Criminal Organization Linked To Killing Of Mexican Official In Broad Daylight Over Fuel Theft

Mexican officials believe a criminal organization is behind the killing of yet another public official in the country this week.

Concretely, the Attorney General's Office said in a statement that the killing was likely a result of retaliation for a recent seizure of stolen fuel in Reynosa, Tamaulipas.

They did not name the organization suspected of being responsible for the crime, when Tamaulipas state delegate Ernesto Vasquez Reyna was gunned down in the busiest avenue of Reynosa.

Authorities described the seizure of almost half a million gallons of stolen fuel as a "great setback" for the criminal organization. They also seized tanker trucks, pumps and containers.

Public officials are often killed in Mexico, usually at the hands of cartels. A recent crime took place in early July, when Ignacio Alejandro Roaro Aguilar, city secretary of Apaseo el Alto, a small municipality in eastern Guanajuato, was fatally shot while playing basketball at a local park.

According to a report published earlier this year, Mexico ranked as the most dangerous country in the world for public officials,

The analysis published by the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), an organization that tracks and analyzes incidents of political violence and protest worldwide Mexico registered 324 violent attacks against public officials in 2024 — a 29% increase over the previous year.

That spike put Mexico ahead of countries that have active internal armed conflicts, including countries such as Myanmar and Syria.