Peruvian judge prosecuting drug dealers shot dead

LIMA, Peru - A judge in charge of prosecuting several drug dealers arrested in Peru but linked to the fearsome Mexican Tijuana Cartel was shot dead while he dined at a restaurant, police have said.

According to US and Peruvian officials, Mexican cartels are becoming key players in moving multi-tonne cocaine shipments from Peru's capital Lima to the United States and Europe as coca eradication in Colombia, the world's top cocaine producer, has pushed up coca production in Peru.

Peru is the world's No.2 producer of cocaine and has received hundreds of millions of dollars from the United States for its war on drugs, but the South American country's coca output jumped almost 40 per cent last year.

Peruvian police said judge Hernando Saturno was killed by two men who shot him and his cousin while they were having dinner in a restaurant in downtown Lima on Wednesday night.

"The judge had police protection but he asked to be left alone just before he was killed, saying he had family matters to attend to," Maximo Gadea, a top Peruvian police official, told reporters.

According to the US Drug Enforcement Administration, the Tijuana Cartel is one of the most powerful and violent drug trafficking organisations in the world.

- REUTERS