Mexico City, Mexico — Following the murder of Valentín Lavín Romero on Wednesday, Mexican authorities say the assassinated Mayor of Temoac, Morelos had ties to organized crime and was also linked to the brutal killings of activists and land defenders from Morelos.
Lavín Romero was shot to death inside the government palace in Temoac on July 22 by two unknown gunmen who fled the scene on a motorcycle after carrying out the latest case of political violence in Mexico, according to a report issued by the State Prosecutor’s Office.
During the presidential morning press conference on Friday, Mexico’s top security chief, Omar García Harfuch, revealed that the murdered mayor was under active investigation for his alleged ties to the criminal syndicate “Los Aparicio” or “Los Huazulcos,” a local group linked to homicides, drug trafficking, extortion, and kidnapping in Morelos, as well as to powerful criminal organizations such as the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG).
According to Harfuch, the ongoing investigation led to the arrest of Romero’s mother-in-law, Andrea Angelina, or “La Patrona,” a suspected operator for Los Aparicio and the alleged perpetrator of multiple acts of violence in the municipality. She also worked for the municipality’s treasury while Romero was mayor of Temoac.
Harfuch reported that Romero’s father-in-law was also arrested in September 2025.
Romero’s family has been in the crosshairs of violence in Mexico. In September 2018, three relatives of his wife, Marisol Romero Zamora, were murdered in Huazulco. Romero was also severely injured last January after surviving an assassination attempt.
With the investigation still open, the motive behind Romero’s murder remains unclear, although Mexican authorities are currently investigating rival criminal organizations and retaliation as the primary motive.
Harfuch also revealed that, as part of the current investigation, authorities are following up on a formal complaint filed by the Front of Peoples in Defense of the Land and Water of Morelos, an environmental and land rights movement known for defending the territory from development and industrial projects. The complaint alleges that Romero is connected to the murders of two people: Samir Flores and Sandra Rosa Camacho Flores.
“Unfortunately, these are the two cases related to the mayor, in which he was formally accused: the murders of Samir Flores Soberanes and Sandra Rosa Camacho Flores,” Harfuch said.
Flores was killed outside his home in February 2019. His murder is believed to be linked to his work as a land defender, particularly his opposition to an energy development project aimed at building thermoelectric power plants and gas pipelines in Morelos.
The seven-year-old murder has become a warning to activists and land defenders like Samir. Since then, the investigation has stalled regarding who the intellectual authors were, although Los Aparicio have long been believed to be behind his murder.
Camacho Flores was killed in her home last March after publicly denouncing before Morelos Governor Margarita González Saravia that Romero’s family was behind extortion and violence in Temoac.
Featured image: Valentín Lavín Romero
