Federal judge releases ‘El Mochomo,’ a cartel leader involved in the disappearance of 43 Mexican students

Yesterday, Attorney General Alejandro Gertz Manero confirmed “El Mochomo,” a cartel leader involved in the disappearance of 43 Mexican students in Guerrero, was arrested; however, a federal judge released J osé Ángel Casarrubias Salgado today, as the result of a technicality.

The judge made the decision earlier today, based on a technicality found in a piece of evidence presented by the now-defunct PGR in 2014.

The Attorney General’s Office can contest the decision or request a new arrest warrant against “El Mochomo.”

According to investigations, he ordered the murder of the 43 Ayotzinapa students in September 2014.

Mexican authorities said Guerreros Unidos is the criminal organization behind the kidnapping and disappearance of 43 students. According to previous investigations, former Iguala Mayor ordered municipal police officers from Iguala and Cocula to hand the students to the local cartel.

Sidronio Casarrubias, Ángel Casarrubias’ brother, was arrested in 2014 and confessed his involvement in the enforced disappearance of the 43 students.

Recommended: Cartel leader 'El Mochomo' was arrested in connection with the disappearance of 43 students from Ayotzinapa

Guerreros Unidos

The criminal organization is currently active and operates in Guerrero, Morelos, and the State of Mexico.

The Guerreros Unidos Cartel is part of the larger Beltrán Leyva Cartel . It has an important participation in the heroin trade and was involved in the disappearance of the Ayotzinapa students.

The Guerreros Unidos traffics cocaine as far north as Chicago in the United States and reportedly operates primarily in the central and Pacific states of Guerrero, State of México, and Morelos.

The DEA maintains that the Guerreros Unidos are known to traffic heroin and other drugs into the United States.

Recommended: Ayotzinapa: the timeline of a tragedy

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