Congressman - Top Mexican Cop Killed As A “Warning” To U.S. Authorities To Stay Away From Border

Lead investigator in Falcon Lake piracy murder, ambushed near Reynosa, found dead

Reynosa - A Texas Congressman said the reason gansters killed the police commander supervising the piracy murder investigation on Lake Falcon was to “send a message” to the U.S.

Mexican police confirmed that drug gangsters ambushed and killed Commander Rolando Flores, then left his body on a lonely road near here.

U.S. Representative Ted Poe (R-TX) said the killing “wasn't a warning to Mexican officials, but a message to the U.S. To stay away from the border.”

Law enforcement officials on both sides of the border have said since the murder of David Hartley by two boat loads of men brandishing automatic assault rifles that drug cartel members, particularly the Zetas, have hampered the investigation through threats and intimidation. The Zeta faction is a former unit of Mexican Army special forces commandos trained by the U.S. Army as hit men who worked as enforcers for the Gulf Cartel before going rogue and fighting the cartel for control of lucrative drug, cash and human smuggling routes through the area of Tamaulipas State between Zapata and Laredo.

This is the second time in the past two months that drug cartel gangsters have murdered a top police investigator in a high profile killing. The lead prosecutor in the killing of dozens of migrant workers found dead on a ranch about 70 miles south of Laredo was similarly ambushed and murdered in August.

American police agencies' hands are tied because the Hartley killing took place in Mexican territory near Old Guerrero Church. Mexican officials have declined offers of help in searching for Mr. Hartley's body.

Tiffany Hartley and her husband David had gone to Old Guerrero on jet-skis to take pictures of the semi-submerged church when pirates who have been robbing and terrorizing American bass fishermen and other tourists for months attacked them with rifle fire.

The “pirates” gave chase when they headed for the American side of the border at Zapata, then shot Mr. Hartley in the back of the head. Mrs. Hartley was unable to pull him back on board the jet-ski she was driving, then fled for her life as bullets turned the water around her to froth.

Police have named two suspects in the killings, two brothers both believed to have been involved in serial murders and arsons in the area.

Representative Poe's office confirmed that a second person has been found dead near the scene of the ambush of Commander Flores. That person has not been identified.