Juárez Avenue and Vicente Guerrero Street.

Moreno and González Favela told police they received orders from an individual known as "El 9," whose superior was identified as "El 8."

The suspects were captured by the Mexican army about 4 p.m. Friday at the intersection of Artemio Zúñiga and Paseo de los Compositores streets, in the Campanario neighborhood, after an anonymous call reported two suspicious men in a 1995 Nissan Maxima carrying wea pons.

At that location, the army seized almost 20 pounds of marijuana with a street value of about $17,000, two automatic weapons, 100 bullets and the vehicle.

Aileen B. Flores may be reached at aflores@elpasotimes.com; 546-6362.

http://www.elpasotimes.com/juarez/ci_13843607