Mayor released hours after abduction
Miguel Angel Almaraz of Rio Bravo was freed in Zacatecas after armed men intercepted his vehicle.
By Austin Reed ·
Hours after armed men seized him, Miguel Angel Almaraz, the mayor of Rio Bravo, was found alive in the city of Zacatecas on Sunday.
Federal officials confirmed his release. Almaraz had been traveling with family and friends on Saturday when his car was stopped by gunmen in a region bordering Zacatecas and San Luis Potosi. The captors released the other occupants and took Almaraz.
Relatives who escaped the initial interception reached a town in San Luis Potosi to notify the state Security Department. Authorities are currently investigating the incident, including the identities of those involved in the kidnapping.
Almaraz leads a municipality of roughly 110,000 people in Tamaulipas state. Rio Bravo sits 11 kilometers from the border with Texas. He is a member of the National Action Party, a conservative group, though he previously worked with the left-wing Party of the Democratic Revolution. In 2015, he was acquitted of money laundering charges after serving six years in prison.
The state of Zacatecas has seen frequent violence linked to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel and the Sinaloa Cartel. Both groups have targeted civilians and politicians. In August, a car bomb struck a police headquarters in Ojo Caliente, injuring 11 people and damaging 30 homes. Officials described that attack as potential retaliation for a recent arrest. In June 2021, police found 18 men dead in a bullet-ridden scene following a suspected cartel gun battle in the same state.
