A video released by Jalisco state investigators this week demonstrates the reach of criminal organizations inside Mexico’s security forces.
The closed-circuit video shows municipal police officers in Lagos de Moreno “arresting” three men at a local hotel in January of this year. The badly beaten bodies of the men were discovered hours later in a pick-up in another part of the town.
A camera outside the hotel taped officers escorting the men from the building and bundling them into a police truck. Non-uniformed civilians are then seen carrying bags belonging to the men out of the hotel. Another civilian then drives away a pick-up in which the bodies of the men were later found.
Last week, state police arrested seven municipal officers in Lagos de Moreno in connection with the murders, including the town’s police chief, Juan Carlos Cerrillo.Investigations showed that the deceased were all from Saltillo, Coahuila and had been strangled to death.
After their bodies were discovered, Jalisco Attorney General Tomas Coronado said they had apparently come to Lagos de Moreno to collect money on a rental property. Unofficial sources quoted in Guadalajara Spanish-language newspapers said the three men belonged to a criminal group and the officers were in the pay of a rival gang.