Julián Zapata Espinosa and five others arrested for ICE agent's murder

I just finished watching the live broadcast of the SEDENA announcement concerning the arrest of several individuals in connection with the murder of ICE Agent Jaime Zapata. The alleged shooter is Julián "El Piolín" Zapata Espinosa, reportedly the Los Zetas plaza boss for San Luís Potosi. The other guys are pretty much inconsequential, and as it is, I'm having a very hard time finding any information on the main suspect. I did find a report from December 2009 about a raid where a Julián Zapata EspinoZa was arrested in San Luís Potosi, but I don't know if it's the same guy (the spelling of the last name is different). One interesting, and somewhat laughable, detail is that Zapata Espinosa said the shooting was a result of "a confusion," meaning they thought Jaime Zapata and Victor Avila were members of rival cartels...despite the diplomatic tags, their US government ID, and their lack of weapons.

Analysis: I think a lot of people were expecting someone else; perhaps because rumors were floating around that the Mexican army had arrested Jesus "El Mamito" Rejón - a DEA most-wanted narco with a $5 million tag on his head - when he, in fact, had only been named a suspect. There were also rumors floating that the Mexican navy may have killed or captured Miguel "Z-40" Treviño, on of the two Los Zetas chiefs, in Monterrey last night. Neither of those rumors has panned out, or at least, not yet.

Now the question becomes, will the Mexican government extradite Zapata Espinosa to the US? They've been historically more than hesitant to do so because they're not fans of some US states' death penalty. That didn't stop them from extraditing former Gulf cartel leader Osiel Cárdenas Guillen in 2007, but he avoided a potential death penalty by providing good intel to US authorities. I doubt Zapata could provide enough intel to get the same deal, but you never know.

I'm looking forward to seeing how this pans out over the next couple of weeks, mainly to see if the arrests meet the satisfaction of the US government, and if Zapata is the real deal or just a fall guy.

Comments

[Eric L]

My guess...fall guy. But i'm also willing to bet the US investigation won't stop there...

[Roberto]

The US couldn´t impose death as punishment upon this individual if extradited because the extradition treaty between both countries specifically excludes that posibility, he faces life without parole that´s it. Please take him and his gang away for life!

[Fred Hiker]

I doubt seriously if the young thugs which the Mexicans put on display had much if anything to do with the event. What is more interesting for me has to do with what came from the AP interview with the family of the murdered agent:

I find it quite strange that Zapata would tell his mother just days before his death that he was going to be a ‘’ hero and become famous’’ as has widely been reported. Given the reported fact that Zapata was no greenhorn to federal law enforcement, to include a stint with the Border Patrol prior to his signing on with ICE, it is a given that he understood well neither ‘’hero’’ nor ‘’ famous ‘’ status were likely to come his way for simply performing his duties as several thousand others have, do and will do in the future. His declaration had to be based upon something much more involved than that of the everyday world of drugs and Alien Smuggling. Given the fact that the government first put out that Zapata and his partner had been attending some training classes, only to change their story to be more in line with what Narco News had first reported , about their mission of the day being to link up with other agents in some kind of an ‘’equipment transfer ‘’ leads me to believe that Zapata was involved in something that hasn’t been shared with us as yet.
This entire event has been kind of mind numbing to say the least: Two agents take off on a 500 mile plus road trip which would take them directly through what the governments knew to be an area controlled by heavily armed criminals who often set up ambushes disguised as lawful roadblocks , with no weapons or escort of any shape nor form? That the agents would feel secure enough to stop for food, and to later mistake a criminal roadblock for that of a military one? Am I supposed to think that this agency, this world wide federal investigative agency did not have the foresight to at the very least determine if there were lawful military check points planned for the area during the timeframe which the agents would be using the route?

Far too much about this entire event which doesn’t pass the smell test me.

Fred