Decapitated Pig Head Left for Candidate for Governor of San Luis Potosí

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A pig head and threatening message was left outside the campaign headquarters of Octavio Pedroza Gaitán, the candidate for governor of San Luis Potosí who is currently leading in the polls. 

The discovery of a suspicious styrofoam cooler occurred early in the morning, at around 8:00 am, on the walkway leading up to one of the houses being used at Pedroza Gaitán’s campaign headquarters. The walkway, which can be seen behind a green fence in photographs, is said to be the primary entrance to the campaign headquarters which is located at Casa San Luis, located at Cordillera Himalaya and Monte Everest in Lomas 2a sección. 

The discovery triggered a large security response. Officers of the Municipal Police and Metropolitan Force, as well as SEDENA, ministerial agents and Investigation Police were all called to the area of the discovery. Vehicular traffic was completely closed on Himalaya Avenue, heading west to east.

A threatening message was taped to the outside of the cooler and according to El Universal, it is presumed to be a narco-message. The message was removed quickly by authorities in order to prevent the contents of it from leaking to the press. As of the writing of this story the contents have not yet leaked online but if they do, this article will be updated. 

Personnel from the Prosecutor's Office analyzed the white cooler with a portable x-ray machine in order to check the contents. After determining it was safe to open, forensic experts removed the lid and found inside a decapitated pig’s head wrapped in a black plastic trash bag.  The cooler was taken by forensics for fingerprinting and for further analysis of the meat contents. 

At 10:25 am, a few hours after the discovery, Octavio Pedroza Gaitán released an official statement on the matter. He wrote: 

"Today a package with a threat appeared in one of our campaign offices. They want to intimidate us but this only shows their desperation and style of governing: with intimidation and hand in hand with crime. We know that many Potosinos have been victims of these types of acts, but my government will put an end to them. The citizens are not alone, there are many more of us who want peace for San Luis Potosí."

Following this the State Attorney General's Office confirmed the discovery of the cooler outside the gubernatorial candidate's campaign headquarters. The director of the Investigative Police, José Guadalupe Castillo, confirmed to press that the contents of the cooler was a pig's head. He also admitted that it was accompanied by a message, but he did not disclose its text.

A decapitated pig’s head is a common symbolic message that has been used by many different cartels throughout the years. The most well known recent examples include the decapitated pig’s head left in Guadalajara, Jalisco for the Police Commissioner on May 6 2021 and the pig’s head left April 1 2021 in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua addressed to the head of the local Border Customs. 

Octavio Pedroza Gaitán has previously been elected as a relative majority senator for the state of San Luis Potosí. He served in Congress between 2012 to 2018. 

The coalition “Yes for San Potosí”, which is comprised of the Partido Acción Nacional (PAN), the Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI), the Partido de la Revolución Democrática (PRD) and the Partido Conciencia Popular (PCP) selected Octavio Pedroza Gaitán to represent them in the current gubernatorial race for the state of San Luis Potosí. He is leading in the most recently released polls.

Sources: Milenio, El Universal, Proceso, La Jornada San Luis , El Sol de San Luis, Octavio Pedroza's official statement

Photo Credit: El Universal San Luis Potosí