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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Mexican Municipal Mayor Of Santiago In Nuevo León Mexico Found Dead After Being Kidnapped

Mayor Edelmiro Cavazos Leal

Photo: Narco Trafico en Mexico

Members of a drug cartel had threaten Mayor Leal shortly after being elected to office

By H. Nelson Goodson
August 19, 2010

Santiago, Nuevo León, Mexico - Federal authorities in Nuevo León confirmed that the body of Edelmiro Cavazos Leal, 38, Mayor of Santiago had been found after he was reported kidnapped. The body was discovered on Wednesday by several motorcycle riders near highway kilometer 6.9 from Santiago connecting to Cola de Caballo.
On Sunday night, Leal and a bodyguard were kidnapped at his residence by a group of men in uniforms pretending to be judicial federal police, a unit deactivated about nine years ago, according to the state Mexican Atttorney General Alejandro Garza-Garza.
Leal's bodyguard was released on early Monday by his kidnappers and he was able to alert federal police of Leal's kidnapping.
When Leal was elected to office, he was approached and threaten by members of a drug cartel in the area and adviced to work with them and keep quiet, according to Mauricio Fernández Garza, Mayor of San Pedro Garza García in Nuevo León. Mayor Garza notified federal authorities, that Leal had told him of the pending threat and he didn't know, if Leal had contacted the military about the incident with the drug cartel or had asked for protection.
President Felipe Calderón expressed his condolences to Leal's family and vowed to bring the killers and kidnappers to justice. 
Leal was a member of the National Action Political party (PAN).

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