By E. Eduardo Castillo
Associated Press
MEXICO CITY — Six city police officers were arrested Friday in connection with the killing of a mayor in northern Mexico.
The suspects included the officer who guarded the house where Santiago Mayor Edelmiro Cavazos was seized on Sunday. The officer was kidnapped with the mayor but was later freed unharmed.
The officers confessed to being involved in the Cavazos’ killing, said Nuevo Leon state Attorney General Alejandro Garza y Garza, who added that other suspects are still being pursued.
The body of the 38-year-old mayor was found handcuffed and gagged Wednesday outside of his town, a popular weekend getaway for residents of the industrial city of Monterrey.
His death comes amid increasing violence in the northeast of the country attributed to a dispute the Gulf cartel and its former allies, the Zetas.
The attorney general didn’t indicate which gang may have been responsible in the case, which has prompted authorities to promise more patrols by both the army and federal police in Nuevo Leon.
The leading candidate for governor in the state of Tamaulipas, which borders Nuevo Leon, was shot to death a week before the election. A mayoral candidate in Tamaulipas also was shot in May.
Mauricio Fernandez, mayor of the San Pedro Garza Garcia, another town on the outskirts of Monterrey, said Cavazos had received death threats from gangs warning him to stay out of their way and had sought advice on how to handle the threats.
Officials at the state attorney general’s office said Cavazos had never informed authorities about any threats. Gen. Guillermo Moreno, who commands troops in Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas states, said the army had never received complains from the mayor or requests for protection.