Accused gunman arrested in 'Fast and Furious' border agent slaying

PHOENIX (Reuters) - The man accused of pulling the trigger in the 2010 shooting death of U.S. Border Patrol agent Brian Terry, a case tied to the government's ill-fated "Fast and Furious" gun-running sting, was arrested on Wednesday in Mexico, according to the U.S. marshal for Arizona. Heraclio Osorio-Arellanes, the fifth of six Mexican drug cartel figures sought by U.S. authorities for the killing to be apprehended, was taken into custody on a ranch along the border of the Mexican states of Sinaloa and Chihuahua, U.S. Marshal David Gonzales said. "The suspect was arrested without incident on Wednesday morning by Mexican authorities in cooperation with U.S. authorities," Gonzales told Reuters by telephone, adding that the United States would seek his extradition. "He is suspected of being the triggerman in the killing of Brian Terry," Gonzales said. Osorio-Arellanes is accused of being part of a five-man cartel "rip crew" - out to rob drug dealers along the border - who confronted Terry and three other Border Patrol agents on Dec. 14, 2010 in a shootout north of Nogales, Arizona. Two weapons discovered at the scene were later connected to the bungled gun-running operation of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives that embarrassed the Obama administration and strained relations with Mexico. Three other members of the rip crew and a fourth man charged with conspiracy in the fatal gun battle were ultimately convicted in U.S. federal court and sent to prison. The sixth man wanted in the case is believed to remain at large. (Reporting by David Schwartz in Phoenix; Writing and additional reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles)