Pubdate: Fri, 09 Oct 2009
Source: El Paso Times (TX)
Copyright: 2009 El Paso Times
Contact: http://www.elpasotimes.com/formnewsroom
Website: http://www.elpasotimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/829
Authors: Daniel Borunda, and Matt Robinson

PALOMAS MAYOR ABDUCTED, KILLED

The mayor of Palomas, Mexico, was shot and killed after being 
abducted Thursday -- an act of violence that sent shockwaves rippling 
across the border.

The slaying of Mayor Estanislao "Tani" Garcia was the highest-profile 
homicide in a small town better known for luring U.S. tourists to its 
pharmacies and shops across the border from Columbus, N.M. Chihuahua 
state police spokesman Arturo Sandoval said initial findings indicate 
that Garcia was abducted in the morning and his body was found around 
1 p.m. Thursday.

They said he had been shot, but it was not know how many times or 
with what kind of weapon.

Officials also said Garcia's burned-out truck was found south of 
Palomas near where the body was found.

"It's just really sad. This hits home," said Deming Mayor Andres 
Silva, a close friend of Garcia's.

Garcia, who was in his second year of a three-year term, was married 
and had three children.

"We're just shocked right now," Silva said.

He said he was contacted by the Chihuahua governor's office.

"The reason they called me, they knew I was close to him. They were 
shocked," Silva said.

A motive for Garcia's killing was under investigation. It was unknown 
whether it is linked to a drug cartel war raging across the state of Chihuahua.

A group of residents of Palomas reportedly protested in front of 
Garcia's city office for his ouster two weeks ago.

Palomas' location on the border makes it a crossing point for 
undocumented immigrants and drugs heading north and weapons heading south.

It is also a battleground in the war between drug cartels that 
erupted in the region in January 2008.

A U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration official mentioned last year 
that there have been encounters in Palomas involving the Zetas 
paramilitary enforcers of the Gulf Cartel.

Luna County sheriff's officials said more than 40 slayings occurred 
in Palomas last year, including two kidnapped police officers whose 
burned bodies were later found at a ranch.

Rough estimates are that up to 200 families left Palomas last year, 
including the town's police chief, who quit and fled to the United States.

Luna County Sheriff Raymond Cobos said he was informed on Thursday 
that Garcia's family was moved, but it was not disclosed whether the 
slain mayor's family remained in Mexico or sought refuge in the United States.

Cobos said his department would not get involved in the Garcia case 
unless links are found in Luna County.

"If there's any indication from other sources that other people on 
this side of the border may be targeted, obviously we would have to 
increase our overall awareness and presence down there (in 
Columbus)," Cobos said. "At this point, we haven't had such indication."

He said the sheriff's department regularly has five deputies in 
Columbus as part of the Safe Border Initiative established by New 
Mexico's governor and legislature.

"We always maintain a presence down there," Cobos added.

Garcia is one of several elected leaders killed this year in the 
state of Chihuahua.

In July, the mayor of the central Chihuahua town of Namiquipa was 
slain, apparently by drug traffickers, in what might have been 
revenge for the capture of 25 members of a paramilitary group.

In February, gunmen killed two members of the town council of 
Guadalupe in the Valley of Juarez.

There have been more than 1,880 homicides in the Juarez area so far 
this year, surpassing the 1,600 deaths in all of last year, according 
to data by the Chihuahua state attorney general's office.

There have been nearly 100 murders so far in October.
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MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart