Lead Mexican investigator in the slaying of El Monte official Bobby Salcedo has been killed [Updated]

The lead investigator in the slaying in Mexico of El Monte educator Agustin Roberto "Bobby" Salcedo has been killed in an ambush, officials said today. 

It was not clear whether the death of investigator Manuel Acosta will have any effect on the case, in which little progress had been reported. Authorities would not speculate on whether Acosta's killing was related to Salcedo's.

Hundreds of law enforcement officers and judicial officials have been slain in Mexico in recent years, often in an effort to thwart investigations and silence witnesses. It is a tactic that usually works, as the vast majority of crimes in Mexico go unresolved.

Salcedo, an El Monte school board member, was visiting his wife's relatives during the Christmas holidays in Gomez Palacio, a city in Durango state that has become increasingly violent as drug traffickers battled for turf. He and five other men were yanked from a bar after midnight Dec. 30 by gunmen. They were killed and their bodies dumped in a field on the outskirts of town.

Acosta, in an interview with The Times at the time, pledged to get to the bottom of the killings.

But on Jan. 15, Acosta was ambushed by gunmen in a five-seat red pickup truck, the kind frequently used by drug traffickers. He was hit as he returned to his offices from another deadly crime scene.

Acosta, 42, survived in critical condition. Authorities did not disclose the attack, saying they hoped to better protect Acosta by letting his assailants assume he was dead.

But on Tuesday he succumbed to his wounds, including multiple gunshots to the chest and torso.

His death was first was reported in the Milenio newspaper in a dispatch from Gomez Palacio and confirmed today to The Times by Martin Chavez, spokesman for the city.

Chavez declined to discuss whether Acosta's death dealt a setback to the Salcedo investigation, one of several cases the agent was handling. Chavez referred a reporter to the state prosecutor's office in Gomez Palacio. Calls there went unanswered today.

Salcedo's widow, Betzy, reached by telephone, was startled by the news. She said the family had not been informed of any progress in the search for her husband's killers. "I don't know what to say," she said.

[Updated at 1:25 p.m.: El Monte Mayor Andre Quintero, who was a friend of Salcedo's, called the news "devastating."
 
"On behalf of my community, we are so grateful for Mr. Acosta's life and work and for trying to get justice for Bobby and for other people," he said. "This is very typical of what is happening in Mexico. When people are trying to bring these individuals to justice, they get slaughtered."
 
The killing offered one more reason to redouble efforts against lethal Mexican cartels, Quintero said, adding: "We have to be relentless. We have to persevere. We have to give the Mexican government the support they need to continue hunting down these evil people. We have to be even more determined than they are."]

The FBI recently joined the case and has sent investigators to Mexico to assist in analyzing evidence from the site where the bodies of Salcedo and the five other men were found. FBI participation had created expectations among some people that this case might not end up in the same swirl of impunity that most Mexican cases do.

[Updated 1:52 p.m.: U.S. Rep. Judy Chu, who has pushed for strong response to the Salcedo case, said she was dismayed by the news. Salcedo’s death was shocking, she said, and Acosta’s “doubly shocking.”

Chu said she was struck by the brazen nature of the act. So certain are the cartels of impunity "that they would murder the lead investigator in a case such as this one," Chu said. "It shows the degree to which the drug cartels are out of control."

Chu said she has argued for the investigation to be put into the hands of federal authorities in Mexico instead of local ones -- a case she made recently to the U.S. ambassador to Mexico Carlos Pascual. Mexican law requires that cases meet certain legal requirements to qualify for federal investigation, she said. Pascual has agreed to look into the issue.

But hearing of Acosta's death "gives me further resolve to push to have this made a federal case," Chu said.

Chu said that the FBI was "involved and actively working” on the case and that forensic evidence was being analyzed. Salcedo "did not deserve to die," Chu said. “There really has to be justice in his case."]

The death of Salcedo, a doctoral student at UCLA, sent shock waves through the Los Angeles area, where he was born and raised. A few days after the killing, about 5,000 people gathered for a vigil in his honor in El Monte, where he had been a beloved teacher, coach and school administrator. He is believed to have been the first U.S. elected official killed in the 4-year-old Mexican drug war.

-- Tracy Wilkinson in Mexico City

Jill Leovy in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

Photo: El Monte educator Bobby Salcedo

Comments

[Warren]

Cartels Face an Economic Battle
U.S. Marijuana Growers Cutting Into Profits of Mexican Traffickers

Stiff competition from thousands of mom-and-pop marijuana farmers in the United States threatens the bottom line for powerful Mexican drug organizations in a way that decades of arrests and seizures have not, according to law enforcement officials and pot growers in the United States and Mexico.

Marijuana that has long provided most of the revenue for Mexican drug cartels. More than 60 percent of the cartels' revenue -- $8.6 billion out of $13.8 billion in 2006 -- came from U.S. marijuana sales, according to the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.

Latin American Panel Calls U.S. Drug War a Failure

MEXICO CITY -- As drug violence spirals out of control in Mexico, a commission led by three former Latin American heads of state blasted the U.S.-led drug war as a failure that is pushing Latin American societies to the breaking point.

"The available evidence indicates that the war on drugs is a failed war," said former Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso, in a conference call with reporters from Rio de Janeiro. "We have to move from this approach to another one."

The commission, headed by Mr. Cardoso and former presidents Ernesto Zedillo of Mexico and César Gaviria of Colombia, says Latin American governments as well as the U.S. must break what they say is a policy "taboo" and re-examine U.S.-inspired antidrugs efforts. The panel recommends that governments consider measures including decriminalizing the use of marijuana.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2009/10/06/AR2009100603847.html

[Alan Shore]

Maybe the never ending "War on Drugs" will end when we finally face up to the reality that prohibition doesn't work. This is really like the emperor who was wearing no clothes; it seems like no US politicians have the courage to say "STOP."
While they fiddle their violins, the war rages on, killing people and costing the US trillions of dollars. Maybe all that money spent could be used for health care, better schools, roads, etc.

[Alan Shore]

Maybe the never ending "War on Drugs" will end when we finally face up to the reality that prohibition doesn't work. This is really like the emperor who was wearing no clothes; it seems like no US politicians have the courage to say "STOP."
While they fiddle their violins, the war rages on, killing people and costing the US trillions of dollars. Maybe all that money spent could be used for health care, better schools, roads, etc.

[Fred]

Stop the useless drug war! Time for another approach!

[RM Edaps]

A great example of the culture that California has allowed to help ruin, along with perennial liberal governance, the once Golden State.

[J.J]

Pathetic .... Americans live in LA LA LAND you guys think you can come to Mexico and get justice ? ! awww PLEASE HOW PATHETIC can you be . The system is so currupt in Mexico this will also go unsolved and the cartels,murders ,rapists ,pedifilers , currupted gov. oficials etc etc etc will go unpunished, for heavens sakes they run MEXICO !

[Katherine]

Warren... So you are saying that we should legalize Marijuana because Mexico can't control its cartels? The only reason their revenue is so high is BECAUSE it's illegal. Profits from pot will be substantially lower when anyone can sell it. Furthermore, Pot isn't the only drug that these cartels sell and they will only resort to those other drugs if California should ever legalize pot.

[syscom3]

The war on drugs has been lost. Time decriminalize it and stop creating narco-states.

[Manny]

@Warren, decriminalizing is not the answer, failure is not succeeding, its giving up the effort to succeed.

America's war on drugs simply needs to adjust, and surge its efforts on supply, and move away from the nonsense of prosecuting demand. Case in point:

You prosecute individuals dealing crack because its more addictive than powder, I dont know who came up with that one, but its obvious they lack common sense, because you can't make crack without powder.

As a result of lining individuals drug suppliers pockets, and those supporting them, American tax payers, have foot the bill for criminalizing addicts, and low level dealers, that will never solve the problem as long as there is a continual stream flowing, simply use the dam system solution. Dams are designed to keep water from flooding towns all across America, they are subject to leaks, but rarely do they fail to protect the people and their property. America needs to control the flow of drugs, and for those other countries you mention that criticize the US, well some may think could it be that some are benefiting from it? I mean just a thought after all.

America can beat this problem, by simply using common sense, and stop listening to all these educated so called specialist, and enforce the laws, and the books, and really protect our borders and ports. Case closed.

People like you, you know those that support cigarettes, and alcohol sales in the US, while they lined pockets, they have killed people in record numbers, so it says something about the character of people like that, where the value of others lives mean nothing. If you want to make some money, go get a real job.

[Miguel]

While it is common knowledge that the drug war is a failure, try getting all the special interest to go along with what makes the most sense. LEGALIZATION! Alcohol prohibition only profited gangs and it is insane that we continue this failed experiment of prohibition on recreational drugs. Ask many peace officers and politicians in private whether they have used any drugs and the resounding answer is a yes. Legalize marijuana, end the senseless killings south of the border and increasingly here.

[WhistleRobin]

Warren- Good post, thanks.

[jabez]

When Schedule 1 drugs are a gov't monopoly (both manufacture and distribution), organized drug crime can be eliminated.

[davidozone]

His wifes relatives need to fess up that they are involved in the mexican mafia.What better way to transport drugs than that of an "American educator".All his scholastic training did him no good as he chose to hang out in a seedy drug cartel poolhall.Word on the street is he was living a double lifestyle.

[Rick]

I'm surprised at how many grammatical errors I found in this article. I don't know if the writer or the editor is to blame, but "Spell Check" is no substitute for a good proofreading.

[sadtruth]

Why is the United States even involved in such cases??? With such scrunity and so called impenetrable borders...how is it that drugs get in this country??? Has it even occurred to someone that sometimes the government lets loads get in to fund some of their illegal activities. Yales skull and bones frat. use to have heroin smuggled in to fund their agendas. Think I'm crazy?? How is it then that heroin from thailand and afghanistan still get in???? It's not just mexican heroin. There's more than meets the eye with our lovely government. Wake up and smell the crack....

[Marley]

Another good reason to keep allowing illegals to run wild.... NOT!

[Ben Cruz]

If you use Methampthemine, then you're responsible for these deaths. The voracious appetitte of Americans for illegal drugs is the fuel for these fires. Please, don't do drugs. Don't fan the flames. Get help now. Thanks.

[sadtruth]

I made a comment here but since it gave the US a black eye I guess it wasn't posted..So much for truth in the media

[Ken]

What a waste of human potential these murderous thugs are in Mexico. Is there any hope for that country? We need strict border control to keep as much of that crime from spilling over here as possible, and Americans should simply stay away from Mexico. If you are illegally using drugs, you could be contributing to this evil. Even if they should be legal... as long as they are illegal, you are making the choice to contribute to this violence by using something you don't need to use. (I'd be more likely to support the decriminalization of currently illegal drugs if I had my own freedom to NOT hire you, to fire you, to NOT rent to you, and to be able to sue you blind if you crash into me on the road.)

[Tara]

Legalize. period. That's the only way to drive the rats out of our forests. re: Salcedo/Acosta if evidence shows that Salcedo was 'connected' to organized crime will it be suppressed in favor of preserving his reputation as a hero/martyr in el monte?

[Tom Blankenship]

Are we still pretending Salcedo's killing is not somehow gang related? Oh please. Follow the money and political trail. You all may be surprised how far this goes in California's politics.

[Alex]

The police/FBI/Mexican Federalies know who and where these evil men live. But the LEOs are are hand strung by the laws made to protect everyday citizens. These laws are not for these evil criminals. Treat them as you would any cancer, any Terriorist, eliminate them by any means necessary.

[Tim W.]

Warren, what do you will happen if your desires to decriminalize marijuana happened?

Are you actually considering the risks associated with your projections, and does it matter to you at all if your dreams of a pot nation were to come true, how many lives it can potentially destroy?

[jose lopez]

Just goes to show this wasn't a random act, nor was it a "wrong place at the wrong time." No reason to have been down there in the first place. And, please, drop the "I have family down there issue." Give me a break.

[June]

And these are the savages that our government is going to bestow our most precious citizenship on? We've been lied to so many times about this being the "last" amnesty. Well, this time we aren't going to fall for it again. Mexico declared war on us a long time ago. Everyone knows it except our government. We will fight this amnesty just as we've done before and we'll keep getting rid of the pro-invader politicians one by one. They'll have to earn their money elsewhere.