BENTLEY DRIVER A CARTEL TARGET?

Mysterious Slaying in L.A. May Be Rooted in a Mexican Drug Rivalry.

The LAPD is investigating whether a shooting on the 101 Freeway near
downtown in December may have stemmed from an Arellano Felix drug
rivalry. The luxury car was riddled with bullets.

The shooting last December was as mysterious as it was brazen: On a
downtown stretch of the 101 Freeway, a storm of bullets riddled a
$100,000 Bentley, showering the lanes with shell casings and glass,
and leaving the driver mortally wounded.

And then, for month after month, there was nothing -- no arrests, no
suspects publicly identified, no possible motive given.

But the speculation had been unavoidable. The audacity of the attack
and the glaring mismatch between the ultra-luxury car and the young
Latino victim of little apparent means suggested a Mexican-style
narcotics hit, the type that has killed several thousand people in
the drug wars south of the border.

Now, court records obtained by The Times show that police are
investigating whether the predawn shooting was indeed tied to the
Mexican dope trade. It would be an unusually bold display of
cartel-related violence in the L.A. region.

One suspect was charged with murder Thursday.

A search warrant affidavit filed by a Los Angeles Police Department
detective says investigators learned that the dead man, 25-year-old
Jose Luis Macias, might have been selling drugs here for the
notorious Arellano Felix cartel. The document says a friend of his
since childhood may have had him gunned down to take over the local business.

The affidavit describes a Wild West pursuit of Macias that began with
shots fired near the historic Olvera Street plaza, blocks from the
Civic Center and LAPD headquarters, before it spilled onto the
southbound 101. Like Macias, the suspects, identified as laborers, at
one time or another drove cars beyond their outward pay levels -- a
Hummer and a Cadillac Escalade, the affidavit says.

Earlier this week, the LAPD arrested Michael Angel Aleman, 34, who
has been charged with first-degree murder, attempted murder and
shooting into an occupied vehicle. Described in the affidavit as a
former gang member, he is being held in lieu of $1.38-million bail.

The affidavit quotes an officer alleging that a second man, Eddie
Escobedo, also known as Eddie Hernandez, wanted Macias killed.

"He said that Macias was dealing drugs" for the cartel, the document
says. "He further stated that a power struggle erupted between the
two because Eddie Escobedo wanted to be the 'shot caller.' "

Escobedo's whereabouts could not be determined.

Another man the affidavit names in connection with the case, Sabino
Cabral, 26, is in custody on suspicion of lesser offenses and has not
been charged in the killing.

Cabral, who was previously arrested in Arizona for allegedly
transporting more than 200 kilos of marijuana and possessing a rifle,
is believed to have had a 9-millimeter pistol that was used in the
Olvera Street shooting, the affidavit says. The affidavit says it is
the detective's "belief that Sabino Cabral was present, if not
involved in the murder."

The document identifies two other men in connection with the
investigation, describing them as bodyguards for Escobedo.

LAPD officials Thursday declined to discuss the probe. "There are
people we need to talk to," said Robbery-Homicide Lt. Greg Strenk.

After The Times inquired about the case, the district attorney's
office released a statement Thursday confirming that charges had been
filed against Aleman. The statement called Macias a car salesman, but
did not elaborate and made no reference to the cartel.

The court documents contain tipster accounts of two men with handguns
first opening fire on the silver 2005 Bentley Continental GT near
Olvera Street, about 3 a.m. Dec. 12, as Macias drove away from a
celebration of the festival of the Virgin of Guadalupe.

The assailants stepped in front of the car at Cesar Chavez Avenue and
Alameda Street and started shooting. Macias sped off, made a frantic
U-turn and headed toward the freeway, where he was shot minutes
later, the affidavit says.

Macias suffered multiple head wounds, as rounds punctured the Bentley
from back to front, according to the statement. He died in the
hospital two days later.

The fact that investigators have remained mum since then -- tips had
come in almost immediately -- is not unusual considering the
life-and-death sensitivity of cases that could involve cartels or
their partners in the United States, experts say. In Mexico, the drug
organizations have routinely threatened and killed witnesses, authorities say.

In recent years, the death and imprisonment of key leaders have
weakened the Arellano Felix cartel, but it remains a fierce combatant
for drug smuggling routes from Tijuana into Southern California and
across the United States, law enforcement officials say.

Orlando Lopez, a special agent in charge in California's Bureau of
Narcotic Enforcement, said the cartel brings cocaine, heroin,
marijuana and methamphetamine into the state and acts as a wholesaler
for drug-dealing street gangs. "They're very active," he said. "They
have members on both sides of the border."

The documents in the Macias case do not refer specifically to any
cartel chieftains. Nor do they state the cartel directly sanctioned
the shooting.

But the detective's affidavit, citing an officer's account, says
"Eddie placed a 'green light' on victim Macias," vernacular for
approving a killing.

The Macias probe has stretched from a party supply store to a card
club to Cabral's home on 2nd Street in Boyle Heights. Last week, the
police seized a .45-caliber handgun, ammunition and several
cellphones from the home, the affidavit says. Cabral was arrested on
suspicion of drunk driving and other traffic violations, police records show.

He has also been convicted of carrying a concealed weapon in a
vehicle, according to court records.

In the 1990s, Aleman was convicted of carrying a concealed weapon,
and later of voluntary manslaughter, and was sentenced to eight years
in prison, prosecutors said.

According to the affidavit, Montebello police also have arrested
Aleman on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, although the
circumstances are not described. The document says the Montebello
Police Department arrested Cabral as well, but no details were provided.