Mexico’s President and a governor traded jabs over the release of relatives and friends belonging to a cartel leader linked to car bombs and extreme violence in central parts of the country. The president blamed corruption, while the governor claims the allegations are federal in nature.
The controversy stems from the release of Maria Eva “N.,” the mother of Jose Antonio “El Marro” Yepez Ortiz, the leader of a fuel theft organization Cartel Santa Rosa de Lima. On June 20, Guanajuato state police and military units arrested 32 alleged members of CSRL–including El Marro’s mother and at least two other relatives. In the following, days, state judges released most of the parties.
According to Proceso Magazine, Guanajuato State Judge Paulina Medina Manzano claimed there was no evidence to link El Marro’s mother, a cousin, and two others to any crimes and added that they were tortured while in custody.
During a news conference, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said the releases were due to corruption.
“It has to do with an old problem, linked to two factors: inefficacy and corruption,” AMLO said. “There is always talk of releasing certain criminals because the investigation was not carried out properly and it is a way to hide a deal–to put it clearly–they are always looking for certain judges … in this case, we are going to do a thorough investigation to determine why they released this person.”
Guanajuato Governor Diego Sinhue took his rebuke to Facebook, claiming that the crimes allegedly committed by El Marro, his family, and his organization are federal and should have been prosecuted by Mexico City.
“These omissions will cost lives and violence in Guanajuato,” the governor said.
According to Sinhue, state prosecutors joined the investigation and prosecution in an assisting fashion, but federal counterparts declined to ultimately take the case.
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.
Tony Aranda from Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project contributed to this report
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