Friday, August 20, 2010

11 Arrested In Connection With Santiago's Mayor Death In Nuevo León

Municipal police officers arrested in Santiago's mayor death (EFE)

Santiago Mayor Edelmiro Cavazos Leal killed by police and drug cartel members

By H. Nelson Goodson
August 20, 2010

Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico - On Friday, Alejandro Garza-Garza, the state Attorney General announced during a press conference that 6 municipal police officers, 4 paid assassins and the personal bodyguard for Santiago Mayor Edelmiro Cavazos Leal, 38, have been arrested.
Santiago municipal police officers arrested were identified as Homero López-Silva, Mónica Martínez-Téllez, Antonio Rodríguez-Gallardo, Mauricio Mallorga-Caballero and José Alberto Rodríguez-Rodríguez, Leal's bodyguard, including José Javier García-Martínez, transit officer.
The four paid drug cartel assassins were identified as Roberto Ramírez-Florián, 24, José Dolores Ruiz-Plancarte, 27, Víctor Hugo Moreno-Mendoza, 29, and Francisco Balde Oliva, 25.
The suspects were taken into custody and had confessed to have been involved with last Sunday's kidnapping and murder of Mayor Leal. Leal was kidnapped from his residence shortly after making a public appearance, according to Garza-Garza. The state attorney general did not identified the drug cartel involved, but the Zeta and Gulf Drug Cartels have been feuding for control of the multi-billion drug smuggling bordertown routes in the region since, January.
Leal's bodyguard, Rodríguez-Rodríguez a municipal police officer himself was released by kidnappers and reported Mayor Leal's kidnapping. He was accused of participating in the kidnapping.
Garza-Garza said, four of the police officers served a lookouts along the national highway to alert the drug cartel assassins, if any federal and military police was heading into Santiago. The only woman implicated in the murder was Martínez-Téllez who lost her husband a police officer about a year ago and Mayor Leal helped her get compensated for his death. Leal even gave her a job as a Santiago municipal police officer to help her get by and she betrayed him by getting involved in his murder, according to Garza-Garza, Nuevo León Attorney General.
Authorities are looking for an additional 16 suspects who eluded police capture. Six suspects, including a woman were introduced to the media.

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