DRUG RING, WRITER PLOT ARE LINKED

Attempted Killing In Tijuana Probed

By Andrew Downie, Special To The Chronicle

Mexico City Federal officials Friday blamed one of Mexico's biggest drug
cartels in the attempted assassination of Tijuana journalist Jesus
Blancornelas.

Taking over the investigation from Baja California state officials, the
authorities blamed the incident on the Arellano Felix drug cartel.

A team of federal detectives, forensic scientists and agents was dispatched
to Tijuana, the Baja California city where the attack took place Thursday.

The head of the Arellano hit squad who died in the attempt was identified
as David Barron Corona, a longtime member of the Tijuanabased cartel
notorious as Mexico's most violent organized crime organization.

Police said bodyguards for Blancornelas shot Barron as he and other gunmen
sprayed Blancornelas' car with bullets in the unsuccessful assassination
attempt. Blancornelas was shot four times in the attack and remained
hospitalized Friday in stable condition.

One of his bodyguards, Luis Lauro Valero Elizalde, was killed in the shootout.

The magazine managed by Blancornelas was characteristically outspoken in an
editorial Friday, blaming local authorities for last week withdrawing a
team of bodyguards and lauding Valero for his bravery.

Zeta accused Baja California Gov. Hector Teran, a member of the opposition
National Action Party, and state prosecutor Jose Luis Anaya Bautista, of
aiding and abetting the killers.

"Whoever ordered the withdrawal of the escorts knew they were planning or
that they had already decided to murder Blancornelas," reported the
magazine, pointing out that just weeks before Zeta had once again publicly
criticized the Arellano Felix and named Barron as a member of the
organization.

The Federal Attorney General's Office issued a statement saying Barron was
"an important active member of the criminal gang commanded by the Arellano
Felix brothers" and was wanted both in Mexico and the United States in
connection with a number of crimes, including the 1993 killing in
Guadalajara of that city's Roman Catholic cardinal.

Barron's body was identified by his fingerprints and facial
characteristics, the statement said.

Thursday's assassination attempt was just the latest in a rising wave of
violence against journalists in Mexico. Three members of the news media
have been killed here this year, ranking Mexico alongside Colombia among
the most dangerous places in Latin America for journalists.

One of the three men killed was Benjamin Flores, the editor and publisher
of a newspaper in San Luis Rio Colorado, a border town not far from
Tijuana. Flores had lived and worked in Tijuana and had close ties to local
politicians there. Police accused drug traffickers of ordering Flores'
killing and have arrested several men in connection with the July shooting.

Blancornelas, meanwhile, is probably the bestknown provincial journalist
in Mexico. His weekly magazine is famous for its scoops and stories about
the Arellano Felix cartel and government related corruption in and around
the city.

Hector "El Gato" Felix Miranda, who cofounded Zeta with Blancornelas, was
assassinated nine years ago. The men who ordered his killing have never
been brought to justice.