Mexican authorities holding Pharr man in connection with Rio Bravo shootout

RIO BRAVO - A Pharr resident was in a Mexican prison Tuesday, accused of involvement in a deadly shootout Monday on the streets of downtown Rio Bravo, a family member said.

The family member said Esteban Valdez de los Santos, 30, was visiting his mother’s house near the site of the shootout between the Mexican military and suspected drug cartel members. The firefight left three suspected cartel members dead and five Mexican federal officers and five soldiers injured.

Curious what was happening, Valdez was watching the violence unfold when police dragged him into the street, threw him to the ground and arrested him, the family member said. He was not a participant in the violence, is not involved in the Mexican drug cartels and has no criminal history, according to the family member. A search of Texas public records revealed no criminal history for him.

“If he was involved, then we would have a house in (Sharyland) Plantation,” the family member said, referring to the upscale, master-planned community on the Mission-McAllen border.

Valdez works in Rio Bravo as a car salesman, regularly transporting U.S. cars from the Rio Grande Valley across the international border into Mexico, the family member added.

Valdez was taken to a Mexico City prison on Tuesday. His wife is working with Mexican authorities to secure his release, the family member said.

An official with the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City said after the office was closed that although he was unaware of this specific case, the embassy would provide any U.S. citizen legal representation.

“Whenever a U.S. citizen is detained or arrested or formally charged, the embassy is supposed to be notified and somebody from the consular protection unit usually goes to wherever this person is detained and tries to assist,” the official said.

Two other U.S. citizens were also arrested Monday on suspicion of involvement in the shootings: Ricardo Zamora Lopez and Jose Raul Gonzalez, both of Detroit.

____

La Frontera staff writer Martha Leticia Hernandez contributed to this report.

____

Jared Taylor covers Edinburg, the Delta region and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4439.