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Police arrest main suspect in case of Oaxaca acid attack

Cody Copeland
By Cody Copeland
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Juan Antonio Vera is accused of ordering the attack on musician María Elena Ríos.
Juan Antonio Vera is accused of ordering the attack on musician María Elena Ríos.

Oaxaca state police have arrested former lawmaker Juan Antonio Vera Carrizal, the main suspect in the case of an acid attack on saxophone player María Elena Ríos Ortiz in September of last year.

Ríos was attacked with acid by a man pretending to be a travel agency customer on September 9 in Huajuapan de León, Oaxaca, leaving her disfigured and wondering if she would ever be able to play her instrument again.

The arrest was confirmed by Governor Alejandro Murat, who said that the ex-deputy “would now face justice for the terrible act of violence [he] committed.”

Vera was arrested about five weeks after the Oaxaca Attorney General’s Office (FGE) placed a 1-million-peso reward (US $53,000 at the time) on his head in February.

Interpol had also issued a Red Notice for Vera, initiating an international search, and the Financial Intelligence Unit had frozen his bank accounts.

On Friday the FGE arrested another man related to the crime who was responsible for paying the men to carry out the attack and is now facing charges of femicide.

Although recovery has been a long process that will continue for years, Ríos was able to regain the use of her hands well enough to once again play her saxophone for a TV audience in early March.

Sources: Milenio (sp), Expansión Política (sp)

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