Man held for Mexican cardinal's killing, but church claims cover-up

Published: 2008-01-29

MEXICO CITY (CNS) -- Mexican soldiers detained an alleged hired killer for the 1993 slaying of Guadalajara Cardinal Juan Jesus Posadas Ocampo, but church officials said the arrest is part of a long-standing government cover-up. Alfredo Araujo Avila, known as "Popeye," was seized at a house in Tijuana Jan. 26 and taken to a high-security prison near Mexico City Jan. 28. Araujo is the 13th person to be arrested in connection with the killing, in which Cardinal Posadas was ambushed and riddled with bullets while he was sitting in his car at the airport in Guadalajara, Mexico's second-largest city. Gen. German Redondo, commander of military operations in Tijuana, said Araujo has worked as a triggerman for the Arellano Felix drug trafficking cartel for more than two decades, and there has been a warrant out for his arrest for the Cardinal Posadas slaying since 1998. Araujo has links to Southern California gangs and is also wanted in the United States on various charges, Redondo said. However, church officials in Mexico City and Guadalajara said that the government's case is full of holes.

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