Suspect arrested in Mexico City airport shooting case

Felipe Lugo de Leon, one of the Federal Police officers wanted in connection with the shooting at the Mexico City airport last month that left three fellow officers dead, was arrested on Sunday, the Public Safety Secretariat said. De Leon, known as "El Bogard," was arrested outside an apartment building in southern Mexico City thanks to an anonymous tip, the secretariat said. The Federal Police is still looking for officers Daniel Cruz Garcia and Zeferino Morales Franco, who also allegedly took part in the killings. The shooting in Terminal 2 occurred during an operation to arrest three officers being investigated for having links to drug traffickers and the officers killed were going to make the arrests, the Federal Police said. The three fugitive officers were involved with a ring that smuggled drugs from Peru into Mexico, officials said. The slain officers were investigating the smuggling operation, which involved an arriving passenger throwing the drugs into a trash can and an airport worker later removing the drugs, the secretariat said. The chief of the Federal Police station at the airport received an alert on June 25 that drugs were coming in from Peru and asked the shift supervisor to watch all passengers arriving from the South American country. "The surveillance was designed to identify the routine of a public servant that coincided with the mechanics of the operation that had been identified. A federal officer was among those spotted going to the trash can, so the Federal Police shift supervisor at the airport was alerted and proceeded to make the interception in the food court," the secretariat said. The officers sent to make the arrest radioed back a few minutes later that they had the suspect in custody, the secretariat said. A search of the suspect presumably turned up drugs, the secretariat said. Radio contact was lost and the Federal Police chief at the airport went to the scene, finding two officers dead and one wounded, the secretariat said. The wounded officer died later. Authorities were offering a reward of 5 million pesos (about $376,000) for information leading to the arrest of the officers. The tipster will get the reward, but his identity will be kept secret, the secretariat said.

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