Thread: Tijuana Priest Shot Execution-Style

www.10news.com

Tijuana Priest Shot Execution-Style
Hundreds Gather At Funeral

POSTED: 8:01 am PDT October 26, 2005
UPDATED: 8:25 am PDT October 26, 2005

TIJUANA, Mexico -- Hundreds of people turned out for the funeral of a Tijuana priest who was brutally gunned downed this week, 10News reported.

The body of the Rev. Luis Velasquez Romero was found on Monday dumped in his car.

Romero was shot six times while his hands were cuffed behind his back.

The 56-year-old priest never told anyone about having any enemies or about any threats on his life.

The execution-style killing happened in a part of the city with a number of bars popular with young people.

So far there are no suspects.

There have been 358 murders in Tijuana this year.

I wonder if this will change the mind of the Catholic Church in Mexico to quit taking money from drug traffickers.

www.signonsandiego.com

3 men admit roles in killing of priest, Baja officials say

By Anna Cearley
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
October 29, 2005

TIJUANA – Mexican authorities said yesterday that three men who claim to be part of the Arellano Félix drug cartel confessed their involvement in the killing of a Catholic priest this week.

The men arrested since Thursday were identified by the Baja California Attorney General's Office as Enrique Bracamontes Garcidueñas, 22; Julio Antonio Arreola Méndez, 22; and David Toris Cervantes, 23.

Though no charges have been filed against them, local authorities are also linking the suspects to at least 14 killings and abductions, including several other high-profile incidents.

A news release from the Attorney General's Office said the men "were dedicated primarily to kidnapping, murders, drug trafficking and settling scores."

The Rev. Luis Velázquez, 52, was found dead in his car Monday. He was handcuffed and had been shot six times in the head and neck. Mexican authorities didn't explain yesterday how the three suspects were involved in the killings – or why the priest was targeted.

Church officials said they were nonetheless pleased with the quick detentions.

"We look at this as providing concrete steps to clear up the killing of the father and hope that these arrests will bring to a conclusion the investigation," said the Rev. Antonio Beltrán. "A link to drug traffickers was claimed, but we must determine the motive of this."

People associated with drug trafficking groups often commit crimes unrelated to drug trafficking, he said.

Mexican authorities captured the men after the Thursday killing of a Rosarito Beach landowner and developer, José de Jesús Leyva Medina. Garcidueñas was detained by police shortly after the killing. A multiagency law enforcement team continued the investigation, leading to the arrest of the other two men.

Arreola and Toris were found in a house in Tijuana's La Mesa section. They were watching two people who had been abducted, according to the news release.

Mexican authorities said the men are also linked to the following crimes:

The Oct. 2 killing of federal police officer Nicolas Garay Avila, who was ambushed as he was being dropped off at his home by a colleague. The colleague was seriously wounded.

The Aug. 22 abduction of a well-known businessman, Alejandro Ruiz Arretche, who also serves as a city administrator for the La Mesa district. Ruiz's family received a demand from the kidnappers, according to Mexican media, but he was released eight hours later without paying anything.

The May abduction and killing of Iván Escoboza. Escoboza, who was linked to the Arellanos in some Mexican media reports, was abducted from the city's country club as he tried to escape his assailants. His body was found several days later. He had been tortured.

In connection with the arrest of the three suspects, authorities also located several more safe houses and confiscated nine assault rifles, four other firearms and a grenade, according to the news release.

The Arellanos are the region's primary drug trafficking group. It's unclear what charges the three suspects will face. Even with confessions, authorities often find it hard to provide sufficient evidence to file charges that can withstand a judge's scrutiny.

The men were expected to be flown to Mexico's interior to continue the legal process there, as is typically done when local law enforcement agencies capture organized-crime suspects.

Ve&lacuteazquez was the pastor at the Church of Santa Maria Reina in an upper-middle-class section of Tijuana. Parishioners and others said he focused on justice and service to others. They said he encouraged churchgoers to work with the less fortunate.