Veracruz's public security secretary resigns after discovery of $2.4M worth of Houston-area homes

Protesting in Veracruz: About 500 people, comprised of the families and friends of missing people in Veracruz, stage a march and rally demanding that Governor Javier Duarte and Public Security Secretary Arturo Bermudez Zurita find solutions to end the increasing rate of abductions and enforced disappearances. (Photo by Raul Mendez Velazquez/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images) less Protesting in Veracruz: About 500 people, comprised of the families and friends of missing people in Veracruz, stage a march and rally demanding that Governor Javier Duarte and Public Security Secretary Arturo ... more Photo: Pacific Press/LightRocket Via Getty Images Photo: Pacific Press/LightRocket Via Getty Images Image 1 of / 12 Caption Close Veracruz's public security secretary resigns after discovery of $2.4M worth of Houston-area homes 1 / 12 Back to Gallery

Public security secretary of Veracruz, Arturo Bermúdez Zurita, earns about $3,250 (60,000 pesos) per month. So how is it that he was able to afford five homes in the Houston area, with a total value of $2.4 million?

That's the question many are raising amid the discovery that he and his wife own residences scattered from Spring to Tomball and The Woodlands.

According to the Spanish-language outlet Aristegui and the Harris County Appraisal District website, Zurita began acquiring properties in Texas in 2012.

Appraisal district records show two homes under Zurita's name. His wife, Sofía Lizbeth Mendoza Hernández, was reportedly found to own three properties in the same area. District records show one house under her name, appraised at $314,000.

Another house under her name, Aristegui reports, is a 4,989-square-foot home valued at nearly $890,000. That news agency reports that Hernández declined to comment on the home transactions.

Bermúdez took to Twitter to announce his resignation and to refute claims of wrongdoing. He says that he acted in accordance with the law. In an official statement, he said he's stepping down to defend himself.

Veracruz has seen a wave of violence due to the prevalence of drug cartels in that state.

The state's governor, Javier Duarte, will leave office in December. His tenure has seen numerous political scandals and escalating violence.