A woman disguised in a blond wig shot to death two Israeli men at a Chinese restaurant in an upscale Mexico City shopping mall, in what appears to be an assassination carried out by an organized crime hit squad.

The alleged assailant was quickly arrested and claimed the double murder was a crime of passion – but authorities said on Thursday that both victims were well-known figures in the Israeli underworld.

“The event yesterday leads us to relate the facts with a settling of scores among criminal groups and/or organised crime,” said Ulíses Lara López, a spokesman for the city prosecutor’s office. “It could be a settling of scores in the Israeli mafia, which is why a complete identification [of the victims] was possible, along with their criminal records.”

Mexico City officials identified the victims as Johny Ben and Alon Azulay. The embassy of Israel in Mexico confirmed the victims were Israeli citizens. It said that Ben, 44, and Azulay, 41, “already had criminal records in Israel as well as in Mexico”.

The embassy identified Ben by the name “Benjamin Yeshurun Sutchi”.

The attack took place on Wednesday at the Artz Pedregal shopping mall. Authorities said the woman and a male accomplice sat down at a table near the victims at the Hunan restaurant and ordered drinks.

The woman then rose and approached the Israelis, shooting them at close range. One of the victims died at the scene, while the other man later succumbed to his injuries in the hospital.

Cellphone video of the incident shows panicked diners cowering under tables after the gunfire.

Security video showed at least two alleged accomplices with assault weapons disarming an auxiliary police officer outside the mall then firing at a patrol car – striking an officer in the arm – and fleeing in a car.

The assailant fled the scene, ditching the wig and other parts of her disguise outside the mall, but she was caught by police while attempting to flee the shopping centre.

She initially told police that the murder was a crime of passion.

Mexico City’s police chief, Jesús Orta, said the woman told police on Wednesday “she had a sentimental relationship with one of the victims, who she met on social media, and that the attack was due to infidelity”.



But on Thursday, Lara said “the supposed motive this person talked about initially doesn’t exist”.



The attack was “an issue of serious coordination, of acts by criminal groups, and in the case we are talking about here, there are at least links to international criminals,” Lara said. “We have to confirm everything, show you everything, and find out what those links are.”

Lara said a total of four suspects were involved in either the killing, logistics or getaway.

There are conflicting accounts of Sutchi’s background.



The Jerusalem Post reported Sutchi was released from an Israeli prison six months ago and previously served time for murder, but Mexican immigration authorities said he had entered the country in 2013.

The Mexican newspaper El Universal reported Sutchi had previously entered the country in 2001 but was detained and deported in 2005.

Reforma, another Mexico City newspaper, cited files from the federal attorney general’s office, saying Sutchi was involved in operating casinos and, during his first stint in Mexico, dealing cocaine in upscale nightclubs.

The files also allege a relationship between Sutchi and the notorious cartel gunman Édgar Valdés Villarreal, better known as “La Barbie”. The Texas-born enforcer for the Beltrán Leyva Cartel was arrested in 2010 and handed a 50-year prison sentence last year.