FEMALE ASSASSIN SAID TO HAVE BEEN PAID $1,300
Mexico says it’s identified organization behind killing of Israeli crime boss
Prosecutor does not name the group blamed for death of Ben Suthi and his associate, gunned down in cafe last week, says officials working closely with Israeli authorities
By TOI STAFF
Today, 11:18 am 0

Israeli crime boss Ben Suthi being extradited from Mexico to Israel in 2004. (Channel 13 screenshot)
Mexican authorities on Monday night said they had identified the organization behind the assassination of an Israeli crime boss and his associate last week in Mexico City.

According to multiple reports in Mexican media, Ernestina Godoy, Mexico City’s chief prosecutor, confirmed that a local group was responsible for the killing, but would not name the organization publicly.

Godoy added that one of the suspected shooters, Esperanza Gutierrez Rojano, who was arrested shortly after committing the crime, had received 25,000 pesos ($1,300) for the act. She was given exact instructions on how to commit the murder on the phone.

Godoy said authorities were working closely with the Israeli embassy on the case.

Police arrive at an upscale shopping mall at the south of Mexico City, July 24, 2019, where a woman wearing a blond wig disguise killed two Israeli men (AP Photo)

Tel Aviv native Ben Suthi was shot dead in broad daylight in an upscale shopping mall in Mexico City along with Alon Azoulay of Bat Yam.

Suthi was a notorious figure in Israel’s underworld, with a criminal career dating back to gang wars in the 1990s.

Suthi reportedly relocated to Mexico a few weeks ago. He is believed to have a child in the country, conceived during his last stint there after he fled Israel in 2001, escaping a sentence for murder during a furlough from prison.

Suthi was released from prison in Israel in February and was still regarded as one of the main enemies of Israel’s Mosli crime organization.

Mexican officials said Friday that the shooting, which included a diversionary attack with an assault rifle against police outside the mall, was likely linked to drug cartels and money laundering.

Israeli police sources told the Ynet news site on Thursday that there was “no doubt” the murder was “commissioned by those with interests in Israel.” The Israel Police reportedly suspect that an Israeli criminal organization paid a local group in Mexico City to carry out the hit.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/mexic...on-behind-killing-of-israeli-crime-boss/