Mexico’s Tamaulipas State governor replaced his public security chief on Sunday after 145 bodies showed up in mass graves in the violent border state in the last two weeks.
Tamaulipas Governor Egidio Torre Cantu said in a statement that he tapped former military Captain Rafael Lomeli Martinez as the new chief because his experience in the military and with the federal police would help him coordinate beefed-up security efforts announced by federal and state authorities last week.
The outgoing chief, retired Brigadier General Ubaldo Ayala Tinoco, offered the governor his resignation in light of the new security efforts, saying Torre Cantu should have the opportunity to choose the leader, Tamaulipas Secretary-General Morelos Canseco said.
Photo: AFP
“The new appointment is very simple,” Canseco said. “It is part of a commitment by Tamaulipas to strengthen the state’s contribution toward an integrated public security strategy based mainly on coordination among federal, state and municipal authorities.”
Lomeli, who has worked in Tamaulipas in the past, most recently coordinated Federal Police efforts in Nuevo Leon, a neighboring state also racked by violence from the warring Gulf and Zetas drug cartels.
Authorities in Tamaulipas began uncovering bodies in mass graves early this month following reports that passengers were being pulled off buses at gunpoint in the township of San Fernando. As of last week, 145 bodies had been found in 26 graves. Fernando is the same place where 72 Central and South American migrants were found slaughtered in August.
Both mass killings have been blamed on the Zetas. Only one body has been identified, that of a Guatemalan man. Authorities have yet to say whether dozens of bus passengers reported missing were found in the graves.
Mexican President Felipe Calderon on Friday said he had ordered an increase of federal forces in Tamaulipas, Nuevo Leon and parts of the neighboring states of Coahuila and San Luis Potosi without providing details, and that he would reinforce operations to ensure security for those traveling on roads and in buses.
Mexican Interior Secretary Francisco Blake Mora earlier in the week announced a five-point initiative to investigate the crimes and to increase security, including the federal monitoring of transport buses.
As of last week, authorities said they had 17 suspects in custody in relation to the mass graves.
On Saturday, the Mexican navy nabbed a man it called one of the leaders of the San Fernando Zetas cell, presenting Martin Omar Estrada Luna, alias “El Kilo,” in Mexico City on Sunday and alleging he was involved in both the killing of the 145 and the migrant massacre in August.
The navy also presented 11 others taken in the same operation who are believed to work for Estrada Luna. The Mexican government last week offered a 15 million peso (US$1.27 million) reward for information leading to Estrada Luna’s capture.
Besides Estrada Luna, the Mexican government is offering a 15 million peso reward for information leading to the arrest of Salvador Martinez Escobedo, another alleged leader of the Zetas cell in San Fernando, plus 10 million pesos for Roman Palomo Rincones and 5 million pesos for Sarai Diaz Arroyo, who both allegedly participated in the latest massacre.
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