Salamanca Bombing Not Cartel Related, But Due To Personal Dispute Says Prosecutor's Office

"HEARST" for Borderland Beat 

Yesterday, the FGE of Guanajuato explained that a million dollar debt between one of the explosion victims and those arrested was the motive for the attack in Salamanca.

Two Arrested, Motive Related to Million Dollar Debt

On September 19, 2021, there was an explosive package bomb attack that killed the manager and co-owner of Barra 1604, located in Salamanca, Guanajuato. For details on the attack, please see this previous story. 

Just recently, on September 23, 20210, the State Attorney General’s Office put out the following statement:

The State Attorney General's Office clarified the bomb attack that occurred on Sunday, September 19 in Salamanca, which caused the death of two people and left five more injured.

The FGEG managed to locate and capture those involved in the criminal act. The detainees GEORGINA "N" and EDUARDO "N" knew the deceased victim named Mauricio "N", and between them they had conducted business negotiations that ended in bad terms, which led to an irreconcilable disagreement, due to a million dollar debt.  

They accompanied this statement with the photo below. 

On September 23, 2021, at 3:00 pm, the State Attorney General’s Office held a press conference about the investigation into the package bomb attack. The stream was live streamed online and recorded for playback and is available to watch here, on the Secretary of Public Security’s official Facebook account. 

In the press conference, representatives from the multiple agencies involved in the investigation announced they had arrested Georgina "N" and Eduardo "N", two people who are believed to have been involved in perpetrating the attack. 

They explained that the evidence currently indicates Georgina and Eduardo knew the victim Mauricio Salvador Romero, co-owner of the bar, in a business capacity. 

Currently it is believed that the motive was due to a business transaction between Mauricio Salvador Romero and Eduardo that ended on bad terms. They detailed that there was a million dollar debt between Mauricio Romero with Georgina and Eduardo.

New Details on Attack

In the press conference, they then went into further details on how the attack was perpetrated, while presenting slides with exclusive photos of evidence obtained. 

They said it is believed that Georgina 'N' and Eduardo 'N' left from the municipality of Cortazar, Guanajuato. They took buses and cabs in order to travel from Cortazar to the city of Salamanca, where Barra 1604 is located.

The accused allegedly made the package bomb that later exploded on Sunday, September 19, 2021. Unclear at which point the bomb was created, prior to travel or post travel. 

When Georgina and Eduardo arrived in the city, they reached out to a local motorcycle courier delivery service, requesting they make a delivery on their behalf to Barra 1604, saying that when they arrive at Barra 1604 they should ask for the owner. 

The delivery service agreed to their request and the pickup location was at a home in the Constituyentes neighborhood of the city of Salamanca.

At the agreed upon time at the agreed upon location, Georgina 'N' and Eduardo 'N' passed the package bomb to two young men from the courier service.  It is unspecified if any attempts to conceal their identities were made during their interactions with the company or with the two young men. 

The two couriers then delivered the explosive device to the restaurant Barra 1604. Georgina 'N' and Eduardo 'N' remotely detonated the bomb, according to prosecutor Carlos Zamarripa Aguirre. 

This may suggest some degree of live surveillance of Barra 1604 occurred in order to get the remote detonation timing correct; however this aspect was not specified in the press conference. 

The explosion killed Mauricio Salvador Romero, the primary target, and Mario Alberto Hernandez, the manager of the bar-restaurant. Four other people were injured by the explosion. One of the four injured was one of the couriers who had just made the delivery.

New Details on Investigation

In the press conference, they also delved into new details as to how they investigated the attack.

They said thanks to the restoration and reconstruction work of the Computer Forensics division (IF), they were able to recover the operating systems of the three cell phones that  were found on scene. The forensic analysis team obtained crucial information on the case from these cell phones.

The investigation began examining video surveillance footage of the Constituyentes neighborhood on the day of the package pickup, based on evidence they obtained from the delivery service as to the package pick up location.

In footage, a cab with an economic number corresponding to the city of Cotazar was observed near the pickup location. The investigation later was able to track down and identify the cab driver, who they interviewed for details about the pair he drove that day.

Through video surveillance, the suspected perpetrators vehicle was located. 

Then a man and a woman were observed on video surveillance in relation to the suspected perpetrators vehicle. They were later allegedly identified as Georgina and Eduardo. 

They then arrested the pair. At the press conference they said the detainees have already been presented before the jurisdictional authority for their initial hearing in which their legal situation will be defined. The detainees will be charged with the crimes of aggravated homicide and attempted aggravated homicide.

Classifying Motive 

As previously covered on Borderland Beat, in the wake of the attack, law enforcement investigators had to determine how the attack motive is classified.

The way the Crime Classifications Manuel, written by Ressler, Douglas, Burgess, & Burgess, chooses to make these distinctions is as either:

1.) Group Cause (Terrorism falls under this category)

2.) Personal Cause

3.) Criminal Enterprise (Organized crime)

Based on the way the prosecutor’s office has described the motive for the attack, the Salamanca package bomb attack would be classified as a (2) personal cause motive.  

It is still possible that over time evidence of cartel affiliations with either Georgina or Eduardo could emerge. However as the facts stand currently, it is being presented by the State Attorney General’s Office as a personally motivated attack, unrelated to organized crime.

Primary Sources: FGEG Official Statement, Secretary of Public Security Press Conference Video

Other Sources: El Financiero, TV Azteca Noticias