American officials are offering a $5 million dollar reward to capture the triggerman that killed ICE Special Agent Jaime Zapata.
And now some of Zapata’s best friends are stepping up to make sure his memory lives on.
Julio Betancourt and Mario Villarreal have started an organization called “Amigos De Jaime Z”.
“We want to show everybody that he’s not just a slain agent from Brownsville, but he’s the hero, he’s the one that risked his life to protect us” said Julio Betancourt, co founder of “Amigos De Jaime Z”.
The mission is to shed more light on the violence in Mexico and push for stiffer laws on gunrunning into Mexico.
On June 18th, a 5K run will be held in honor of the fallen ICE agent.
Betancourt told Action 4 News, he would like to see all three bridges in Brownsville closed for an hour, making a statement to the Cartels.
“We are going to have so much people, that we are going to slow down traffic so much, that narcotics, money, or whatever the cartels are trying to bring into Brownsville, will be impossible to do” said Betancourt.
Along with the 5K, Betancourt and Villarreal have opened up a bank account for a scholarship in Jaime’s honor.
According to Betancourt, the 5K is just the beginning, they plan on turning the organization into a national event.
The two have also set up a Facebook page, detailing their organization.
Their plan is to get 1,000 likes before the June 18th run.
Click here for the Amigos de Jaime Z Facebook fan page