Authorities in Spain are doing what Mexican authorities have not been able to, investigate and prosecute high ranking politicians linked to drug cartels.
As Breitbart Texas previously reported, authorities in Spain recently arrested former Coahuila governor Humberto Moreira on money laundering and organized criminal activity charges. Spanish authorities are accusing Moreira of funneling $200,000 Euros into Spain. The basis for the Spanish case deals with the money having been proceeds from illicit activities. Moreira had been in custody since his arrest. The Mexican state of Coahuila sits immediately south of Texas.
On Friday, Spanish federal judge Santiago Pedraz allowed Moreira to be freed on bond but ordered that his passport be seized to keep him from fleeing the country, El Espanol reported.
According to information leaked from Spanish authorities to that the newspaper from that country, prosecutors have information that links the former governor with the fierce Los Zetas drug cartel.
During Moreira’s term in office, Los Zetas were able to set roots in Coahuila an expand their territory through brutal means. According to Spanish authorities, the reason behind the impunity that Los Zetas operated under was due to the fact that Moreira was in fact a “subordinate” of the Mexican cartel.
During questioning by Spanish authorities, Moreira claimed to not work for Los Zetas and he referred to them as “riffraff” who are responsible for the death of his son.
Moreira’s brother is the current governor of Coahuila who after the murder of his nephew at the hands of Los Zetas created a Zeta hunting police unit called GATES. For several years, the GATES had been able to keep the criminal organization at bay by restoring some sort of on and off peace to the region.
Moreira and his brother have also been tied to a civil forfeiture case in the U.S. where federal authorities are looking to seize government moneys that other state officials embezzled and moved to the Texas. Some of those officials have pleaded guilty and singled out the Moreira brothers as the ones behind the embezzlement.
Breitbart Texas has spoken with various individuals within the Coahuila government who claim that the arrest of Moreira has sent shockwaves throughout government officials in the state. One of the main concerns deals with what other officials could be implicated if Moreira begins to speak to investigators either in Spain or in America. The concern also deals with the allegations that some of the embezzled money was used to fund other campaigns for Mexico’s Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI).
Moreira is just one of the various Mexican governors that have been tied to criminal activity or to Mexican drug cartels. As previously reported by Breitbart Texas, Tomas Yarrington and Eugenio Hernandez, two previous governors from Tamaulipas are currently considered fugitives by the U.S. Department of Justice. Both Tamaulipas ex-governors have been accused of laundering embezzled money as well as money from cartel bribes. Yarrington is also facing drug conspiracy charges for having worked with the Gulf Cartel, Los Zetas and the Beltran Leyva Cartel.
Coincidentally, all of the governors who have been accused of criminal activity are part of the PRI, which is the same party that current president Enrique Pena Nieto belongs to.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award winning journalist with Breitbart Texas you can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook.