Authorities in Mexico have arrested a key suspect in the killing of nine members of a Mormon community.
Three women and six children, all dual US-Mexican citizens, were driving through the Sonoran desert when they were killed in an ambush last year.
Roberto N is believed to have been the “intellectual architect” of the attack, Mexico’s federal attorney-general’s office said on Wednesday. Known as The Mute and The 32, he is a suspected leader of La Línea cartel.
Two other suspects, thought to be members of the same cartel, were also arrested. La Línea is a faction of the Juárez cartel and engages in arms and drug smuggling between northern Chihuahua state and the United States. Many of its members are believed to be former police officers who were “bought off” by the Juárez cartel, switched sides and became “enforcers” for the cartel, protecting drug shipments and attacking rival gangs.
The US ambassador to Mexico, Christopher Landau, congratulated Mexican security forces for the arrests, writing on Twitter: “Excellent co-operation between the authorities of both countries. There will be justice!”
