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Former Chihuahua Governor César Duarte has been arrested in Florida after years on the run.
In 2017, Chihuahua authorities issued an arrest warrant against him after discovering public debt has reached MXN 48,000 million, embezzlement for MXN 6,000 million, and the diversion of MXN 250 million for the PRI’s electoral campaign in 2015.
The arrest was confirmed by the Attorney General's Office.
Back in 2017, the Federal Prosecutors’ Office asked the Interpol to search for Duarte in 190 countries after Chihuahua authorities asked federal authorities for help to find the former Governor.
In January 2020, President López Obrador said the United States had agreed to extradite Duarte, who is wanted on corruption , money laundering , and illicit enrichment charges.
Duarte, who governed Chihuahua for the long-ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), has previously denied wrongdoing. His successor as governor, Javier Corral, has said that he believed Duarte fled to neighboring Texas.
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In September 2019, César Duarte was spotted in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
In May 2019, the PRI official kicked him out of the political party.
In January 2020, the Attorney General's Office renewed its request to arrest and extradite Duarte to Mexico.
The U.S. Department of Justice informed the Mexican embassy in Washington that Duarte Jáquez had been arrested in Florida.
Sources in the U.S. confirmed the news to EL UNIVERSAL and said authorities will release more information soon.
In September 2019, Security Minister Alfonso Durazo said that Mexican intelligence agencies were working with their U.S. counterparts to confirm if the former governor of Chihuahua, César Duarte, lived in New Mexico.
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According to an investigation, one of the places frequently visited by Duarte while in New Mexico was a bar located in front of the hotel where he stayed.
A photograph showed him in “Ojos Locos Sports Cantina” with one of the lawyers that were helping him with a migratory procedure after he requested a humanitarian visa to the U.S., arguing that his sons are American citizens.
Back then, Governor Javier Corral said Duarte was moving freely traveling through the United States, especially between Texas and New Mexico because of the special migratory procedure, which authorities are trying to counterattack with the extradition process.
In July 2020, a Mexican refused to grant a writ of amparo to the former Chihuahua governor, César Duarte, against an arrest warrant issued against him for aggravated embezzlement since April 2017.
According to the investigation launched by authorities, César Duarte committed aggravated embezzlement when he used at least one airplane to carry out personal activities, such as transporting the children of high-ranking officials. He is also accused of illicit enrichment.
In the state of Chihuahua, aggravated embezzlement is punished with up to four years in jail.
César Duarte has been a fugitive for over three years and Mexican authorities. Last year, it was rumored that the former governor was hiding in Italy and that he had been allegedly arrested in the European country but it turned out to be false.
In 2017, the Interpol released a red notice against him.
According to the current Chihuahua governor, Javier Corral, the state of Chihuahua has issued over 10 arrest warrants against César Duarte, who is accused of diverting over MXN 5,000 million from public funds.
Corrales said that according to his sources, César Duarte is currently in the U.S. and said that he “has his recent location in Albuquerque, New Mexico, we even have the coordinates of his location (sic).”
There were 21 pending arrest warrants against the former PRI member.
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