The alleged boss of a Mexican drug cartel has been busted in connection to the slaughter of three Mormon mothers and their six children last year, according to reports.
Roberto González Montes, the alleged leader of La Línea, who is known as “El32” or “El Mudo,” meaning the mute, was arrested as part of a huge multi-agency investigation into the murders in Mexico last November, sources told El Diario on Monday.
The arrest in the northern province of Chihuahua was confirmed by the local Secretary of State for Public Security, Emilio García Ruiz, who said Montes had already been flown to Mexico City to be charged before a judge, according to Entrelineas. It was not clear when he was arrested.
The massacre allegedly came during turf warfare between Montes’ La Línea and the rival Sinaloa Cartel that was previously led by Joaquin ” El Chapo” Guzman, according to the outlet, citing an Attorney General investigation.
He was arrested alongside Eulalio Domínguez Alanís and Santiago Casavantes Radovich, who is known as “El Condor,” the sources said.
The alleged cartel members were arrested by the Office of the Special Prosecutor for Organized Crime Investigation, the Secretary of National Defense, the National Intelligence Center and the navy, El Diario said.
It was not immediately clear what role the trio is accused of playing in the slaughters of the nine, who were part of a convoy of 17 ambushed while driving to a wedding in the border state of Sonora.
So far, more than a dozen alleged cartel members have been arrested.
The dead and six others injured were all members of La Mora, a decades-old settlement in Sonora founded as part of an offshoot of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Among those killed were Christina Marie Langford Johnson, a mother who stepped out of her SUV to confront one of the gunmen. Her 7-month-old daughter, Faith Langford, survived.
Dawna Ray Langford, who was driving an SUV with her nine children inside, was slain nearby along with her two sons, Trevor, 11, and Rogan, 3. Rhonita Miller, 30, was also killed along with her four children, including 8-month-old twins.
