DRUG CARTEL HITMEN ADMIT KILLING CARDINAL IN MEXICO

TWO gangsters yesterday admitted working as hitmen for a drugs cartel
and having a role in the killing of a Roman Catholic cardinal in Mexico.

Adolfo Marin Cuevas (32) and Carlos Garcia Martinez (28) made the
admission in the United States district court in San Diego,
California, as part of a guilty plea to conspiring to distribute
cocaine and marijuana, according to a statement issued by interim US
Attorney Charles G La Bella. Marin and Garcia, working as hit men for
the Tijuana-based Arellano Felix drug cartel, were "participating" in
the shooting of a rival drug dealer when Cardinal Juan Jesus Posadas
Ocampo and six other people were shot to death outside Guadalajara
airport, La Bella said.

Their exact role was not revealed and sentencing was adjourned until
January 6. Federal authorities said the San Diego "hit squad" was
instructed to kill Joaquin "Chapo" Guzman Loera, a rival drug kingpin,
at the Guadalajara airport in 1993. Guzman escaped, but the shootout
in the parking lot killed seven people including the cardinal, who
was sitting with his driver in a car parked in front of Guzman's
armoured Buick. Authorities had said they were not sure whether the
cardinal also was targeted because of his public stance against the
drug cartels in Mexico or just caught in the crossfire.

A federal indictment in February alleged that the Arellano Felix drug
smuggling gang recruited and used 10 gang members from San Diego to
assist in protection and enforcement for at least six years.

Ramon Eduardo Arellano Felix, Benjamin Arellano Felix and two other
brothers control the major routes funnelling cocaine, marijuana and
other drugs into the United States across the California-Mexico
border, federal authorities said yesterday.

The Mexican authorities have sought the brothers since the Roman
Catholic cardinal's death in 1993.

Checked-by: Patrick Henry