TIJUANA One of the four men stopped by federal agents Sunday at the citys airport with 23 exotic birds has been identified as a municipal police officer working for the company of former mayor Jorge Hank Rhon.
Tijuanas department of public safety identified him Tuesday as Óscar Gómez, and said he had been hired by Grupo Caliente to provide security.
Beyond that the federal Attorney Generals Office (known as the PGR), which is handling the investigation about the birds, has kept a low profile about it.
Thats in marked contrast with what happened last summer, when the agency held a press conference to announce that military authorities had arrested Hank with a stockpile of 88 firearms and nearly 10,000 rounds of ammunition at his mansion. The arrest drew national and international headlines.
Days later, a federal judge ruled the raid was not legal and freed Hank, who has since announced his interest in running again for governor.
This time around, the PGR has only issued a press release saying the four men detained Sunday night did not have the paperwork to possess the exotic birds, among them toucans and hawks.
Hank, for his part, has not issued a statement through his company or Facebook, two ways he and his wife communicated during last summers legal drama.
Sources within the PGR, who requested anonymity because they are not authorized to speak, said that the birds belong to Hank and were destined for his zoo at Caliente racetrack. The birds did not have any identifying markers when they were seized, apparently after arriving in a private plane and being picked up by the four men.
The sources said the other three who were detained also provided security for Hank and identified them as Sergio Iván Parra, Raúl Eliseo Ortiz and Luis Enrique Briceño. They remain in the office of federal investigators, where their legal status is to be determined.
omar.millan@sandiegored.com
