THE BORDER REPORT
The family of the man arrested for the murders of people connected to the U.S. consulate was beaten and held captive by Mexican federal forces for two days before being dragged into the spotlight as a suspect, his family says. If true, it suggests a gross setup in a high-profile murder case that's lingered on for weeks and is beginning to embarrass the law enforcement agencies on both sides of the border.
THE BORDER REPORT
Looks like the media jumped to conclusions yesterday when it was announced an Azteca leader had been arrested in connection with the U.S. Consulate killings in early March. But what's interesting is La Polaka gives a highly detailed account of the man's involvement in the murders and in fact, posted the Attorney General's charges against the guy tying him to the murders. Did someone decide to change their mind? Yesterday, the Chihuahua State Police said it had arrested Ricardo Valles de la Rosa, a 45-year-old leader of the Aztecas. They said he was arrested in connection with an earlier murder from last October. Then, Enrique Torres, spokesman for Operation Chihuahua, told the Díario de Juárez:Effectively, there is the detention of a person related with the case of the Consulate, but we are waiting for a communique to reveal the parameters of the case. For the moment I can only confirm that there has been one detention in the event.Well, that was yesterday. Citing Díario, the media went after the story whole-heartedly. Everyone from CNN to The Times reported that Valles was the probable killer. Now, The El Paso Times reports today, it wasn't Valles. But adding to the confusion is this very precise accounting from La Polaka. The news Web site reports Valles admitted to the prosecutor's office that he was given orders to follow the white vehicles carrying Lesley Enriquez, her husband Arthur Redelfs and, in the separate SUV, Alberto Salcido. The PGR claimed Valles admitted to this. Now, they're not saying he was the triggerman; they're claiming he was ran recon on the vehicles. He claimed he heard the gunshots. But who did he run recon on? My sense is that the Mexicans may have tried to make Valles seem more important than what he turned out to be. He may be a good lead on the investigation, but he wasn't the triggerman, nor was he the intellectual author of the hits. We shall see what happens next.
THE BORDER REPORT
It's been more than a week and La Linea continues to be targeted for the triple murders of people tied to the U.S. Consulate in Cd. Juárez; the Americans continuing to state they believe that it was a case of mistaken identity. Departing from my skepticism of the theory for the moment, let's say it's true. Let's say the killers targeted the wrong people. So who were they targeting? Follow me for a moment because this is confusing.
THE BORDER REPORT
They're lying. Or, they're wrong. Or both.
Suddenly, everyone's blaming La Linea for the murder of a consulate employee, her husband and the husband of a second employee. The Mexicans are saying it was the Juárez Cartel's La Linea who pulled the job; the FBI is saying it, the media is saying it. Not only are they saying it was La Linea/Barrio Azteca, they are saying it was a case of mistaken identity. This is infuriating.
Why?
THE BORDER REPORT
The U.S. State Department has ordered its consulate employees along the border, specifically, Tijuana, Nogales, Juárez, Reynosa, Nuevo Laredo, and Matamoros to send their families out of Mexico for a month following the murders of three people, a consulate employee and her husband and the husband of a second employee this weekend in Juárez.
Leslie (or Lesley) Enriquez and her husband, Arthur H. Redelfs, were shot in a drive-by coming into Juárez. Ten minutes earlier, the body of the husband of a second consular employee, Jorge Alberto Salcido, was found by Chihuahua police.
