Mexico City Policeman Had Hand In Kidnapping And Murder Of ‘Tepito 13’, Say Mexican Authorities

Mexico City authorities have a new suspect in custody on the case of the kidnapping and murder of the "Tepito 13", the 13 youths whose bodies were found in a grave on a ranch east of Mexico City after 12 of them were kidnapped from the club Heavens Bar. This time, though, the suspect is one of their own: Edgar Ernesto Gutiérrez Vega, who was arrested on Thursday, is a policeman assigned to patrolling the Zona Rosa nightlife district where Heavens Bar is located.

Mexico City's District Attorney, Rodolfo Rios Garza, said that Gutiérrez Vega had been in close contact for about a year with a man known as "El Javis" - a drug dealer with La Union de Insurgentes, the gang which controls drug-trafficking operations in most of the capital's downtown and upscale nightlife spots - and that the policeman would tip off El Javis whenever police were about to launch an operation cracking down on the gang's activities. The district attorney said that at the time of the kidnapping, the inside man wasn't in the area. "After analyzing telephone records, the presence of the individual on Calle Lancaster on May 27 at the hour in which several people stole the victims out of the bar has been determined," he said during a press conference on Thursday.

He went on to say that the standard of living which Gutiérrez Vega was enjoying "did not correspond" to his salary as a police officer. The suspect joined the city police force six years ago. Another man, César Iván Romero Reyes, was arrested on Thursday as well in connection with the crimes. Both have confessed to having participated in the kidnapping and subsequent transporting of the 12 young people to a ranch in Tlalmanalco in the state of Mexico, where all 12 and another man who is alleged to have helped lure them to Heavens Bar were murdered, covered with lime and asbestos and buried in a clandestine grave. At least one of those killed is said to have been beheaded with a hacksaw while still alive. 15 people are in police custody in connection with the crime, which authorities say was in reprisal for the killing of Horacio Vite Angel - a member of La Union de Insurgentes - by rival gang La Union de Tepito a few days prior. One of the youths, 16-year-old Jerzy Ortiz, was the son of La Union de Tepito boss Jorge "El Tanque" Ortiz Reyes.

RELATED: 'Tepito 13' Youths Decapitated Alive After Being Kidnapped From Heavens Bar In Mexico City, Authorities Say