Mexican judges ordered the release of 26 allies to a cartel boss three days after authorities captured a total of 31 within the organization. The cartel boss’ mother and sister remain behind bars but are also expected to be released soon.
Over the past weekend, state police officers and Mexican Army units carried out raids in Guanajuato to arrest Jose Antonio “El Marro” Yepez Ortiz, the head of the fuel theft organization Cartel Santa Rosa de Lima. During raids in four separate municipalities, authorities captured 31 individuals associated with CSRDL, but El Marro managed to escape. As part of the cartel’s response to the busts, gunmen torched dozens of vehicles and buildings.
Authorities revealed that El Marro’s mother and sister were collared in the roundups. Soon after, the cartel boss issued video threats vowing to keep fighting for their release.
Since then, only five of the 31 were sent to jail before a trial. The rest were freed. On Tuesday, one judge ruled that seven of the 26 were underage and allowed for their release ahead of criminal proceedings, Radio Formula reported. Of the 19 others released, a judge ruled that 12 adults would also be continuing their case on bond, while the rest face no further charges.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com.
Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.