Mexican cartel boss is tortured to death then dumped in truck a month after he 'ordered horrific massacre that saw 15 innocent people hunted down and murdered'
A high-ranking cartel leader and his bodyguard were found tortured to death, just five weeks after he allegedly ordered massacre that saw 15 innocent people hunted down and killed in northeastern Mexico.
Edgar Valladares and security guard Juan Miguel Lizardi were discovered lying inside a pickup truck stationed on the side of a road in Reynosa, Tamaulipas, on Tuesday morning. The pair had been beaten before being shot.
Valladares, also known as 'El MaestrÃn,' was on the radar of local authorities after he instructed members of the Gulf Cartel's Escorpiones criminal cell to launch the assault on the city of Reynosa, located across from McAllen, Texas.
Witnesses told authorities that a convoy gunmen sped through the Reynosa neighborhoods of Almaguer, Bienestar, Lampacitos, and Obrera randomly hunting down innocent bystanders.
A confrontation with the police left four gunmen dead. At least 13 cartel members have been arrested in connection to the massacre.
Edgar Valladares, leader of the Gulf Cartel's Escorpiones cell, was found dead alongside his bodyguard inside a pickup truck in Reynosa, Mexico, on Tuesday morning. Valladares reportedly instructed the gang to launch an assault in the Reynosa neighborhoods of Almaguer, Bienestar, Lampacitos, and Obrera that left 15 innocent bystanders dead
Authorities in Reynosa, Mexico, recovered the tortured body of Juan Miguel Lizardi inside a vehicle on Tuesday. He allegedly worked as a security guard for Gulf Cartel leader Edgar Valladares, who was also found beaten and shot dead
Jonathan Balderas, who was wounded during the shootout and remains in police custody, confessed to investigators from his hospital bed that Valladares had ordered the Escorpiones gunmen to destabilize the Gulf Cartel's drug turf in Reynosa due to his cell's internal strife with a faction know as the Metros.
Valladares' assassination was reported a day after Gulf Cartel factions decided to call a truce.
Police in the state of Tamaulipas confirmed the professionally printed banners appeared in the border city of Reynosa and other cities Monday.
Photos of the banners showed they were printed with red, white and green letters - the colors of the Mexican flag - and slogans like 'Long live Peace!'
State police said four people had been detained on suspicion of hanging the banners from buildings or overpasses in more than a half dozen cities across Tamaulipas.
The banners were signed by three of the main factions in the decade-old turf war - the Metros, the Escorpiones and the Rojos.
At total of 15 innocent bystanders were killed by gunmen aboard a number of vehicles in the Mexican border city of Reynosa on June 19
Jonathan Balderas , who was wounded during the shootout and remains in police custody, confessed to investigators from his hospital bed that Edgar Valladares had ordered the Escorpiones gunmen to destabilize the Gulf Cartel's drug turf in Reynosa due to his cell's internal strife with a faction know as the Metros.
In contrast to usual cartel messages, which are often misspelled and accompanied by heaps of bodies or body parts, Monday's message used polite, almost erudite language and bore a picture of a dove with an olive branch.
'We have agreed to a truce of tranquility and we declare our solidarity with the people, and with ideological principles consistent with keeping the peace,' read the text of one banner, which included the plea, 'We have families, too.'
'The primordial thing is for the communities in which we have a presence feel secure with it, without any worry,' the banner read. 'The Gulf Cartel has principles and its greatest priority is peace in the state and the wellbeing of its residents.'
The Metros are one of the larger factions of the now-splintered Gulf cartel, and they have long dominated Reynosa.
The Gulf Cartel set up several banners across Reynosa and other cities in the northeastern state of Tamaulipas as three cells, Escorpiones, Metros and Rojo, announced a truce
The Tamaulipas Attorney General's Office has said the June 19 attack in Reynosa was carried out by members of the Scorpions and another Gulf Cartel faction known as the 'Cyclones,' both of which are based to the east of Reynosa, around Matamoros. The fact that similar banners appeared in Matamoros suggested the Cyclones are on board with the pact.
Prosecutors said the two groups sought to terrorize the population of Reynosa as part of their campaign to challenge the Metros' control of the city.
Turf battles have become common in Tamaulipas, where remnants of the Gulf cartel and the old Zetas gang have been carrying out turf battles for more than a decade.
The border cities are lucrative routes for smuggling drugs and migrants.