An armed group of at least ten men attempted to kidnap Gerardo Vargas Landeros, the campaign coordinator for the governor-elect, Mario López Valdez, yesterday night near the neighborhood of Ruiz Cortinez in the city of Culiacán, Sinaloa. The group set up a false checkpoint on the Mexico-Nogales highway in Guasave and stripped Landeros body guards of their weapons and vehicle. However, the former federal lawmaker was traveling in a separate vehicle with his chauffeur, managing to elude the armed commando who followed Vargas Landeros for a couple kilometers.
Landeros said that after hearing the alert from his body guards, who managed to call it in before they were forced to exit their vehicle, he ordered his chauffeur to avoid the checkpoint and pick up speed while he called the Federal Preventative Police force (Policía Federal Preventiva—PFP). His bodyguards were tied up and then abandoned in a nearby gas station. He also said that he does not believe the attempted kidnap is tied to politics because the commando attempted to steal their vehicle, which is common in that area.
Sources:
Cabrera, Javier. “Falso retén roba auto a equipo de Malova.” 15 Julio, 2010. El Universal.
