A notorious Israeli underworld figure and his bodyguard were gunned down in a brazen broad-daylight shootout inside a Mexico City restaurant by cartel-linked killers authorities believe to be hired by Israeli organized crime.

Israeli crime boss and convicted murderer Ben Suthi and his bodyguard (and fellow underworld figure) Alon Azulay were murdered in a hail of bullets as they sat at a restaurant in Mexico City’s upscale Artz Pedregal shopping center on Wednesday. The killing was most likely “a settling of scores in the Israeli mafia,” according to a spokesman for the Mexico City prosecutor’s office. A total of 44 shots were fired during the altercation, according to authorities, and it was captured on multiple CCTV cameras.

מקסיקו-תיעוד נוסף של החיסול, אתמול במקסיקו סיטי.MexicoOtro video del asesinato, ayer en la ciudad de México.#Mexicopic.twitter.com/O2eiViy5pW — שמעון ארן شمعون آران (@simonarann) July 26, 2019

The assassins – a Mexican woman named Esperanza Gutierrez Rojano and her unidentified accomplice – can be seen in the clip walking calmly over to the Israelis’ table and opening fire at point-blank range. Rojano was apprehended before she could escape, having stripped off a wig and some clothing in an attempt at disguise. While she confessed to the shooting, she initially claimed to be motivated by “betrayal and passion,” accusing Suthi of cheating on her, but eventually admitted she had been paid to do the deed.

החיסול הכפול מקסיקו #Mexicoמצלמות אבטחה תיעדו את השניות שבו נורה שוטר מחוץ לקניון במקסיקו סיטי, שבו נרצחו 2 הישראלים; בן סוטחי (44) ואלון אזולאי (40) הבוקר.2 החשודים בסיוע למתנקשת שנמלטו, נראים בתיעוד כשהם פותחים בירי וכופים על שוטר לשכב על הקרקעואח"כ אחד מהם לוקח את נשקו. pic.twitter.com/zk0OmrJKRb — שמעון ארן شمعون آران (@simonarann) July 25, 2019

Rojano's accomplice escaped the shopping mall in another dramatic scene caught on video. Two associates and the unnamed gunman are seen forcing a police officer onto the ground at gunpoint and disarming him before making their getaway. He was wounded during the scuffle.

“These are a settling of scores between organized criminal gangs with various interests,” Mexican secretary of security and civilian protection Alfonso Durazo told reporters, adding that the dispute was “mainly about money laundering” and involved both Israeli and Mexican organized crime. Other Mexican officials connected the shootout to drug cartels, and local media suggested the shooters were employed by the Jalisco cartel. Both of the victims had criminal records in Israel and Mexico, according to the Israeli embassy in Mexico.

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Israeli police believe the murder was “commissioned by those with interests in Israel” who hired Mexican killers to take out the criminal pair. “We have no doubt this wasn’t a mistake, nor a romantic crime, but a commissioned and planned assassination,” police sources told Ynet News. The killing caused “an earthquake in the Israeli criminal world,” according to “underworld sources” who spoke to Israeli media to emphasize how much Suthi was a “dominant figure” in the crime scene.

Suthi was murdered the day after his criminal associate Erez Akrishevsky was extradited from Mexico back to Israel, having lived for 18 years in exile under an assumed name after fleeing with Suthi to Mexico in 2001.

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