A member of the Zetas drug cartel has been arrested for his involvement in the dumping of 49 decapitated and dismembered bodies in northern Mexico last week. The military identified the suspect as Daniel de Jesus Elizondo Ramirez, also known as El Loco, on Sunday and paraded him in front of cameras at a press conference on Monday.
According to officials, Ramirez and another cartel member were ordered by top cartel bosses Miguel-Angel Trevino Morales and Heriberto Lazcano to kill the victims and leave their bodies in the central square of Cadereyta, a city in the state of Nuevo Leon. The suspects ended up leaving the bodies on the side of a highway outside the city. They were then ordered to hang banners proclaiming the Zetas’ innocence around Mexico.
"This was part of a strategy to blame the actions on opposing criminal organizations ... to cause confusion among authorities and in the public opinion," Brig. Gen. Edgar Luis Villegas said of the banners.
Ramirez was arrested on Friday outside Monterrey after exchanging fire with soldiers. The second suspect has not been captured.
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