Mexican police officer arrested over casino massacre

Mexican police officer arrested over casino massacre

2011-09-03 05:12:59 GMT+7 (ICT)

MONTERREY, MÉXICO (BNO NEWS) -- A police officer was arrested on Thursday for his alleged role in last week's arson attack which killed 52 people in a casino in the northern Mexican city of Monterrey, officials said on Friday.

Miguel Ángel Barraza Escamilla, a police officer in the state of Nuevo León, was arrested at around 9 p.m. local time on Thursday by national security forces in the city of Monterrey, the country's Attorney General's Office said.

José Cuitláhuac Salinas of the Attorney General's office said that Barraza was identified through a video recording which allegedly showed him pulling up in a vehicle outside the casino as the attack was perpetrated.

On Monday, five men who supposedly belong to the drug cartel Los Zetas were arrested in connection with the deadly attack. Salinas said on Friday that it has not been determined yet if Barraza is also part of this criminal group.

Sources close to the investigation said that other police officers may have also participated in the attack by protecting the assailants. However, Salinas refused to disclose information about this possibility.

On August 25, a group of men carrying assault rifles and containers full of gas arrived at Monterrey's Casino Royale. The gunmen warned customers to exit the building before they set the casino on fire, but many people were unable to escape. 52 people were killed and at least 10 were injured in the attack.

Monterrey and the state of Nuevo Leon have been engulfed in increasing violence as the Los Zetas and Gulf cartels battle for control of drug trafficking routes to the United States, but the casino attack was one of the worst in years.

According to government figures, a total of 15,273 drug-related crimes occurred in Mexico in 2010, while more than 42,000 people have died in drug-related violence since Mexican President Felipe Calderón began his campaign to fight organized crime in December 2006.

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