OFFICIALS MAKE ARRESTS IN US CONSULATE DEATHS

EL PASO -- An alleged gang leader arrested in Juarez told Mexican
authorities that a U.S. Consulate employee and her husband were
targeted for assassination because the woman provided visas to a rival
gang.

Officials said Friday that Jesus Ernesto Chavez Castillo, 41,
described as a top Azteca gang member who led hit squads, is suspected
of ordering the slayings of Lesley Enriquez Redelfs and her husband,
Arthur Redelfs, both of El Paso.

Chavez, known as "El Camello," or the camel, told investigators after
his arrest that Enriquez Redelfs was the target of the attack on March
13 because she had been helping the rival Sinaloa drug cartel.

His allegation was met with skepticism by U.S. officials and
contradicts the story of another suspect arrested earlier this year.

The FBI, which has been investigating the slayings, said his claim is
unverified.

"We maintain the initial information," FBI Special Agent Andrea
Simmons said. "We have no indication that anyone who was killed was
targeted because of their jobs."

Chavez, who has an extensive criminal record in the U.S., was taken to
Mexico City because he is considered a high-risk prisoner, officials
said. Chavez was arrested after a raid on a home Thursday.

Mexican police arrested Chavez and Francisco Puga de la Torre, 30, in
connection with the slayings of Enriquez Redelfs, Redelfs and Jorge
Salcido Ceniceros, the husband of another consulate worker.

The three victims had left a birthday party attended by consulate
employees in separate cars when they were attacked by gunmen.

Jose Ramon Salinas, spokes man for the Mexican Federal Police in
Juarez, said Chavez told authorities that Juarez drug cartel members
who live in the United States conspired to kill Enriquez Redelfs
because she smoothed the way when issuing visas to members of the
Sinaloa cartel. She was pregnant when she was killed.

The Juarez drug cartel, also known as La Linea, and the Sinaloa drug
cartel have been entangled in a bloody war that is responsible for the
deaths of more than 5,600 people since the beginning of 2008.

Salinas said the federal agents have not confirmed the allegation that
Enriquez Redelfs was the target. He said they only reported what the
suspect told authorities.

"Many times criminals talk too much," Salinas said. "But authorities
are the ones that ultimately build the case and charge the
responsible."

The Associated Press reported Friday that U.S. officials investigated
possible corruption involving Enriquez Redelfs beginning soon after
her shooting death but no corruption was found.

Tom Burges, spokesman for State Department's Office of the Inspector
General, said he could not confirm or deny the existence of an
investigation into corruption at the U.S. Consulate in Juarez.

The U.S. Department of State spokesman Darby Holiday said he could not
confirm whether Enriquez Redelfs issued visas.

"We do not divulge the duty and title of staff at American consulates
or embassies," he said.

Mexican officials said Chavez planned the attack on Enriquez Redelfs
and provided the weapons used to kill her, Redelfs and Salcido.

Chavez, who has been connected to the deaths of 15 students earlier
this year, told police he knew Enriquez Redekfs was traveling in a
white sport utility vehicle on the day of the attack. He and other
gang members located two similar vehicles at the birthday party. They
followed and opened fire against both.

Salcido was driving the other sport utility vehicle.

Mexican authorities arrested another suspect in late March, and his
story contradicts Cha vez's.

Ricardo Valles de la Rosa, a former Barrio Azteca gang member, told
authorities that Redelfs was targeted because he mistreated gang
members at the El Paso County Jail.

Lt. Robert Kaminski, supervisor of the El Paso County Jail, said he
supervised Redelfs and never received a complaint about him.

"There was never any allegation or complaint or grievance brought
forth by any employee or inmate alleging any misconduct or
mistreatment by Officer Redelfs that I'm aware of," Kaminski said Friday.

In the case of Chavez, Mexican federal police accuse him of plotting
two crimes that have gained significant attention this year.

Police said Chavez confessed he participated in the killing of 15
people, including 11 teenagers, in January at a birthday party in the
Villas del Salvarcar neighborhood of Juarez. The slayings were a
mistake, because Chavez believed members of the rival Artists
Assassins gang were there.

Most of the victims were students and athletes. The massacre ignited a
public outcry and prompted visits by Mexican President Felipe Calderon
in February and March.

Court records show that Chavez has had a history of crime in the
United States. He has been arrested and convicted on charges of drug
dealing and alcohol abuse.

Chavez arrived illegally in El Paso with his family when he was 17 in
1986. That year, he married and moved to Los Angeles.

In the 1990s, Chavez was arrested and convicted for drunken driving
and for selling marijuana to undercover El Paso police officers.

Chavez divorced his first wife and remarried in 1994. He has three
children.

Chavez became a U.S. resident in January 1996, but he quickly ran into
problems with the law again.

In April 1996, Chavez was convicted of selling marijuana. He was
subject to deportation because of the drug-dealing conviction but was
given a chance to stay in 1998.

In 2001, Chavez crashed a vehicle in Horizon City and injured four
people. He had been drinking and was charged with intoxicated assault
and convicted.

After that conviction, the U.S. government deported him to
Juarez.

But he came back.

In 2003, he managed to enter the United States by lying to customs at
a port of entry, saying he was a U.S. citizen, according to court
documents. In February that year, he was arrested by the Border Patrol
at the Del Norte Courts Motel.

The agent who arrested Cha vez said the motel was known for drug and
immigrant smuggling operations, according to an affidavit.

Chavez again lied to the agents about his status and said he had
papers, the affidavit said. He was convicted of illegal re-entry and
put in a federal prison for 30 months because of his previous crimes.

It is unclear where Chavez went after his prison term. But Mexican
authorities said Cha vez was detained by the Mexican army in 2008 in
connection with drug trafficking. He was later released.

Now, Mexican federal police officials said Chavez is known among law
enforcement as a high-risk suspect.

That was the reason he was taken to Mexico City to be presented before
a federal judge, said Salinas, of the federal police. The Mexican
attorney general's office has less than 48 hours to charge him with a
crime.

"Here (in Juarez), he is considered a very dangerous subject. To leave
him here is risky," Salinas said.

Salinas said Chavez could face charges such as illegal possession of a
weapon, extortions, kidnapping and drug dealing.

The Chihuahua state attorney general would be responsible for charging
Chavez with murder in connection with the slayings of
EnriquezRedelfs, Redelfs, Salcido and the students, Salinas said.