PIEDRAS NEGRAS, Coahuila — A state judge from this border city who has a history of releasing cartel hitmen is now setting free suspected street-level drug dealers for lacking evidence or clerical errors.
A Breitbart Texas investigation into Coahuila State Judge Maritza Gonzalez Flores reveals five separate cases where street-level drug dealers with suspected ties to organized crime have gone before the judge on various charges only to have their cases dismissed. Last month, Breitbart Texas reported exclusively on how Gonzalez Flores was behind the repeated release of hitmen tied to the Vieja Escuela faction of Los Zetas cartel.
Court documents obtained by Breitbart Texas reveal that Gonzalez Flores freed at least five street-level drug dealers arrested in Piedras Negras. Case numbers: 1195/2017, 1203/2017, 1220/2017, 1228/2017, 1305/2017, each deal with local drug distributors before Gonzalez’s court. Authorities reportedly caught the defendants with three pounds of marijuana, 11.86 grams of methamphetamine, 9.86 grams of marijuana, 627.92 grams of marijuana and an unlisted amount of drugs. According to Gonzalez’s arguments in each of the cases, the defendants were released for lack of evidence, police brutality, or improperly written complaints.
The justifications appear to be similar to those used in the release of the cartel hitmen. The group has been blamed for an escalation of violence felt through the city starting in October. Local and state authorities arrested the cell as part of an investigation into their effort to destabilize the area; the group was captured after a short standoff with authorities.
Four of the members of that cartel cell have been singled out as having taken part in the execution of two local drug dealers. As reported by Breitbart Texas, Gonzalez Flores denied various motions filed by investigators trying to gather evidence and have access to key witnesses. Even though authorities managed to arrest two gunmen in connection with the murder, one of the suspects was suspiciously released for “lack of evidence.”
Editor’s Note: Breitbart Texas traveled to the Mexican States of Tamaulipas, Coahuila, and Nuevo León to recruit citizen journalists willing to risk their lives and expose the cartels silencing their communities. The writers would face certain death at the hands of the various cartels that operate in those areas including the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas if a pseudonym were not used. Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles are published in both English and in their original Spanish. This article was written by “J.M. Martinez” from Coahuila.