Former Police Officer 'El Monster,' Linked To The Killing Of 9 Americans, Arrested In Mexico

Mexican authorities arrested a local police officer known as "El Monster" in connection with the killing of 9 Americans, according to a new report.

Border Report detailed on Thursday that Jacinto Galdiño Peña was arrested in Juarez on Sunday and charged with femicide. He was then flown to Mexico City to stand trial.

The killings took place in November 2019. Prosecutors argued that Back then Galdiño was an operative of the La Linea cartel, which at the time was fighting the Sinaloa Cartel for control of a smuggling route that connected the Sonora-Chihuahua border to the border with the U.S.

Galdiño was part of a group that apparently mistook three vehicles carrying woman and children for vehicles used by the enemy cartel. He then opened fire on the vehicles, killing women and children part of the LeBaron, Miller, Johnson and Langford families.

The outlet noted that Galdiño is the second known law enforcement official to be arrested in connection with the killings, the other one being Fidel Alejandro Villegas, who was apprehended six weeks after the incident. He is serving a 15-year prison sentence. Overall, 36 people have been arrested and 12 more have pending warrants.