Mexican Investigator of David Hartley Disappearance Decapitated

According to KRGV-TV Reporter Will Ripley, a Mexican investigator searching for clues about the disappearance of David Hartley was decapitated, and his head sent to the Zapata County sheriff in a suitcase.

KRGV-TV is covering the story of an American woman, Tiffany Hartley, who claimed her husband had been murdered while operating a jet ski with her on the Mexican side of Falcon Lake. The woman's story was at first viewed skeptically by Mexican authorities but, after an intervention by Texas Governor Rick Perry , Mexican authorities agreed to investigate.

Authorities have been searching for David Hartley for twelve days without success, and some searchers say Hartley's body may never be found. Tiffany Hartley's life vest was found floating in the water, and police are assaying possible blood stains found on the fabric.

The murder and decapitation of the Mexican investigator is an indication of the level of violence on both sides of the border. Competing drug gangs control corridors of drug traffic moving into the United States. Gang warfare has resulted in numerous gun battles and hundreds of casualties in the Mexican border towns.

The drug gangs have assassinated Mexican law enforcement and military officers and they operate with impunity in the region. Among the gangs, the Zetas are the best known and most bloody. The style of violence, in many cases, resembles military operations. In fact, the Zetas were formed from Mexican Special Forces soldiers who left the military to find fortunes in the drug trade.

The United States is a lucrative market for drugs, including methamphetamines, cocaine, and heroin, but marijuana, too, has always been a big cash crop for smugglers.

Some Californians profess that legalization of marijuana would cut down on border violence and provide tax revenues to the state. Former drug czars say such notions are naïve, and believe that California's Proposition 19 should be defeated. Smuggling and violence will continue, and federal laws will still apply to all the states. The net effect could be a proliferation of social problems in the state, and little revenue, just as smugglers continue to make money from illegal cigarette sales due to high taxes in some states.

People living in the Southwest border states have had long experience in border troubles extending into the United States. There are some areas of border federal land where Park Service Rangers have posted signs warning American citizens to keep out due to dangers posed by drug and human smugglers. Appeals to the U.S. government have gone unheeded by the Obama administration which has managed to profit politically from the situation. The U.S. Justice Department has filed a lawsuit against Arizona, for example, because it passed a law allowing police, in defined cases, to question persons suspected of being criminals. Obama administration officials have exploited Arizona's attempt to provide security for its citizens by characterizing the measures as "profiling" -- hoping to garner a larger percentage of the Latino vote.

Meanwhile, the Mexican police are searching for Juan Pedro and Jose Manuel Farias, both of whom are suspected members of the Zetas gang. The Mexican investigator who was murdered and beheaded had delivered information to the KRGV Channel 5 news organization covering the story of David Hartley's disappearance. Drug cartels and gangs have made grim examples of other authorities trying to tamp down the corrupting influence in many parts of Mexico.

Tiffany Hartley says she and her husband were taking photos of a church on the Mexican side of the border when they were assailed by three boats. Gunfire from one of the boats struck David Hartley in the head, Tiffany said, killing him. Tiffany Hartley was unable to get her burly husband's body aboard the jet ski upon which she escaped from the marauders.