The New York Times-20080127-Mexico Arrests Man in Killing Of Cardinal

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Mexico Arrests Man in Killing Of Cardinal

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In another significant blow to drug cartels from the Mexican government, a man believed to be a key figure in the assassination of Cardinal Juan Jesus Posadas Ocampo in 1993 was arrested in Tijuana on Saturday, military officials said.

Responding to anonymous tip, soldiers and state police officers raided a house and captured Alfredo Araujo Avila, 47, whom Mexican prosecutors have identified as a hit man for the Arellano Felix cartel, Gen. German Redondo said, according to several Mexican newspapers.

He is considered one of the most dangerous hit men of the Arellano Felix cartel, General Redondo told Reuters.

Mexican authorities filed an arrest warrant for Mr. Araujo Avila, an American citizen, in 1998. The warrant charges that he was one of the gunmen who killed Cardinal Posadas Ocampo on May 24, 1993, at the Guadalajara airport, shooting him at close range.

He is also wanted for taking part in an 2003 ambush on Jesus Blancornelas, a journalist who crusaded against drug dealers. Mr. Blancornelas, who died of natural causes in 2006, escaped the attack with his life but his driver died in a rain of bullets.

Mexican authorities maintain that Mr. Araujo Avila, who was known as Popeye, was a feared assassin during the 1980s and 90s in a criminal gang that operated in San Diego.

He also had close ties to Benjamin Arellano-Felix, leader of the main cartel in Tijuana. Prosecutors here say the Arellano-Felix cartel hired Mr. Araujo Avila to kill the leader of a rival gang in 1993. Cardinal Posadas Ocampo was shot 14 times by mistake during the attack, they say.

During the past year President Felipe Calderon has stepped up pressure on drug cartels, sending 20,000 troops and federal agents into cities and states traffickers used to control.

The capture of Mr. Araujo Avila was the second major arrest in a week. Last Sunday, Mexican troops took Alfredo Beltran Leyva into custody in Sinaloa State. He was described as one of the leaders of the cartel that controls the drug trade through Ciudad Juarez on the border.