MEXICAN POLICE ARREST ALLEGED KILLER OF TV ANCHOR

MEXICO CITY (AP) -- Mexico City police have detained a man suspected of
carrying out the gangland-style slaying of a popular TV star, the Mexico
City attorney general's office said Thursday.

Jorge Hernandez, a spokesman for the attorney general's office, confirmed a
report in the daily newspaper Reforma that Erasmo Perez was being held in
the case, but declined to elaborate pending a formal arraignment.

Reforma reported Thursday that Mexican police on Wednesday arrested Perez,
also known as "El Cholo," after informants pointed him out as the alleged
gunman who shot TV star Francisco "Paco" Stanley in a bloody June 7 shootout
that stunned Mexico.

Reforma's story included a photo of judicial agents taking Perez into
custody, and a police sketch drawn from witnesses' testimony that appears to
closely resemble him.

Perez is allegedly a member of the world's largest methamphetamine ring and
is suspected of carrying out orders to kill Stanley over alleged drug debts
he refused to pay, Reforma reported, citing police sources.

Stanley was gunned down next to a restaurant along a busy Mexico City
freeway. His assailants fired at least 26 bullets into his black Lincoln
minivan, hitting Stanley seven times.

Officials later revealed that Stanley was carrying cocaine and an illegally
issued gun permit that falsely identified him as an employee of the federal
Interior Secretariat.

Police also detained Stanley's chauffeur, Jorge Escandon Garcia, and
television hostess Paola Durante Ochoa, the attorney general's office said.
They are being held under house arrest at a Mexico City hotel. Also still
under house arrest in the case is Mario Rodriguez Bezares, Stanley's former
television sidekick, who authorities have said is being investigated for
possibly planning, participating in or ordering the attack.