Mexico arrests four over drug gang revenge killings

[alexalonso]

This topic correspond to the post that can be found at http://www.streetgangs.com/news/122409_ ... rests:from BBC News
Thursday, 24 December 2009



Mexican police have arrested four people over the revenge killing of the family of a marine who died in a high-profile drugs raid last week.

The four are accused of helping the hitmen who killed the mother, siblings and aunt of marine Melquisedet Angulo within hours of his funeral on Tuesday.

He was hailed as a hero after he died during the raid that led to the killing of one of Mexico's top drug lords.

Authorities said the search for his family's killers was continuing.

The murder of Melquisedet Angulo Cordova's relatives in the state of Tabasco provoked widespread outrage in Mexico, with Mexican President Felipe Calderon saying the attack was "a cowardly and contemptible act of violence".

The family members were shot dead in their house just hours after they had attended his funeral.

Tabasco Attorney General Rafael Gonzalez said the four people in custody, three men and a woman, had acted as lookouts during the attack and had transported money to pay the gunmen.

He also said some police officers may have allowed or helped the attackers to escape.

"We attribute this bloody crime to the Zetas group," Mr Gonzalez said, a reference to former elite soldiers turned hitmen.

The Zetas work with the Gulf cartel that controls much of the illegal drugs trade along Mexico's Gulf coast, but they are also aligned with the Beltran Leyva cartel that is based on the Pacific coast.

Their leader, Arturo Beltran Leyva and several members of his gang died during the 16 December raid south of Mexico City in which Melquisedet Angulo was also killed.

Mexico's National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) has urged better privacy regarding the identity of those who die fighting the drug cartels, as a means of avoiding reprisal attacks.

Since late 2006, President Calderon has deployed some 49,000 extra troops deploy across Mexico to take on the drug gangs.

More than 14,000 people have died in drugs-related violence over the past three years.