Spokesman for the Guanajuato Prosecutor's Office Is Found Dead; Was Kidnapped on August 15

 "stevectpa" for Borderland Beat

Elihú Ojeda Vallejo

The Guanajuato State Attorney General's Office (FGE) confirmed the death of its coordinator of Attention to Social Communication, Elihú Ojeda Vallejo, after he was kidnapped on August 15. Two suspects have been arrested for the crime.

Relatives of the spokesperson for the Guanajuato Prosecutor's Office received calls in which they asked for "a large sum" of money in exchange for the freedom of the public servant. The case was turned over to the Specialized Unit in Combating Kidnapping (UECS).

As reported by the State Prosecutor's Office in a statement, it was established that a man and a woman kidnapped Ojeda Vallejo and seized his vehicle on the night of Saturday, August 15, when Ojeda Vallejo left Valle de Santiago to Salamanca municipalities.

On Wednesday, August 26, Roberto Carlos and Frida María were arrested and placed under the jurisdiction of a judge. The judge formally charged them with kidnapping and ordered their preventative detention. The state FGE added in a statement that hours after the arrest of the Ojeda Vallejo kidnappers, they received a report of a dead man on the Salamanca-Celaya highway. Investigators later confirmed that the man was Ojeda Vallejo.

According to the Guanajuato authorities, the motive for the crime “is due to issues unrelated to his position or quality as a public servant of the Prosecutor's Office." The state officials, including the Governor  Diego Sinhue Rodríguez, regretted the death of its spokesperson and expressed its solidarity with the family of its former collaborator.

Background

Homicides have declined in Guanajuato since the capture of crime boss José Antonio “El Marro” Yépez Ortiz earlier this month but the state nevertheless remains the most violent in the country.

Between August 2 – the date the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel (CSRL) leader was taken into custody – and August 14, there were 125 homicides in the Bajío region state, according to the federal government’s daily statistics.

The figure represents a 26.5% reduction compared to the preceding 13-day period – July 20 to August 1 – during which 170 people were murdered.

While the decline in homicides is welcome news, violence remains more prevalent in Guanajuato than any other state in the country. The number of murders in Guanajuato between August 2 and 14 was 26% higher than in México state, which recorded 99 homicides to rank as the second most violent state. Ranking third to fifth in the same period were Michoacán, Baja California and Chihuahua, where there were 81, 77 and 69 homicides, respectively.

Guanajuato, once one of Mexico’s most peaceful states, has been plagued by violence in recent years as El Marro’s fuel theft, drug trafficking and extortion gang engaged in a vicious turf war with the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), led by Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes.

Sources: Semanario Zeta; Mexico Daily News