Mauricio Fernandez couldn't have been happier.

Here he was, being sworn in again as Mayor of one of northern Mexico's most exclusive communities, and he had wonderful news to share: "Black Saldana, who apparently is the one who was asking for my head, was found dead today in Mexico City," he told supporters on Sunday in San Pedro Garza Garcia, near Monterrey.

The problem was that the barefoot, blindfolded corpse of "Black Saldana" - whose real first name is Hector - wasn't found for another three hours, according to Mexico City prosecutors. And he wouldn't be identified for two days.

Now this cartel-plagued nation is engrossed with this not-so-straightforward murder that links drug lords and politicians. The Mayor is facing tough questions: How did he know his nemesis was dead before the authorities apparently did? Does he have associations with the cartel that may have killed the men? And what did he mean when he said in his speech that he knew Saldana and his associates wanted to hurt him, and "by fair means or foul, we are not going to accept any kind of kidnapping ... and if not, they will pay for it."

The Mayor claimed United States authorities tipped him off that somebody intercepted cartel communications and learned Saldana was planning to kill him and he said unspecified intelligence sources told him Saldana was dead hours before the bodies were found.

A Drug Enforcement Administration spokesman in Washington, Paul Knierim, said yesterday that US agents routinely coordinate with Mexican investigators trying to crack down on cartels. "And if we learned ... that somebody's life was being threatened, we would definitely, definitely make sure that information was passed on to the appropriate authorities."

Fernandez said he's setting up a group to clean up crime in San Pedro, Garza Garcia and surrounding communities. "Will this cleaning group act outside the law?" he was asked. "In some form that's correct," he said.

Saldana allegedly took over Beltran Leyva drug cartel operations in Monterrey a few months ago.

Fernandez told the El Norte newspaper that Saldana and his gang had been kidnapping two or three people a week, demanding about US$375,000 each.

Fernandez said they also were demanding monthly payments from stores, restaurants and bars.

Six months earlier, while running for mayor, Fernandez set off a national debate over ties between politicians and gangsters when Mexican news media broadcast a recording of him telling supporters that he knew top drug traffickers lived in the town and had an interest in keeping it quiet.

His words were widely taken to suggest that he would avoid confronting the Beltran Leyva cartel to maintain the peace.

- AP

By Martha Mendozain