Murder of the Mayor of Cotija is related to her kidnapping: Prosecutor’s Office

MORELIA, Mich. (apro).- The head of the Attorney General’s Office of the State of (FGE) of Michoacán, Adrián López Solís, pointed out that everything seems to indicate that the murder of the municipal president of Cotija de la Paz, Yolanda Sánchez Figueroa, is related to the kidnapping temporary that the official had suffered in September of last year in the state of Jalisco.

At a press conference, he indicated that in the area of ​​Cotija and the surrounding municipalities “there is a dispute between criminal gangs for territorial control, so that from our point of view this may be the most solid line of investigation towards where “The task of investigating the incident is underway.”

López Solís recalled that there are a series of situations that preceded the homicide, “such as the fact that the mayor herself was deprived of her liberty in the month of September in the city of Zapopan, from where the perpetrators of this situation later “They transferred her to release her in the state of Michoacán.”

He said that, although the case for that event began in Jalisco, “by virtue of the collaboration between prosecutors’ offices, it was up to us to carry out a series of investigative acts that allowed us to know, according to the mayor’s own version, the way in which that she was deprived of her freedom and the communication she had with her captors and the type of request they made to her on that occasion.”

The prosecutor reported that after the release of Sánchez Figueroa, a series of threats were made against the municipality’s personnel, “with the demand that the Army and the National Guard not be present in security tasks, and the demand for the mayor herself that she prevented or prevented the federal forces from carrying out these tasks.”

The official reported that recently there was a confrontation between criminal groups and when the federal security forces intervened and repelled the attacks, ten male members of organized crime were killed.

After the identification of the deceased by their relatives, he added, it was determined that their homes or neighborhoods correspond to the area of ​​Sahuayo and Jiquilpan.

“These recent events may be related to the requirement that there be no presence of federal forces, which is evidently not possible nor within the reach of the municipality, considering the obligation of authorities of all levels in matters of security and procurement. of justice to make an appearance where it is necessary.” she mentioned she.

For his part, General José Alfredo Ortega Reyes, head of the state’s Public Security Secretariat, pointed out that for more than two years there has been a presence of personnel from the National Defense Secretariat in the region of Cotija and neighboring municipalities, with the reinforcement of elements of the Civil Guard.

He clarified that for more than a year and a half, Mayor Yolanda Sánchez had an escort assigned for her security. “I personally brought him enough Civil Guard personnel and an armored vehicle.”

However, he specified that “when an escort is assigned to an official, that official is the one who manages it; He or she will handle his or her escort performance. At that moment it seems to me that (the municipal president) was only going with an escort, but she had more.”