Mexican Mayor Arrested for Alleged Links to Jalisco Cartel and Extorting Tequila Companies

For many years, the municipality of Tequila, Jalisco, has been identified worldwide because the birthplace of the eponymous distilled alcohol constructed from the blue agave plant. In 2006, the state authorities remodeled the area into a significant tourism hub, drawing hundreds of holiday makers annually to pattern tequila-based drinks and get pleasure from different sights.

The area’s fast development, mixed with the massive sums of cash generated by tourism, additionally drew the eye of legal teams, which over time gained energy and affect within the space.

This week, Mexican authorities arrested the mayor of Tequila for allegedly extorting main distillers in collusion with the Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG) led by Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, also called “El Mencho.”

Diego Rivera Navarro took workplace in October 2024 after operating as a candidate for Morena, Mexico’s ruling celebration and the identical celebration as President Claudia Sheinbaum, who has repeatedly denied that members of her celebration have ties to organized crime.

In accordance to state and federal investigations, Rivera Navarro allegedly led a corruption community working from Tequila’s metropolis corridor, during which public officers extorted enterprise homeowners and retailers and diverted public funds.

Final December, tequila producer José Cuervo filed a criticism with the Jalisco Lawyer Normal’s Workplace accusing the mayor’s administration of imposing a property tax up to 20 instances the authorized price and a fantastic exceeding 60 million pesos, or round $3.45 million, whereas withholding permits and trying to shut down one among its crops.

Throughout the operations, authorities additionally arrested three municipal officers: Juan Manuel Pérez Sosa, head of Public Safety; Juan Gabriel Toribio Villarreal, director of property data and taxes; and Isaac Carbajal Villaseñor, director of Public Works. Federal authorities say all three are allegedly tied to the CJNG.

In accordance to an investigation by Mexican outlet Milenio, the Jalisco cartel was accountable for putting in Rivera Navarro as mayor of Tequila with the assistance of Pérez Sosa, who the report recognized because the middleman between the mayor and the CJNG.

Milenio reported that the cartel has backed Rivera Navarro’s political profession from the start, going as far as to abduct two candidates to push them out of the race when he was operating for metropolis council. On March 24, 2021, Guillermo Cordero García and Alejandro García Gutiérrez withdrew as Morena candidates after being kidnapped whereas eating at a restaurant.

Based mostly on testimony from two victims obtained by authorities, extra operations on Feb. 5 led to the arrest of 5 extra municipal officers from Rivera Navarro’s interior circle, in addition to one alleged CJNG member.

In accordance to Milenio, federal and state authorities arrested Diego López Ibarra, the mayor’s chief of workers, who’s allegedly concerned in cash laundering; Julio César Limón Trigueros, head of the municipal treasury; and Francisco Javier Rivera Gutiérrez, director of enterprise registrations and licensing, accused of closing companies to acquire extortion funds. Authorities additionally took into custody Flores Mendoza Severo, often called “El Rey Mago,” who’s reportedly a CJNG middleman.

Initially printed on Latin Instances