Reputed drug lord held over for trial in Mexico

Death of another confirmed
ASSOCIATED PRESS

6:52 p.m. January 29, 2008

MEXICO CITY – Reputed drug lord Alfredo Beltran Leyva was ordered to stand trial on weapons-possession and money-laundering charges, authorities said Tuesday, while forensic experts identified a man killed in a November helicopter crash as a top cartel hit man.

Beltran Leyva and three alleged accomplices were arrested Jan. 21 in the northern state of Sinaloa. He is accused of being a top financier for the Pacific drug cartel, the Attorney General's Office said in a statement.


The suspects, who were allegedly carrying firearms and almost $1 million in cash when arrested, also face organized crime charges.

In a separate statement, the office announced that the remains of a man killed on Nov. 13 when a helicopter crashed near the start of the Baja 1000 off-road race in Baja California, near the city of Ensenada, had been identified as belonging to a feared drug enforcer.

Merardo Leon Hinojosa was “one of the most dangerous hit men of the Arellano Felix” cartel, which is based in the border city of Tijuana, the office said.

Two of the four people aboard the helicopter were killed in the crash; witnesses said the craft appeared to be filming the race and may have become entangled in power lines.