Juan Jesús Posadas Ocampo

Juan Jesús Posadas Ocampo (11 November 1926 – 24 May 1993) was an archbishop of the Catholic Church in Mexico who served as the eighth archbishop of the see of Guadalajara and as a cardinal of the Catholic Church.

Posadas Ocampo was elevated to the cardinalate by Pope John Paul II on the consistory of 28 June 1991.

On 24 May 1993, Cardinal Posadas was murdered, struck by 14 bullets during a shootout at Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla Guadalajara International Airport. Officially, Mexican-American sicarios were carrying out a contract killing for the Tijuana Cartel when Cardinal Posadas was allegedly mistaken for rival Sinaloa Cartel drug lord Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán. Allegations have continued to be investigated, however, that the Cardinal was actually murdered by the Mexican Government in order to cover up collusion between Mexican drug cartels and human trafficking rings and senior politicians during Mexico's 90-year long government of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI).

Death On 24 May 1993, Posadas Ocampo, along with six other people, were 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 In Don Winslow's novel The Power of the Dog, the character Father Parada is based on parts of Posadas's life and death.

In Netflix's show El Chapo, Season 1 Episode 4, Posadas is assassinated by government conspirators.

In Netflix's show Narcos: Mexico, Season 3 Episode 4, Posadas is assassinated by Ramón Arellano Félix's gunmen during a shootout with Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán.