Mexican authorities detained more suspects in the November slayings of nine women and children, a case that attracted attention and thrust previously isolated fundamentalist communities of northern Mexico into a political firestorm, reports USA Today. Mexico’s federal prosecutor’s office said judicial and intelligence officials, along with soldiers and national guard troops, carried out a raid Sunday. The newspaper el Universal said three suspects were arrested south of the Arizona border in Sonora state near the site of the Nov. 4 attack, which killed three women and six children. The arrests followed the detention and arraignment of a suspect in November.
Mexican media outlets reported the detentions followed the arrest of “Mario H,” alias “El Mayo,” a local leader of criminal organization known as “La Linea.” Family members responded skeptically to the news, which came less than 24 hours before a scheduled meeting Monday with President Andrés Manuel López Obrador in Mexico City. “I would imagine these are low-level people,” said Julián LeBaron, a relative of the victims and family spokesman. “We want to know who gave the order and who is responsible.” He added, “There’s a video that the FBI has of 12 guys dressed in black with helmets, like special forces, coming down the hill, opening fire on my cousin’s vehicle … I don’t think anyone questions the fact that it was targeted.” Families of the victims continue demanding justice for their slain kin and a stop to the bloodshed south of the border, which has claimed the lives of more than 30,000 Mexicans in the past year and shows few signs of slowing.