Image by pmoroni via FlickrNarco News has an update on the murder of US Consulate Cd.Juarez workers in March. Bill Conroy writes that the US Consulate employee, Lesley A. Enriquez, was targeted for assassination. The hit was reportedly ordered because she refused to commit a fraud, law enforcement sources claim. Read excerpt below:
The U.S. consulate worker murdered in Juarez in mid-March was approached in the days prior to her death by a man seeking to get her to sign off on an official document absent the proper paperwork.
Her refusal to cooperate with the man led to an order for her assassination from the top level of the Sinaloa drug trafficking organization. The murder was carried out by Sinaloa hit man with the nickname El Guero, who was assisted by individuals associated with the Aztecas, a criminal gang operating in Juarez and across the border in El Paso, Texas; and with La Linea, a “line” of corrupt Mexican law enforcers.
That information was provided to Narco News recently by law enforcement sources who claim it is credible intelligence that has not, to date, been seriously investigated due to turf wars, both within and between law enforcement agencies involved in the murder investigation.
“An individual approached her [at least twice in consulate-related settings prior to her murder] and tried to get her to do something with a document without the proper paperwork,” one law enforcer claims. “Her murder was ordered because she refused to go along with it.”
On March 13, Lesley A. Enriquez, who worked as an assistant in the American Citizens Services section of the U.S. Consulate in Juarez, and her husband, Arthur H. Redelfs, a detention officer with the El Paso County Sheriffs Office, were both shot dead in their vehicle after leaving a private birthday party in Juarez.
[…]
The Azteca gang member who confessed, Ricardo Valles de la Rosa, claims he was tortured by the Mexican military, according to media reports.
Law enforcement sources who spoke with Narco News say the Mexican government’s line on the murders, which has been repeated as though it were fact in many press reports, doesn’t pass the smell test“That (jail-guard-abuse) theory is a weak story,” one law enforcement source says. “He (Redelfs) would have known better than to mess with the Aztecas.”
Chris Acosta, spokeswoman for the El Paso County Sheriffs Office, says she knows of no evidence that Redelfs mistreated any prisoners. “He was an outstanding employee,” she adds.
[…]The information provided to Narco News by law enforcement sources pointing to Enriquez as the main target of the murders, like the Redelfs-as-target theory of the murder, faces some proof hurdles. However, the law enforcement sources indicate that the veracity of the information could easily be checked out -- even by a mediocre investigator. The fear is that such an investigation has not even been pursued.
Among the questions raised by the Enriquez-as-target theory revolves around the role of the third murder victim, Salcido. Why was he killed?
[…]
Gonzalez of the U.S. Consulate in Juarez declined to comment on whether Enriquez reported any improper requests made of her in the days prior to her murder.
“I’m not going to refute or say yes that something like that happened,” Gonzalez told Narco News. “All I can tell you is that the investigation is ongoing, and I believe the PGR [Mexican Attorney General’s Office] in Mexico has the lead on it.”
In fact, on the latter matter, Gonzalez is correct. Assistant Secretary of State Philip Crowley confirmed in a March 15 press briefing that “Mexican authorities have the lead” in the investigation of the U.S. Consulate-related murders, and “the FBI is consulting and [State Department’s] Diplomatic Security is also consulting.”
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2 comments:
Thanks for doing the legwork to keep us updated on what is going on with this investigation. It would be nice if the State Department would provide more information on this tragic event as they learn more. I understand the whole "ongoing investigation" aspect, but still, any and all valid information should be available to the public and, especially, State Department families.
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Thanks!
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