The McAllen Monitor | January 11,2005 | Victoria Hirschberg

Posted on 01/11/2005 11:06:58 AM PST by SwinneySwitch

REYNOSA — While Tamaulipas’ attorney general continues to investigate recent murders, Reynosa’s mayor is defending his city’s image and new police department.

"We prevent the delinquencies," said Reynosa’s mayor, Lic. Francisco Javier Garcia Cabeza de Vaca, who has been in office for about two weeks. "We prevent the crime, but we do not investigate. The state needs to do its job."

During the administration’s initial weeks, René Izaguirre — whom the mayor said was hired as a consultant for the Reynosa police — was reported missing. His body was then found shot several times in the face Jan. 3 along the Reynosa-Monterrey highway. The case is still under investigation.

On Saturday, the bodies of Pharr resident Dámaso Castellanos and his nephew Allan Mata Castellanos — a new Reynosa police officer — were found tortured and shot several times, also along the highway to Monterrey. Dámaso Castellanos, who is from San Carlos, Tamps., owned the Go Kar car lot on 23rd Street in McAllen.

The case is also under investigation but is not of the utmost priority, said Lic. Francisco Javier Aguilar, commander of state police in Reynosa. In the Castellanos’ case, he said the style of murder and body disposal along a visible highway is typical of organized crime.

"What they (the assassins) did to them, they do not do to good people," Aguilar said.

A written note was left on the bodies addressed to Joaquin Guzman-Loera, or "El Chapo" Guzmán, who is one of the most wanted Mexican drug traffickers. The note also referenced "those who wanted to help."

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is offering a $5 million reward for information leading to the arrest and prosecution of "El Chapo. "

"It’s shocking to know that anyone gets killed but like I said, I’m asking … I’m demanding that everyone does their job because I’m doing mine," Cabeza de Vaca said.

The mayor acknowledged that the recent murders hurt Reynosa’s image, but said his administration and several changes — including new police officers and a toll-free telephone number to leave complaints — would make the city safer. He said it is unfair to connect the recent murders to his new administration.

"It’s completely different, I’m cleaning house," said Cabeza de Vaca, adding that sometimes a change in the administration or political party brings some unfortunate incidents. He said he is ridding the city of corruption.

The former Reynosa administration represented the Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) and Cabeza de Vaca represents Partido Accion Nacional (PAN). Cabeza de Vaca said he would work beyond party lines to solve these cases. The state government in Ciudad Victoria — Tamaulipas’ capital — is PRI.

Aguilar said Reynosa is still safe for law-abiding citizens from both sides of the border.

"The people that are doing good have nothing to worry about," he said.

Drug-related murders and disappearances are old stories along the U.S.-Mexico border. Similar crimes have been reported in Nuevo Laredo and in the state of Baja California Norte, said Tony Knopp, history professor at University of Texas-Brownsville/ Texas Southmost College.

The recent crimes in Reynosa appear to be part of a power struggle in the drug business, he said. Knopp teaches a course about the U.S.-Mexico border.

"It’s some kind of breakdown in the drug organization’s control," Knopp said. "There are some public aspects now where we are seeing violence and attacks on public officials. They are jockeying for control."

Knopp said Reynosa’s recent crimes could be an attempt to intimidate the new administration, but there is a constant struggle for drug leaders to gain dominance.

"I stress that once a drug lord has firm controls of operations, things seem to settle down," Knopp said. "It keeps things quiet, but when there is some kind of disruption in that control, that’s when you see the violence happening."

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