News (Media Awareness Project) - Mexico: Genetic Tests Confirm Death Of One Of FBI's Most |
| Title: | Mexico: Genetic Tests Confirm Death Of One Of FBI's Most |
| Published On: | 2002-03-14 |
| Source: | Denver Rocky Mountain News (CO) |
| Fetched On: | 2008-01-24 17:28:37 |
GENETIC TESTS CONFIRM DEATH OF ONE OF FBI'S MOST WANTED DRUG SUSPECTS
Blood stains from the shirt of a man killed in a shootout with police last
month helped authorities confirm the death of Ramon Arellano Felix, the
suspected leader of Mexico's most feared drug gang and one of the FBI's 10
most-wanted fugitives.
Assistant Attorney General Juan Jorge Campos said Mexican authorities
compared blood taken from Arellano Felix's jailed brother, Benjamin, with
DNA evidence collected from the shootout at the Pacific coast resort of
Mazatlan on Feb. 10.
Tests showed the samples had a "genetic affinity" that proved the dead man
was Benjamin Arellano Felix's brother, Campos said at a news conference
Wednesday. U.S. and Mexican officials already had said they were almost
certain the dead man was the fugitive.
U.S. and Mexican officials say the two brothers ran a Tijuana-based drug
ring that smuggled tons of cocaine and marijuana into the United States and
killed hundreds of people over the past 15 years.
Other siblings have alleged roles in the organization, but authorities say
the death of one brother and the arrest of the other may mean its demise.
The FBI posted the 37-year-old Ramon Arellano Felix, accused of being the
gang's enforcer, on its 10 most-wanted list in September 1997. A 1999 DEA
report attributed about 300 murders in Mexico and the United States to the
gang.
U.S. and Mexican police agencies had determined that Arellano Felix came to
Mazatlan on Feb. 5 with a plan to kill a rival during Carnival
celebrations. Police say his death resulted from a chance encounter with
traffic police who saw guns in the car he was driving.
A day after the shootout, people who identified themselves as relatives of
the slain man arrived and claimed the body from a funeral home, using false
documents.
On Saturday, Mexican troops captured Benjamin Arellano Felix in a raid on a
house in Puebla, east of Mexico City. Authorities said police found an
altar honoring Ramon's memory, and that Benjamin Arellano Felix told
interrogators his brother was dead.
Blood stains from the shirt of a man killed in a shootout with police last
month helped authorities confirm the death of Ramon Arellano Felix, the
suspected leader of Mexico's most feared drug gang and one of the FBI's 10
most-wanted fugitives.
Assistant Attorney General Juan Jorge Campos said Mexican authorities
compared blood taken from Arellano Felix's jailed brother, Benjamin, with
DNA evidence collected from the shootout at the Pacific coast resort of
Mazatlan on Feb. 10.
Tests showed the samples had a "genetic affinity" that proved the dead man
was Benjamin Arellano Felix's brother, Campos said at a news conference
Wednesday. U.S. and Mexican officials already had said they were almost
certain the dead man was the fugitive.
U.S. and Mexican officials say the two brothers ran a Tijuana-based drug
ring that smuggled tons of cocaine and marijuana into the United States and
killed hundreds of people over the past 15 years.
Other siblings have alleged roles in the organization, but authorities say
the death of one brother and the arrest of the other may mean its demise.
The FBI posted the 37-year-old Ramon Arellano Felix, accused of being the
gang's enforcer, on its 10 most-wanted list in September 1997. A 1999 DEA
report attributed about 300 murders in Mexico and the United States to the
gang.
U.S. and Mexican police agencies had determined that Arellano Felix came to
Mazatlan on Feb. 5 with a plan to kill a rival during Carnival
celebrations. Police say his death resulted from a chance encounter with
traffic police who saw guns in the car he was driving.
A day after the shootout, people who identified themselves as relatives of
the slain man arrived and claimed the body from a funeral home, using false
documents.
On Saturday, Mexican troops captured Benjamin Arellano Felix in a raid on a
house in Puebla, east of Mexico City. Authorities said police found an
altar honoring Ramon's memory, and that Benjamin Arellano Felix told
interrogators his brother was dead.
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