The former commander of the federal police force in Tijuana, Baja California is under investigation in the murder of the state prosecutor, it was reported in January. The gruesome murder of Hodin Armando Gutierrez Rico who was shot more than 100 times outside his home and run over by a van, is just one in a string of unsolved murders of law enforcement authorities over the past year. It was the eighth killing in 11 months of prosecutors or police commanders involved in drug related investigations. Federal police are in charge of investigating drug trafficking cases and U.S. authorities believe the case is more evidence that drug traffickers are corrupting the federal police force.
According to government reports, there were 800 murders in Tijuana in 1996 and of those 600 were characterised by a "profusion" of violence. 75 percent of Tijuana's murders were violent executions apparently between gangs of drug traffickers. Besides Gutierrez' murder, three police chiefs have been assassinated in Tijuana, Jose Federico Benitez Lopez, Arturo Ochoa Palacios and Isaac Sanchez Perez.
Authorities believe that Rodolfo Garcia Gaxiola, the former federal commander under investigation, wanted Gutierrez eliminated because he was seeking Garcia in connection with the assassination of municipal police chief, Jose Federico Benitez Lopez. It was reported that during the investigation, Gutierrez discovered Benitez had apparently turned down a $100,000 bribe from drug traffickers shortly before he was killed. Witness testimony placed the federal commander Garcia at the scene of Benitez' assassination.
In related news, U.S. authorities believe the new capital for laundering drug money is in southern California, usurping Miami's place in the top spot. The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, (FBI), reports that drug profits are crossing into Mexico for laundering and then returned to the United States and invested.
Sources: Reforma, Diario de Juarez, El Paso Times