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| Latin America |
| Mexico Arrests 9 Suspected ETA Members |
| 2003-07-21 |
| Nine suspected members of the Basque separatist group ETA have been arrested in Mexico, authorities said Saturday. The arrests were carried out Friday and early Saturday in five Mexican states, said Jose Luis Santiago, head of the organized crime division for in the Mexican Attorney General’s Office. Seven bank accounts were frozen and manuals on how to make chemical weapons were seized in the operation, Santiago said. The suspects are believed to be part of an active ETA cell operating in Mexico, Santiago said. Six are Spanish citizens wanted in Spain on terrorism-related charges. Three others are Mexican. Spanish officials say Mexico has been long been a refuge for the ETA. Santiago said some of the Spaniards arrested might have been operating in Mexico since 1996. Tell me again why we should open that border. "With these actions we are showing Mexico will not be a land of impunity for any criminal groups ... especially those dedicated to terrorism," Santiago said. The arrests were the product of a Spanish-Mexican investigation that began a year ago. As part of the same operation, a 71-year-old Spaniard was arrested in Guernica in the Basque province of Vizcaya, Spanish Interior Minister Angel Acebes said. The Spaniards were indicted by Spanish judge Baltasar Garzon on July 14. First I have heard of this link, but it makes sense. Good place for them to blend in and hide. |
| Posted by:Steve |