The governor of Chiapas, Eduardo Ramírez, announced through social media the detention of the mayor of Bella Vista, Chiapas, Rosember López, for alleged serious crimes committed in his municipality. This action occurs amid a dispute between drug trafficking cartels in the southern border of Mexico over routes for smuggling people and drugs from Central America.
Bella Vista has been the scene of violence due to the presence of the Sinaloa, Jalisco New Generation, and Chiapas Guatemala cartels since 2021, resulting in disappearances, deaths, and mass displacements of the population. López, who took office in June 2024 with the local party Chiapas Unidos, becomes the second mayor detained for links to organized crime during Ramírez Aguilar's administration.
The detained mayor was transferred by the State Police to a prison where he will remain at the disposal of a judge to determine his legal situation in the coming hours. This detention adds to that of José Antonio Villatoro Herrera, mayor of Frontera Comalapa, Chiapas, who was arrested in early January for alleged links to organized crime and disappearances of people.
Villatoro Herrera, who served as substitute mayor since October 2024, faces charges of corruption, forced disappearance of persons, aggravated extortion, and homicide. The authorities of Chiapas have deployed special operations to arrest these mayors accused of committing serious crimes in their respective municipalities.
