Mexican mayor of Santiago shot dead

Calcutta News.Net
Wednesday 18th August, 2010

The Mexican mayor of Santiago, known for his tough stance on drugs, has been murdered.

Days after he was abducted by suspected drug hitmen, Edelmiro Cavazos was found on Wednesday, dumped on a rural road.

When police went to the location of the body, they found Mr Cavazos had been shot while blindfolded, with his hands tied.

He was the fifth Mexican mayor to be killed this year, supposedly over his stance on police links to drug gangs.

Cavazos had been forced from his home on the weekend by armed men wearing old federal police uniforms.

His bodyguard was later found bruised, but otherwise unhurt, in the boot of a car.

The bodyguard was the only witness to the abduction.

The city of Santiago has become a haven for drug gangs smuggling narcotics north into the United States.

The town is at the outskirts of the city of Monterrey, where drug violence has recently surged between the powerful Gulf cartel and its former armed wing, the Zetas.

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