MCALLEN, Texas – The sister of a federal agent wounded in an attack in Mexico said Wednesday she hoped the lawsuit filed by her brother and the family of an agent who was killed will force the government to answer their questions.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents Jaime Zapata and Victor Avila were attacked on Feb. 15, 2011, in their armored sport-utility vehicle near San Luis Potosi, Mexico, shortly after picking up some equipment from another agent. Zapata died and Avila was seriously wounded.
The lawsuit filed Tuesday in federal court in Brownsville names nearly two dozen defendants, among them the agents’ supervisors, the company that armored their vehicle and gun shops that allegedly sold two of the weapons used in the attack. It claims Zapata and Avila never should have been sent on the dangerous mission, their armored SUV was flawed and at least two of the guns used in the attack were bought in the United States and eventually smuggled to Mexico.
“The complaint really is seeking accountability for those people to come forward and not let this happen again,” said Magdalena Villalobos, Avila’s sister. She said that with the two-year anniversary of the attack fast approaching, the government had failed to answer many of the families’ questions.
Zapata and Avila had driven from Mexico City to San Luis Potosi to pick up equipment from another agent from the Monterrey office. Shortly after beginning their return trip, the pair was ambushed by armed men. Zapata parked the vehicle, but when he did so the automatic door locks unlocked. Gunmen pried open the door and in their struggle to close it, the agents partially lowered the window, which allowed their attackers to fire inside.