Belize Police always suspected that drugs were behind the execution of Mennonite contractor Wilhelm Braun. That theory was strengthened over the weekend following the arrest of a hitman in neighbouring Mexico. That suspect has been identified as Carlos Leonel Del Angel Moctezuma seen here in this footage taken shortly after his arrest last week Friday along with the weapon police have seized. That gun a tech nine with a silencer is now being tested to determine whether or it was used to kill Wilhelm Braun.
Carlos Leonel del Angel is no stranger to Mexican law enforcement officers. According to authorities, Moctezuma is a member of the notorious Zeta Hit Squad affiliated with the Gulf Cartel, one of Mexico's most powerful drug trafficking gangs, recently linked to the decapitation of 12 bodies found outside Merida a week ago.
While the group is not known to conduct operations beyond their borders, 7NEWS has been reliably informed that the people who have been in contact with Carlos Leonel del Angel Moctezuma claim that on the afternoon of august twentieth Moctezuma was inside the Corozal Free Zone and is of the two gunmen who killed Wilhelm Braun. We understand however that it will be difficult for law enforcement officers to get any statements because no one is willing to testify against Moctezuma because they fear for their own lives.
But how did Mexican authorities capture one of their most wanted men and one of the persons now being investigated by local authorities? Well it all went down on Friday night in Chetumal and as expected there was much drama. Information is that Carlos Leonel del Angel Moctezuma had just crossed the border from Belize, police suspect that he had been travelling to and from the area referred to as no man’s land situated between both northern borders.
Reports are that on Friday night as Moctezma was going through the border station into Chetumal, the Mexican police became suspicious of his behaviour and suspecting that he was under the influence. They decided to detain him. But reports are
that when Moctezuma stepped out of his grey pickup truck he reached under the driver’s seat and pulled out the tech nine with silencer seen in the footage. The gun accidentally went off. And the Mexican police grabbed Moctezuma and threw him to the ground where they disarmed him.
7NEWS _understands that as Moctezuma was being arrested, he threatened the Mexican officers by telling them that his group will come to kill them all, one by one. Following the arrest, Mexican authorities called their counterparts in Belize and informed them of what transpired and about the possibility that their suspect may also be involved in the killing of Wilhelm Braun. Today Mexican and Belize police are in the process of examining and comparing ballistics taken from Moctezuma and the nine expended shells used in the killing of Wilhelm Braun and recovered at the crime scene.
But while it is yet to be seen whether or not Moctezuma was involved in the inside the Corozal Free Zone he will definitely be charged for Friday night’s incident in Mexico. Mexican authorities have informed Belize police that Moctezuma could spend eleven years in jail for the prohibited firearm and ammunition offence. Mexican authorities also claim that they had been looking for him in connection with the murder of a Mexican a cattle rancher who was killed shortly before Wilhelm Braun was executed. Investigators believe both victims were executed with what is believed to be a tech nine sub machine gun with a silencer.
