Wednesday, October 16, 2024

4 arrested in Friday attack by gunmen near Mexico City airport

Two men and two women were arrested Sunday for an attack near Mexico City Airport on Friday, which Mexico City Police Chief Omar García Harfuch said was aimed at businessman Eduardo Beavan.

One of the arrested people was the alleged leader of the La Unión Tepito crime gang. One of the attackers – a 17-year-old – was killed by one of Beavan’s security guards who fired back.

The 17-year-old and another attacker intercepted Beavan’s vehicle on motorcycles near the airport. Beavan was shot in the leg and another man who was traveling with him was shot in the arm. Both were taken to hospital and their conditions were reported as stable.

The attackers were trying to murder Beaven, García confirmed. “It was a direct attack, they were going to kill this person. First there was the question of whether it was an attempted assault or a kidnapping, but no it was a direct attack, an attempted murder, and we are going to wait for the detainees … to say specifically what the motive is,” he said.

García added that the crime gang was already being investigated “which allowed us to detain them so quickly.” The suspects, he said, could be linked to homicides in Ecatepec, México state.

The arrests were made in Benito Juárez, Cuauhtémoc and Iztacalco. Photographs of Beavan were found during the arrests, the newspaper Milenio reported.

La Unión Tepito is engaged in a range of criminal activities, including extortion of local businesses, selling drugs and kidnapping and ransom collections.

Beavan is the owner of the Rosa Negra restaurant chain, which has restaurants in Mexico City, Tulum and Cancún. At the time of the attack, he was on his way to Mexico City Airport’s Terminal 2 to board a flight to Cancún.

With reports from Milenio and El Universal

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