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Israeli deported from Cancun linked to Mexico City murders

Cancun, Q.R. — Three days before the double execution at Artz Pedregal Square in Mexico City, an Israeli man known to run with those involved in the recent Mexico City murders was arrested in Cancun.

On Friday, la Secretaría Estatal de Seguridad Pública of Quintana Roo confirmed the arrest of known criminal Erez Akrishevsky, at a Cancun beach Sunday.

On social media, la Secretaría Estatal de Seguridad Pública de Quintana Roo posted “EFFECTIVELY the #QuintanaRoo Police, in support and collaboration with the areas of Federal Intelligence arrested in Cancun last Sunday the Israeli Erez Akrishevsky, a fugitive from Justice in his country, considered one of the most wanted in Israel, since 2001.”

Akrishevsky was arrested at Playa Tortugas in the Cancun Hotel Zone July 21 with what officials say, was a tip from Ben Suthi, one of the victims of the Mexico City shooting that took place Wednesday. According to lawyer Gabriel Regino of Public Security in Mexico City, the arrest of Akrishevsky was accomplished by information provided by Benjamin Yeshurun Suthi.

Akrishevsky was sentenced to 21 years in an Israeli prison in 1998. However, he escaped three years later. He eventually met Ben Suthi, a former Mossad agent, with whom he moved to Mexico.

Three days after Akrishevsky’s Cancun arrest, two Israeli nationals were shot and killed at Artz Pedregal Square in Mexico City. One of those killed was Ben Suthi who is alleged to have turned his friend into Mexican authorities.

The Attorney General’s Office of Mexico City says between 2001 and 2005, Benjamin Yeshurun Suthi wove a tight criminal organization in Mexico that involved drug trafficking, kidnapping and the illegal operation of casinos.

Suthi was wanted by Interpol during those years. He was arrested in Mexico City in June of 2005 and deported back to Israel where he was wanted on drug trafficking, robbery and homicide charges. With the help of a corrupt police officer, he eventually returned to Mexico City and has since been linked with the Beltrán Leyva Cartel.

According to The Times of Israel, on Wednesday, two people, one of which was a female identified as 33-year-old Esperanza Gutierrez Rojano, opened fire on the men in a Mexico City restaurant at close range. The deceased men have been identified as Ben Suthi, a Tel Aviv native and well-known crime boss and Alon Azoulay of Bat Yam.

Gutierrez Rojano initially said she shot Suthi because he was cheating on her, but changed her story, admitting she was hired. The crime is being treated as a “settling of scores among criminal groups and/or organized crime.”

After the arrest of Erez Akrishevsky in Cancun, he was processed and deported back to his native country of Israel where he remained a wanted man. Akrishevsky had been living for the past 18 years in Mexico under the name of Ricardo Lopez.