News Americas, MEXICO CITY, Mexico, Weds. Aug. 30, 2011: Five men suspected of an arson attack on a Mexican casino that left 52 people dead claim they did not intend to kill anyone.
The suspects, who have confessed to the attack of August 25th, told investigators they only wanted to scare the establishment’s owners, officials said Tuesday.
They told investigators they were “scolded” by their bosses for killing so many people at the casino, which was the target of an extortion racket common in several parts of Mexico, officials said.
The men are being held under a preventive arrest order while prosecutors build the case against them but were paraded before the press Tuesday at the Nuevo Leon state Attorney General’s Office.
Los Zetas, Mexico’s most violent drug cartel, is suspected of ordering the attack on the casino, Nuevo Leon Gov. Rodrigo Medina has said, citing information obtained following the suspects’ arrests.
The attack occurred on the Casino Royale in the northern city of Monterrey as several gunmen burst into the casino and lit it afire.
Police were investigating whether the casino was attacked because protection money had not been paid, State governor Medina has said.
Some 40,000 people have been killed in drug-related violence across Mexico in the past five years.
The attack is one of the deadliest episodes of violence since President Felipe Calderon launched his crackdown on drug gangs in late 2006.
