MEXICO: Authorities arrest suspected Zetas drug gang member who confesses he has killed at least 75 people because they belonged to 'rival drug gangs'

Record ID: 304997

  • Title: MEXICO: Authorities arrest suspected Zetas drug gang member who confesses he has killed at least 75 people because they belonged to 'rival drug gangs'
  • Date: 31st January 2012
  • Summary: MONTERREY, NUEVO LEON, MEXICO (JANUARY 30, 2012) (REUTERS) ( * BEWARE FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY**) ENRIQUE AURELIO ELIZONDO, KNOWN AS "EL ARABE" (THE ARAB) BEING LED INTO ROOM BY POLICEMEN VARIOUS OF ELIZONDO FLORES POSING FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS DURING NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) NUEVO LEON PUBLIC SECURITY SPOKESMAN JORGE DOMENE, SAYING: "He (Elizodo Flores) said he kil
  • Embargoed: 15th February 2012 12:00
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  • Location: Mexico, Mexico
  • Country: Mexico
  • Reuters ID: LVA9957TRSZX14XLRD51L3F9MG98
  • Story Text: Mexico recently arrested Enrique Aurelio Elizondo, an alleged member of the Zetas drug gang, who is accused of killing at least 75 people.
    Elizondo, known by the alias "El Arabe" ("The Arab"), had been operating in the municipalities of Sabinas Hidalgo, Anahuac, Paras and Cerralvo, located in the northern state of Nuevo Leon, for the past three years. Mexican authorities presented him to the media on Monday (January 30).
    In January 2011, Elizondo is suspected of taking part in the kidnapping and killing of 48 passengers from Celaya, Guanajuato who were traveling on a bus from Reynosa.
    In March 2011, two more buses who highjacked with another 21 people killed.
    The police are attributing the incidents to Elizondo.
    "He (Elizodo Flores) said he killed all these people because they belonged to rival groups," said Nuevo Leon Public security spokesman Jorge Domene.
    According to police, Elizondo confessed to have participated in the killing of dozens of people and policemen during several incidents last year. The tally of victims currently reaches 75 but the number could exceed 100, said authorities.
    "This person has confessed he has personally killed 75 people," added Domene.
    According to Elizondo, in April 2012 he kidnapped and killed six policemen from Cerralvo who refused to work with drug traffickers and killed a young couple and their six-year-old girl.
    His statements have helped police arrest three members of his suspected drug gang and locate three places where bodies where charred and disposed of.
    The Zetas, formed at the end of the 1990s by deserters from elite army forces, are believed to have been behind some of the bloodiest crimes against civilians in recent years including the arson attack on a casino in northern Mexico that killed 52 people in August.
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