Tulum, Quintana Roo --
Organized crime executioners have struck out again at a member of the legal community, this time in Tulum. It's not the first such occasion.
Attorney Álvaro López Joers, 52, was in his office yesterday (May 17) when a man walked in and shot him twice at close range with a .9 mm handgun. López died on the scene. A partner who was present was uninjured.
The attack was carried out shortly after 9:30 a.m. at his law firm, located just off the town's main plaza. López bled to death within minutes from a massive neck wound, said police.
According to preliminary reports, López specialized in real estate law and the litigation of disputed land titles where fraud was involved. His practice focused on high end coastal properties, often worth millions of dollars. He had won some notable victories, and he had open files on about 50 such cases. López had a reputation for diligence and persistence, which every successful litigator wants to have. Perhaps his tenacity got him killed. But I wouldn't exclude another possibility, although initial press accounts made no mention of it.
As I reported in March, at least 20 Q.R. law firms are believed to perform services for Los Zetas, primarily in the real estate arena. The families of kidnap victims (a major revenue stream for the Zetas) often are unable to pay ransoms in cash, but the cartel will gladly accept houses and/or commercial properties in lieu. The attorneys who work with them prepare land title deeds and related documents for filing with the state recorder's office. A Puerto Morelos lawyer who was suspected of working for Los Zetas was executed Mar. 14: Attorney allegedly tied to Los Zetas real estate transfers executed in Q.R. state.
In the latest case, perhaps López was murdered because he was on the other side of the legal fence. The stories say he had won some litigation recently for people fighting to recover homes and businesses. And what do you do when the other guy's lawyer is better than your lawyer? Why you just eliminate him, of course. That could be what led to the demise of Licenciado López. Whoever carried this out, the idea was anything but novel:
"The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers" - Henry the Sixth (Wm. Shakespeare, 1591).
"Narco Notaries" - the professionalization of drug trafficking & organized crime
July 18 - Two months after the murder, this case has not been solved, nor have police named a suspect.
May 24 - Abogado no llego a importante audiencia
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