Ramon Ayala breaks silence on concert incident

McALLEN — Mexican authorities dropped all charges against Ramon Ayala in connection with the Tejano star’s early December arrest on suspicion of organized crime, drug trafficking and money laundering, the singer announced Tuesday.

But while Ayala is a free man again, the Mexican attorney general’s office said it is still investigating how much he knew when he was arrested while performing at a party for Mexican drug kingpin Arturo Beltrán Leyva.

Ayala, a three-time Grammy winner, called a news conference Tuesday after spending 40 days under house arrest while the Procuraduría General de la República — Mexico’s attorney general’s office — investigated his case.

Accompanied by the members of his band, Sus Bravos del Norte, Ayala came in an hour late at Poncho’s Restaurant on Expressway 83.

Surrounded by his Grammys and letters, proclamations and recognition from local, state and national politicians, Ayala started the news conference with a recap of his career.

The Billboard award winner began shedding some tears as the narrator spoke of Ayala’s participation in the Posadas Navideñas in Hidalgo, the Christmas celebration the singer has hosted for 10 years, giving away toys to children in low-income families.

Ayala was not able to participate in this year’s festivities because he was still under arrest in Mexico at the time.

After the prerecorded introduction, Ayala thanked the gathered media for respecting his silence while he was under house arrest, then told the story of how he was arrested.

“I thank God and the Virgin of Guadalupe I’m still alive,” he said in Spanish.

In early December, Ayala got a call from his promoter at Monterrey Representantes Artísticos SERCA, who said there was work in Puebla, Pue., for a birthday party or quinceañera on Dec. 10. Ayala said he couldn’t make it because he had to be in Odessa, Texas, for another concert the next day.

That was no problem, said promoter Servando Cano. There were plane tickets from Reynosa to Puebla, then back the next morning, which would allow Ayala and the band to get to Odessa in time for the concert.

Ayala did not say who was paying for the tickets.

He agreed to go.

“I thought that we were going to play on a big stage in a ballroom, but when I realized that was not happening, there was no way out and we decided to go ahead with the commitment and played,” Ayala said in Spanish. Two other famous groups were there: Cadetes de Linares and Grupo Torrente.

Ayala was in a small room playing for one man and a woman; More than 20 women arrived later during the performance, he said.

In total there were 28 musicians in three bands playing for about 25 people, Ayala said.

When he was playing his last song of the night, the lights suddenly went off.

Everyone started running, Ayala said. The bands dropped to the floor.

“Then we started hearing the gunfire. We thought that was the end for us, but thank God we are still here,” Ayala said. “We were able to squeeze into a hallway and two grenades were thrown in that direction and made everything tremble.”

Ayala was caught in the middle of a Mexican navy operation intended to capture Arturo Beltrán Leyva, the head of the Beltrán Leyva drug cartel. It is not confirmed if Beltrán Leyva was Ayala’s sole audience. Ayala said he did not know who the man was.

Three gunmen were killed and 11 others suspected of working for the Beltrán Leyva cartel were arrested that night.

“When the gunfire was over, (the authorities) started asking us who we were,” Ayala said. “I told them I was Ramon Ayala. Some of them recognized who we were, so I thought they were going to let us go, but they didn’t.”

Arturo Beltrán Leyva was killed less than a week later in another operation on Cuernavaca, Mor.

On Dec. 17, Ayala and 25 other people were put on home arrest for the charges of organized crime, drug trafficking and money laundering.

On Dec. 23 he was freed due to his health.

“My blood pressure, diabetes and emotional condition was bad,” Ayala said. When an assistant from the attorney general’s office came to inform him he was free to go, authorities told him he could not leave the country or his house.

“I told her that my house was in Hidalgo, Texas, so she made a call, and they let me leave the country. I also told her that I had booked concerts in California, Washington and Miami, and they also authorized me to go and play those concerts,” Ayala said. “They told me to notify them in case I changed my address.”

For three days after the Puebla raid, Ayala slept in a chair, he said. Finally he was told he would be taken to a place were he could rest.

“That is when they took us to the rock bed — it was very uncomfortable” Ayala said. Nevertheless, he was well treated by the sailors and the PGR personnel.

Ayala said that regardless of this experience, he would go back to Mexico and play more concerts. He does not feel betrayed by SERCA and will continue to play at special parties, he said, but next time he will ask who his audience will be.

The saga has done nothing to diminish Ayala’s fame. In fact, he is booked all this month and next month in various parts of the United States.

He said a media outlet tried to buy exclusive rights to his tale of the ordeal, but he declined because he didn’t want to profit from it.

Ayala explained that he could not speak publicly about it until after he was assured he was cleared by the Mexican authorities.

The musician thanked state Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr., D-Brownsville, and U.S. Rep. Rubén Hinojosa, D-Mercedes, both of whom sent letters to Mexican Attorney General Arturo Chávez Chávez on behalf of Ayala (Letters 1, 2, 3).

Hidalgo City Manager Joe Vera was at the news conference for a brief moment.

Even though Lucio said Vera requested the letters of support, in an interview with The Monitor the city manager denied any involvement — but did not deny a friendship with or appreciation for the man known as the King of the Accordion.

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Martha L. Hernández covers Mission, western Hidalgo County and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach her at (956) 683-4846.