Saturday, May 17, 2014

America's Other War: Mexican Mayor Accused of Ties to Drug Cartel

5/17/2014

MEXICO CITY – The mayor of a town in the western state of Michoacan faces charges of colluding with the Caballeros Templarios drug cartel, Mexico’s Judiciary Council said Friday.

Aguililla Mayor Jesus Cruz Valencia was ordered held pending trial, the council said.

Cruz Valencia is locked up at a federal penitentiary in Tepic, capital of the western state of Nayarit.

He becomes the fourth Michoacan politician in recent weeks to be indicted for alleged links to the Caballeros Templarios (Knights Templar), who supplement their drug profits with sidelines in extortion and kidnapping.

The public servants facing charges include the state’s former interim governor, Jesus Reyna.

Federal security forces have occupied parts of Michoacan since mid-January in a push to take down the Templarios and bring under control the armed militias that formed to defend communities from the cartel.


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