Kidnapping Probe Accuses Son of Former Mexican Mayor, Other Politicos

The son of a Mexican mayor is facing kidnapping charges for his alleged role in a cartel-connected kidnapping gang that included other politically connected people, all from the state of Guerrero. The case comes at a time when that Mexican state made international headlines after unknown gunmen kidnapped and beheaded the mayor of its capital city, Chilpancingo, just six days after assuming his post.

This week, the Guerrero Attorney General’s Office confirmed that a judge had formally charged Mario “N” with one count of forced disappearance and ordered him held without bond. Mario is the son of the former mayor of Taxco, Mario Figueroa Mundo, who left office last week.

Authorities had initially arrested Mario and other members of the gang on October 1 in the central Mexican state of Morelos as part of an ongoing investigation. One of the individuals arrested in the case was Vapsi Areli Polanco Alvarez, a former city councilwoman from Teloloapan. In her case, authorities arrested her in the city of Iguala. This week, a judge charged her with aggravated extortion in connection with a case where she and the gang targeted two victims.

According to local news outlets, the gang is connected to the Familia Michoacana. That criminal organization has been waging a fierce turf war with other cartels for control of drug production areas and drug trafficking routes into Mexico.

The arrests come at a time when Guerrero has made international headlines over the October 6 beheading of Chilpancingo’s Mayor Alejandro Arcos Catalan. As Breitbart Texas reported, the young politician had only been in office for six days, and his murder came three days after gunmen killed his city secretary.

Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com. 

Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.