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During his visit to the LeBarón community on January 12, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador pledged that the criminals who massacred six children and three women from the breakaway Mormon community will be punished and that the truth surrounding the crime will come out.
In a speech delivered before extended family members in Bavispe, Sonora, President López Obrador also promised to keep relatives informed about the investigation into the ambush carried out by cartel gunmen in November 2019.
The LeBarón family received threats from drug cartels
“There will be justice,” he said, addressing the small crowd at La Mora, the town that is home to the victims.
López Obrador also said that the Attorney General’s Office ( FGR ) and the FBI have reached a verdict in regards to the LeBarón case.
Security experts say the evidence gathered suggests the massacre was carried out by the Juárez faction known as La Línea and may have been a case of mistaken identity .
López Obrador
said the investigation was making progress but didn’t provide further details.
Earlier that day, he met with relatives of the victims for about an hour, in private, after traveling almost four hours by car to the town.
La Mora
, like other northern Mexican settlements where relatives of the large families live, was founded decades ago by breakaway Mormon leaders who fled the United States seeking a safe haven for their polygamist beliefs.
So far, Mexican authorities have arrested seven suspects. At least two other arrests were made in the United States.
Last week, victims’ relatives said that U.S. authorities told them they had detained two suspects in the killings .
break
Mexican-American Mormons flee Mexico
Two months after the tragic event, many of the families have moved to the U.S. and only a few families are staying.
In order to boost security, the roads in and around La Mora are now patrolled by hundreds of heavily-armed soldiers and helicopters.
Photo: Christian Chávez/AP
Some members of the Mormon community have been provided with armed escorts.
During his visit to the LeBarón and Langford families, the President was accompanied by Security Minister Alfonso Durazo and Defense Minister Luis Cresencio Sandoval.
The President also announced that a monument will be put up to memorialize the six children and three women from the LeBarón community.
He promised to meet with family members in two months for another update on the investigation and to return in four to six months to present a plan on regional development that includes road improvements.
The LeBarón family was killed by Mexican cartel
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