Federal Prosecutor Killed in Gun Battle

Municipal and Cipol (state) police along with military troops shot and killed a federal prosecutor Miguel Angel Meneses Maciel who was driving one of three cars that ignored orders to stop in northern Mexico, which triggering a chase and gun battle.

The police and troops were on a joint patrol in the city of Chihuahua when they tried to stop three suspicious vehicles, the federal Attorney General's Office and the Defense Department said in a joint statement.

Preliminary investigation indicate that the federal prosecutor thought that it was a “levanton” (kidnapping) as the soldiers were traveling in four wheel drive pickup trucks without marking causing confusion.

The three drivers ignored the order to stop by the military who could have failed to provide adequate identity, which caused Meneses Maciel to believe it was an attack against him. Meneses Maciel continued at full speed ahead ignoring the orders to stop by several uniformed soldiers who were wearing bandanas concealing their faces, which ultimately prompted a chase between the military and the federal prosecutor.

The soldiers finally stopped the vehicle and opened fired at the prosecutor, killing him.

Meneses Maciel received eight gunshot wounds to the back and chest, and bled to death from a laceration to the left lung. Meneses Maciel also sustained a gunshot wound to the head.

At the crime scene were dozens of .308 caliber cartridge casings, which had impacted on the prosecutor's truck. This is the caliber of weapon usually carried by the military.

The incident occurred during the night hours on highway 17 just south of Ciudad Juarez, where the luxurious truck was intercepted by elements of the military which they said they considered to be suspicious.

It is unconfirmed that a group of soldiers, two municipal police officers and four Cipol officers were detained under investigation for the death of the prosecutor, and for injuries sustained by the other people who were in the company of the prosecutor who are alleged to have been beaten, said an unamed source from the Attorney General's Office (PGR).

In 2005 Miguel Angel Meneses Maciel was named lead investigator of crimes against journalists in Baja California by then President Fox, where he remained for two years before joining the ranks of the Federal Attorney General Office.

UPDATE:

November 5, 2009

Three men and a woman, all state police officers, were taken in to custody and tranported to a correction facility, CERESO de Aquiles Serdán, to face charges of murder for the killing of the Federal Public Ministry, in check point invloving different elements of the police.

The facts were provided Tuesday where Miguel Angel Meneses was killed, and these are the first authorities arrested who are three men and one woman, all of the Cipol police.

So far no other information is available which might indicate the specific charges that they were arrested for.

It is expected that Secretary of State for Public Security will release more details later as the four officers belong to their department.

Categories: mexican army, Mexican Crime, Miguel Angel Meneses Maciel, police, police procedure, US crime, war on drugs