Mexico’s Supreme Court moved to help alleged cartel fronts whose assets frozen by ruling the actions unconstitutional. The decision opens the door for cartel-connected companies to fight for their properties.
The move comes at a time the U.S. Treasury Department and Mexico’s Tax Secretariat (Hacienda) are working together and sharing intelligence to target the assets of cartel-connected individuals and their businesses that may be used as money laundering fronts. While the ruling only benefits the company that is fighting the case, the arguments could set a wider precedent across Mexico.
One of the most famous cases took place in August when U.S. and Mexican authorities moved to freeze the assets of footballer Rafael “Rafa” Marquez and Narco-Music Superstar Julio Cesar “Julion” Alvarez Montelongo in an action targeting 22 Mexican nationals and 43 businesses, Breitbart Texas reported. While the Treasury Department froze the assets in the U.S., in Mexico, a financial intelligence unit from the Taxing Secretariat (Hacienda) moved to do the same.
The move was made in an effort to target a little-known drug trafficking organization led by Raul Flores Hernandez out of the Mexican state of Jalisco. While other cartels earned their name by their use of force, the Flores organization managed to operate silently since the 1980s and established strategic alliances with the Sinaloa Cartel and Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG).
The recent ruling by Mexico’s Supreme Court now provides individuals with assets frozen by Secretaria de Hacienda with the ability to file injunctions, Mexico’s Aristegui Noticias reported. The basis of the ruling claims that those who have had their assets frozen were not given the right to an audience prior to the action. The case being tried by the Mexican court system deals with an unnamed business that claims they were not properly notified of the action prior to the freeze.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded the Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and Stephen K. Bannon. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook.
Brandon Darby is managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded the Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and Stephen K. Bannon. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.