Arrests made in killing of Mexican federal judge

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Authorities in Mexico have arrested two people in connection with the murder of a federal judge and his wife in mid-June, prosecutors said Sunday, while in Mexico City 17 of the 19 suspects detained in a failed attack on the capital's police chief appeared before a judge.

Both attacks have been attributed to the powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel and are seen as major challenges to Mexico's government and the security strategy of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

A suspect in the judge's killing was located and detained in the city of Cuauhtémoc, in the western state of Colima, thanks to intelligence work by Mexico's marines and prosecutors, the Attorney General’s Office said in a statement. The office said a second suspect was also arrested, but provided no more details.

Meanwhile, Mexico City prosecutor’s office said 17 people detained in Friday's assassination attempt against Police Chief Omar García Harfuch appeared before a judge.

In the attack, more than two-dozen gunmen executed a coordinated plan to intercept his armored vehicle at dawn with grenades, assault rifles and a .50 caliber sniper rifle on the capital’s grand boulevard. García survived with three bullet wounds and within hours blamed the Jalisco New Generation Cartel for the attempt that killed two of his bodyguards and a bystander.

It came less than two weeks after the federal judge and his wife were gunned down in their home in Colima state. The Jalisco gang is also suspected in that attack.

Although analysts consider the attack on the judge and the attack on the police chief clear challenges by the cartel to Mexico's president, López Obrador said on Saturday that he was not going to declare war on anyone, that he would continue with his strategy focused on labor intelligence and in eradicating the causes of violence.