A judge in Mexico City this week ruled that police officers illegally arrested an alleged kidnapper and drug trafficker who is described as one of the leaders of the Union Tepito Cartel. At the time of his arrest, authorities reportedly found more than 1,000 baggies of cocaine and marijuana.
The case began on January 26, when Mexico City’s Attorney General announced the arrest of Luis Alberto “Tio Beto” or Uncle Beto. Authorities identified him as a successor to a leadership role within the Union Tepito Cartel who was in charge of the organization’s extortion racket, Latinus reported.
Tio Beto is allegedly tied to kidnappings and the torture of local businessmen as part of the cartel’s collection of protection fees, Infobae reported. Authorities also claimed the man is behind land grabs and forceful takeovers of small businesses.
This week, an unnamed judge in Mexico City ruled that Tio Beto had been illegally arrested, finding that drugs were planted and the suspect was not arrested at the location police claimed.
La Union de Tepito is the dominant criminal organization in Mexico City and is believed to have formed an alliance with Cartel Jalisco New Generation. The truce comes at a time when the Sinaloa Cartel has been clashing with CJNG throughout Mexico.
Editor’s Note: Breitbart Texas traveled to Mexico City and the 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 their original Spanish. This article was written by “E.F Robles” from Jalisco, and “L.P. Contreras” from Mexico City.