Prosecutors release man mistaken as cartel head

[Judi Lynn]

July 10, 2005, 9:54PM

Prosecutors release man mistaken as cartel head
Botched arrest is another public embarrassment for Mexico's government
By MORGAN LEE
Associated Press

MEXICO CITY - Mexican prosecutors announced Sunday the release of an architect who was mistaken for one of Mexico's top drug traffickers.

Bad information from two informants cooperating with the U.S. Justice Department led Mexico to arrest the wrong man July 2 in search of Vicente Carrillo Fuentes, the reputed leader of the Juarez drug cartel, the Mexican attorney general's office said.

Joaquin Romero Aparicio was released after DNA tests confirmed a relation to family members that had protested his arrest, the attorney general's office said in a news release.

Romero and a second man were seized while shopping at a Mexico City mall, in a case that has became the latest high-profile embarrassment for the attorney general's office.

Last month, Mexican officials arrested a Lebanese man who had already been cleared of terrorism suspicions by U.S. officials. Mexico said the United States failed to notify them he had been taken off an international alert list.
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http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/headline/world/3260408
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[dArKeR]

1. This is the criminal in charge of the cartel