On 24 May 1993, Posadas Ocampo, along with six other people, was killed in the parking lot of
Guadalajara International Airport. He was inside his car and received 14
gunshots. A government inquiry concluded he was caught in a shootout between rival cocaine cartels and was mistakenly identified as a drug lord. According to a cable of the
Defense Intelligence Agency, the cardinal was mistaken for
Joaquín Guzmán Loera, "El Chapo", the head of the
Sinaloa Cartel. No one was ever punished for the slaying itself, although charges related to the homicide would be filed.
Juan Francisco Murillo Díaz "El Güero Jaibo" and Édgar Nicolás Villegas "El Negro", members of the
Tijuana Cartel, were identified as the masterminds of the homicide. Although ordered by the Tijuana Cartel, many members of the hit squad were actually
San Diego–based members from the
Logan Heights Gang, trained by the Tijuana Cartel as assassins.
Benjamín Arellano Félix gave up two members of the hit squad: Juan Enrique Vasconez and
Ramon Torres Mendez. Torres was killed while in custody awaiting trial. Vasconez received nine years on weapons charges in Mexico. Although the murder was committed in Mexico, the United States charged nine members of the Logan Heights hit squad in relation to the murder. Three members ultimately pled guilty and received prison sentences of 18–22 years. == In popular culture ==