A brazen cartel execution captured on security video carried out by two hitmen in Nuevo Leon sparked fears of escalating narco-violence.
The execution of the victim identified as Sabás Canavati Dahuabe, an attorney dedicated to the real estate business, was shot outside El Mapache Restaurant in the Centrito Valle section of the San Pedro Garza Garcia, according to local media reports.
The video depicts Canavati Dahuabe sitting with friends when two gunmen wearing long sleeved tops, baseball caps, and face covers approach the table with guns drawn and immediately open fire at point-blank range. The gunmen then flee in the same direction they came from, leaving behind the mortally injured victim. It was determined that the witnesses with the victim were unharmed family members. The victim was transported to a local hospital where he died several hours later.
The victim, member of a well-known and affluent family, was previously part of a private security-intelligence group known as Grupo Rudo, which translates to “Rough Group.” Grupo Rudo was formed by San Pedro Garza Garcia Mayor, Mauricio Fernández Garza, during his previous administration in 2009 during the security crisis caused by cartel violence which had spread throughout Mexico. The crew was formed primarily to act as an intelligence group tasked with cleaning out organized crime like kidnappers and drug cartels. This outfit was funded by the wealthy business community as documented during the below interview.
Media reports indicated that Canavati Dahuabe was arrested in Centrito in June 2010 during an operation carried out by the Mexican Navy against members of Grupo Rudo. Dahuabe was detained for several months along with several co-defendants but was later released for unknown reasons.
Grupo Rudo is not without controversy. Many critics described them as a vigilante group with accusations that they acted as a liaison between the Beltran Leyva Cartel and the San Pedro Garza Garcia municipal police to maintain peace at the direction of the mayor. One member of Grupo Rudo, Jesus Gerardo Ledezma-Cepeda, was later convicted for the murder of a former defense attorney for the Gulf Cartel in a suburb of Dallas, Texas.
San Pedro Garza Garcia is an affluent suburb of the state capital of Monterrey and home to the American diplomatic community. San Pedro has been spared much of the cartel violence that affects Mexico and is considered the wealthiest area in the nation.
Robert Arce is a retired Phoenix Police detective with extensive experience working Mexican organized crime and street gangs. Arce has worked in the Balkans, Iraq, Haiti, and recently completed a three-year assignment in Monterrey, Mexico, working out of the Consulate for the United States Department of State, International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Program, where he was the Regional Program Manager for Northeast Mexico (Coahuila, Tamaulipas, Nuevo Leon, Durango, San Luis Potosi, Zacatecas.)
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