Killed in his own office, mayor Valentín Lavín was himself under investigation for organized crime ties and as the alleged mastermind of three murders, including activist Samir Flores.

This article by Anahí Del Ángel originally appeared in the July 24, 2026 edition of Contralínea, a Mexican investigative journalism magazine.

The mayor of Temoac, Morelos, Valentín Lavín Romero, who was murdered in his office at the Municipal Palace, was under investigation for alleged ties to organized crime groups and for his possible role as intellectual author in the murders of activists Samir Flores Soberanes and Sandra Rosa Camacho Flores, reported Omar García Harfuch, head of the Secretariat of Security and Citizen Protection (SSPC).

From the presidential press conference held in Morelos, the official revealed that the mayor was already the subject of several investigations for alleged ties to the criminal cell Los Aparicio or Los Huazulco, an organization to which high-impact crimes such as kidnapping, extortion, retail drug dealing, and homicide in municipalities of the eastern region of Morelos are attributed.

The secretary explained that within those lines of investigation the mayor’s family circle was also being analyzed. In particular, he recalled the arrest of his mother-in-law, Andrea Angelina Zamora Castilla, alias Patrona, who served as municipal treasurer and was identified by the Morelos Attorney General’s Office as one of the alleged operational leaders of one of these criminal organizations.

The woman was arrested for the second time in September 2025, while Arturo Romero Aparicio, the mayor’s father-in-law, was also apprehended as part of the investigations into the criminal structure.

García Harfuch detailed that the mayor faced various public accusations related to violent incidents recorded in the area. Among them, he highlighted that on March 30, the Front of Peoples in Defense of the Land and Water of Morelos, Puebla, and Tlaxcala demanded that the authorities investigate Valentín Lavín for his alleged intellectual responsibility in the murder of activist Samir Flores Soberanes, an opponent of the Morelos Integral Project who was killed in 2019.

Added to that homicide was also that of activist Sandra Rosa Camacho Flores, complaints that were already part of an investigation file.

The secretary explained that the mayor was also linked to the murder of the former candidate for mayor of Temoac for the Institutional Revolutionary Party, Félix Oviel Ocampo, who, according to the investigations, had reportedly denounced threats from members of the mayor’s family before being killed.

He also maintained that during May 2026 the Security Cabinet received new complaints related to the leader, which were incorporated into the investigations that were already open.

García Harfuch recalled that the accused survived an armed attack on January 31, 2026, an event that was also being analyzed by the authorities as part of the lines of investigation.

Despite the mayor’s murder, the head of the SSPC affirmed that operations against criminal groups in Morelos will continue.

“At the same time, the actions to investigate this event are being carried out without halting the permanent operations to combat those who generate violence in the state.”

Finally, he reported that, as part of the first proceedings, state authorities secured the municipal government offices to preserve evidence and strengthen the lines of investigation, while intelligence and investigation work by both federal and state agencies continues.

The post Mexico’s Security Chief Says Slain Temoac Mayor Was Under Investigation for Organized Crime and the Samir Flores Case appeared first on Mexico Solidarity Media.

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