Security tight, speculation high with arrest of eight
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/mexico/tijuana/20050805-1...
By Anna Cearley
August 5, 2005
TIJUANA ? The capture of suspected drug trafficker Ray del Villar, 23, and seven other people prompted the kind of extra security measures Friday
around the Mexican Attorney General's Office that are normally reserved for the region's most wanted criminals.
Mexican news media were reporting, using unnamed sources, that at least one of the men was a member of the Arellano F?lix drug cartel and had been
involved in last year's killing of newspaper editor Francisco Ortiz Franco.
More than 30 soldiers stood guard in front of the Mexican Attorney General's office until 1 p.m. Friday, when two men were taken hastily out of the
building, with their heads covered, and put inside a car.
As the car headed toward the airport, it was followed by a three-truck convoy of soldiers and law enforcement agents.
People are regularly arrested for drug-related crimes here with little fanfare, and precautions that were taken Friday are usually reserved for the
most sensitive cases. Suspected Arellano detainees are commonly flown to Mexico City to face charges there.
Federal authorities weren't confirming the media reports, and it was unclear who was being moved under heavy guard.
The only official version coming from the Baja California State Attorney General's office was a news release saying the arrest resulted from a
joint-agency effort. Del Villar was identified as a suspected drug trafficker.
"The detention . . . was done after an intense coordinated investigation through the second phase of the Operation 'Mexico Seguro' that is being
realized in the state," the statement said.
The two-month federal operation is taking place along the Mexican border in reaction to an increase in drug-related violence south of Texas and
California. In Baja California, it began shortly after the bold killings of two high-ranking law enforcement officials.
The project has involved setting up extra checkpoints and coordinating their operations among law enforcement agencies, but it has also been
criticized for failing to net major drug trafficking suspects.
According to the news release, del Villar was stopped by police early Thursday as he and a group of people left the Plaza Fiesta, near the port of
entry. Police stopped their car, a recent-model black Cadillac Escalade, after noticing "suspicious behavior."
Authorities found del Villar in possession of a pistol, and one of his passengers, Jaime L?pez Hern?ndez, was found to have an outstanding arrest
warrant, according to the news release.
Del Villar, L?pez and another man named Jos? Luis Jacobo C?rdenas, 34, were turned over to the Mexican Attorney General's office to face possible
charges, according to the news release. The other people found in the car were also being interviewed by federal authorities.
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