Mexican gunman accused of over 100 killings arrested

MEXICO CITY - A drug cartel gunman who allegedly killed at least 109 people in the southern state of Guerrero and the central state of Morelos has been arrested, authorities said.

Jesus Basilio Araujo was arrested Friday in Jiutepec, a city in Morelos, along with an unidentified woman, Public Safety Secretariat said Sunday.

Araujo, 36, worked for the Beltran Leyva brothers in Guerrero and Morelos.

Araujo allegedly took his orders from Jesus Nava Romero, a close associate of Arturo Beltran Leyva, who died in a shootout Wednesday with marines in Cuernavaca, the capital of Morelos, the secretariat said.

Investigators suspect that Araujo may also have ties to “Los Zetas”, the armed wing of the Gulf cartel.

Araujo “is suspected of being responsible for more than 109 murders committed in the states of Guerrero and Morelos, where messages were left on the victims signed by ‘El Jefe de Jefes’ (The Boss of Bosses),” one of Arturo Beltran Leyva’s many aliases, the Public Safety Secretariat said.

Federal security forces stepped up operations against the Beltran Leyva cartel in Morelos after marines found several of the criminal organisation’s members at a party in the town of Tepoztlan nine days ago.

A shootout between marines and cartel members left three gunmen dead and 11 others under arrest.

Since taking office in December 2006, President Felipe Calderon has deployed more than 45,000 soldiers and 20,000 federal police officers across Mexico in a bid to stem the wave of violence unleashed by drug traffickers.

–EFE