Bizarre assasination in Mexico drug war

(Vatican Radio) A former leading member of a major Mexican drug cartel has been shot dead by a gunman dressed as a clown, at a children’s party in the international vacation resort of Cabo San Lucas, in North Western Mexico.

A military spokesman says the clown managed to infiltrate the party held at the Hotel Marbella de Cabo San Lucas. He shot Francisco Rafael Arellano Felix in the head and then in the chest at point blank range, before escaping in a waiting SUV.

Francisco Rafael, aged 63, was one of seven brothers who formed the Arellano Felix drug cartel in the 1980s. Based in Tijuana, it smuggles marijuana, heroin and cocaine into the United States via nearby San Diego.

He served fifteen years in Mexican and US jails for drug trafficking and firearms offenses, before being released in 2008. One of his four sisters, who is a trained accountant, now runs the cartel.

No one has yet been arrested for his killing, and no rival drug cartel has admitted responsibility.

However the Arellano Felix cartel has fought a long-running feud with the Sinaloa cartel, led by Joaquin "Shorty Guzman".

In 1993 gunmen from the Arellano Felix cartel tried to assassinate Guzman in Guadalajara international airport. Instead, they were confused by the white limousine of Cardinal Juan Jesus Posadas Ocampo and mistakenly shot him dead instead.

Listen to James Blears’ report: