THE BORDER REPORT
Nov 9th, 2007 | By Michel Marizco | Category: General News
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SO WHO DID SERGIO RAMIREZ?
AGUA PRIETA, SONORA – By all accounts, a prominent restaurateur gunned down yesterday was a popular figure in this city, a man described as both generous and fair, except, there's questions, there's always questions.
Sergio Ramirez was the owner of La Reforma restaurant, a popular – and very good – steakhouse in Agua Prieta. He was also owner of the Agua Prieta baseball team, Los Vaqueros de Agua Prieta but it's the restaurant that's interesting to me. Ever been there? A fantastic place, floors laid in giant stone, solid wood tables and high-backed chairs like small thrones. Great steaks at $25, $27 dollars a plate.
I recall that he considered himself a friend of the old Paredes Machado family in this city. Leobardo Paredes was a trafficker for the Juárez Cartel to the east. He was gunned down in Los Tulipanes restaurant, not too far from here, back in May 2004. Some say the plaza changed hands with that killing.
Secrets, secrets everywhere. The American Feds say there's little on Ramirez; he was a small-time trafficker and migrant smuggler ten years ago. Been clean for a decade.
But Agua Prieta's a funny town. Things have a way of happening here like nowhere else.
Former Agua Prieta mayor David Figueroa, now a PAN congressman, survived an attempted hit on him last week. He was mayor in this city when the Paredes family controlled the city.
According to state police, Ramirez was gunned about 11:45 a.m., outside his restaurant. The killers managed to escape, El Imparcial newspaper says, in a black truck.
He took three AK-47 rounds to the chest.
We'll just have to see what happens next.
-- Michael Marizco
