OTTAWA — The family of a Canadian man killed in Mexico said Tuesday they suspect his high-level political connections had something to do with his death.
The remains of Daniel Dion, 51, were found in the trunk of his burned-out rental car in a sparsely populated part of Guerrero state last Friday. Relatives who had gone to look for him found a watch in the car, which they believe belonged to the businessman.
Dion employed thousands of Mexican prisoners and home workers in his purse-manufacturing business and had spoken openly about having connections right up to Mexican president Felipe Calderon.
He also said he had an unwritten deal with a high-ranking state official to use prisoners, by his own admission circumventing some Mexican labour laws.
Dion’s nephew Shanny Bolduc said they don’t believe his work inside the prisons was necessarily a factor.
“We believe it has a lot more to do with his high contacts in the government and the power that he had as a foreigner,” Bolduc said in an email to The Canadian Press.
“He was about to have some serious breakthroughs for business in Mexico. He probably stepped on the wrong feet or was a problem to someone.”