Jalisco Attorney General Carlos Najera is loosing patience with his critics in the wake of the arrest of two public servants in connection with the August 3 murder of Ayutla Mayor Manuel Gomez Torres and a municipal employee.
Najera appeared stung by barbs from José Luis Munguía Cardona, the leader of the National Action Party (PAN) in the Jalisco State Congress, who said the arrests seem suspicious and believed the investigation could be tainted. Other reports suggested the pair many have been tortured during questioning, something Najera vigorously denies. The State Human Rights Commission is investigating the claims.
Najera believes Ayutla Mayor Manuel Gomez Torres, a member of the PAN, was killed under orders from the Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG). The investigation, he suggested, points to there being some kind of relationship between the PAN mayor and the powerful drug cartel.
Najera said the two men in custody are Jose Alfredo Sánchez Dueñas, a political advisor for the deceased mayor, and Luis Alberto Zepeda Grajeda, the sub director of the municipal police force, who had been in his post for just 22 days. Both were in the pay of the drug cartel, Najera maintained.
At a press conference, Najera played a tape of some of Sanchez Dueñas’ testimony, in which he admitted recommending Zepeda Grajeda for the job of assistant police chief following the assassination of his predecessor, Juan Ramón Ramírez Contreras, on June 25. He also acknowledged that the mayor had previously been in contact with the CJNG.
According to Najera, Zepeda ordered the mayor’s police escort to be retired on the night of his murder.
Munguia Cardona and PAN Jalisco President Miguel Angel Monraz Ibarra would both like the case to be taken over by federal authorities. Public security in the state has deteriorated under Najera, they argue, claiming few Jaliscienses have much faith in his strategies.
Najera hit back this week, saying he found it strange that the PAN politicians were initially calling for a quick resolution to the investigation but cried foul when results achieved swiftly did not paint their party in a good light.