Nearly a year after Paraguayan international Salvador Cabanas suffered near-fatal wounds in a shooting, officials in Mexico City have arrested a suspect in the case. At a news conference Tuesday Federal Public Safety Department Anti-Drug Division chief Ramon Eduardo Pequeno said Jose Jorge Balderas was arrested during a police operation staged in a wealthy Mexico City neighborhood.

Balderas is an alleged associate of purported drug lord Edgar Valdez Villarreal, known as “La Barbie,” who was arrested last year. According to a statement from Mexican authorities, before his arrest Valdez helped Balderas avoid a manhunt for three months after the shooting by housing him on the outskirts of Mexico City.

Cabanas, a star for Club America who had been expected to be one of his country's top players at the 2010 World Cup, survived the shooting and is slowly recovering. The injuries are so severe it's unlikely he can resume his playing career.

Pequeno said Balderas denied shooting Cabanas and fingered his bodyguard, who was also arrested last year.