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Mexico detains former police chief in drug cartel arrest

Mexico arrested two alleged drug cartel enforcers over the weekend, including a purported hit man accused of threatening officials and bribing police, and a suspect in the 1993 slaying of a Mexican cardinal.

Former local police chief Hector Izar Castro was detained on Sunday in the north-central state of San Luis Potosi on weapons, armed robbery and drug charges, federal police spokesman Edgar Millan said.

"This man is suspected of making a series of threats against local and state officials and has also been identified as the person in charge of paying off local police," said federal police spokesman Edgar Millan.

Police said Izar Castro had a rifle, pistols and cocaine in his possession at the time of his arrest, as well as three wooden clubs marked with the letter "Z" -- apparently signifying the Zetas, the gang of Gulf cartel hit men for whom he allegedly worked.

Late on Saturday, the commander of an army base in Tijuana announced that another alleged drug gunman had been collared: Alfredo Araujo Avila, also known as "Popeye," who allegedly worked for the Arellano Felix drug cartel as a hit man for more than two decades.

Araujo Avila is suspected of participating in the slaying of Roman Catholic Cardinal Juan Jesus Posadas Ocampo, who was riddled with bullets on May 24, 1993, while he sat in his car at the airport in the city of Guadalajara, General German Redondo told reporters.

Investigators have concluded that gunmen working for the Arellano Felix cartel mistook the cardinal's luxury vehicle for that of a rival drug trafficker whom they were targeting for assassination -- and whose own security forces were at the scene and returned fire.

But Church authorities have long disputed that official version of events, arguing that Posadas Ocampo was killed because he knew about alleged relationships between drug dealers and government officials.

Six people besides the cardinal were also killed. Twelve people have since been convicted and imprisoned for the attack, most recently ex-police commander Humberto Rodriguez Banuelos in 2005.

Redondo said on Saturday that Araujo Avila is also suspected in the 1997 shooting of Tijuana journalist Jesus -, who survived and died of natural causes at age 70 in 2006.

Araujo Avila was detained at a house in Tijuana, across the border from San Diego, California, on outstanding warrants. Redondo said he is also wanted on charges in the US, but did not elaborate.

The general said the suspect holds US citizenship, but US consular authorities were not immediately available to confirm that. A pistol and a police identification card were found in the house.
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