Sunday, February 7, 2010

Second Mastermind In The Juárez Student Massacre Arrested

Top photo: Israel Arzate Meléndez aka "El 24" (Public Ministry)
Bottom photo: José Dolores Arroyo Chavarría aka "El Chore"

More arrest eminent Mexican authorities say

By H. Nelson Goodson
February 6, 2010

Juárez, Mexico - On Saturday, the Mexican Public Ministry officials said during a press conference that they have arrested the co-mastermind in the planning of the student massacre. They said, Israel Arzate Meléndez aka "El 24" or "El Country", was implicated in the Juárez student massacre by José Dolores Arroyo Chavarría aka "El Chore". Meléndez, 24, was arrested after he was stopped on Thursday night at about 8:30 p.m. in the corner of Henequén and Durango Streets driving a 2006 gray Cherokee Laredo jeep by the Mexican federal Army. The jeep was reported stolen from the U.S.
Meléndez confessed to killing Manuel Hernández Villegas, 37, outside the birthday party where 15 victims were shot and killed, and more than a dozen injured. Meléndez told authorities that they were singling people out, and women and children were ordered to leave, but that the alleged gang leader Adrián Ramírez Armendáriz ordered them to kill anyone, said General Felipe de Jesús Espitia from the Federal Security Operations in Chihuahua (OCDC Operación Coordinada de Chihuahua).
Meléndez in return implicated Chavarría by telling police that Chavarría had taken an active part in the massacre. He carried one of the large weapons, said Meléndez. He said, that he worked for the Juárez Cartel and that they met at Las Torres commercial center close to the restaurant Las Alitas between 9:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., where they thought rival gang members belonging to the Double A's (Artist Assasins) would be attending a nearby birthday party around 11p.m.-12 a.m. Meléndez at the Public Ministry news conference said that 14 gang members of La Línea participated in the deadly assault of the party last Sunday.
"A cell phone with number (656) 169 6699 was recovered from Meléndez and several calls around the time they committed the homicides led us to identified four more suspects, and warrants for their arrest have been issued," said Patricía González Rodríguez, Attorney General of Chihuahua.
Federal authorities have confirmed that the student victims killed were innocent and did not have any ties to organized crime.  
Police are looking into allegations that one or several adults killed might have been involved in organized crime, but has not been confirmed since the investigation is ongoing, according to Jacinto Seguro spokesperson for the Juárez Municipal Police.
On Saturday, authorities confirmed 15 dead, including adults and teenagers between the ages of 13 to 19 had been killed last Sunday inside the residential campound. The residence at 1310 Villa del Portal St., is located in the neighborhood of Villas de Salvárcar, where three homes are built. Fifteen other students were reported injured.
Previously, a 15-year old girl was also reported killed along with rest of the victims, but police confirmed she died in another area and the homicide was not related to those killed by La Línea gang.
Chavarría, 30, aka El Chore, a member of La Línea gang has been charged with 1st-degree intentional homicide for shooting at two Mexican military 2nd sargeants, Elías Cuevas Chávez and Heriberto Godínez Acevedo, and also for shooting at both Daniel Elías Becerra Vicencio and Fátima Guadalupe Irigoyen Rodríguez, said Edgar Caro Ramírez, Mexican District Attorney in Juárez.
He is also accused in the homicide of Municipal Police Officer César Javier Rangel Medina and two other men killed in the Tec. commercial sector.
Multiple homicides charges are pending against Chavarría, and he is expected back in court on February 9, according to prosecutors.
Chavarría confessed to police that José Antonio Acosta Hernández aka "El Diego", "El Blablazo", or "El 10" was the main gang leader of La Línea who ordered Adrián Ramírez Armendáriz aka "El Rama", "El 12", or "El Ramon"  and Meléndez to kill their rival gang members, the Double A's. Ramírez Armendárez was killed on Monday in a confrontation with the Mexican federal army.
Some of the Juárez massacre victims were identified as Eduardo Becerra, 35, Edgar Martin Díaz Macías, 23 , Jaime Rosales Cisneros, 42, Manuel Hernández Villegas, 37, Jesús Enríquez Miramontes, 39, Rodrigo Cadena Dávila, 17, Carlos Lucio Moreno Ávila, 18, Brenda Ivonne Escamilla Pedroza, 17, José Adrian Encina Hernández, 17, Horacio Alberto Soto Camargo, 19, Yomira Aurora Delgado Lara, 13, Jesús Armando Segovia Ortiz, 15,  and José Luis Aguilar Camargo, 19.
Encina Hernández was an honor student and had been recognized by José Reyes Baeza Terrazas, Governor of Chihuahua for his outstanding academic ahievement. Baeza Terrazas visited the crime scene during mid week, where the mass cold blooded killing of teenagers took place.

Related Juárez article click to open: Juárez students killed last Sunday had no gang affiliation. Estudiantes ejecutados en Ciudad Juárez, Mexico eran inocentes http://bit.ly/a8roK9

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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Seems he was tortured and forced to confess he did it or getting his wife killed by federal forces. Lot of that goin on.