Mexican Mayor Arrested for Alleged Hyperlinks to Jalisco Cartel and Extorting Tequila Corporations – Market Evaluation & Information

For many years, the municipality of Tequila, Jalisco, has been identified worldwide because the birthplace of the eponymous distilled alcohol comprised of the blue agave plant. In 2006, the state authorities remodeled the area into a serious tourism hub, drawing 1000’s of holiday makers every year to pattern tequila-based drinks and revel in different sights.

The area’s fast progress, mixed with the big sums of cash generated by tourism, additionally drew the eye of prison 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 occasion and the identical occasion as President Claudia Sheinbaum, who has repeatedly denied that members of her occasion have ties to organized crime.

In keeping with state and federal investigations, Rivera Navarro allegedly led a corruption community working from Tequila’s metropolis corridor, through which public officers extorted enterprise house owners and retailers and diverted public funds.

Final December, tequila producer José Cuervo filed a grievance with the Jalisco Lawyer Basic’s Workplace accusing the mayor’s administration of imposing a property tax as much as 20 occasions the authorized fee and a effective exceeding 60 million pesos, or round $3.45 million, whereas withholding permits and trying to close down one in every of its vegetation.

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

In keeping with an investigation by Mexican outlet Milenio, the Jalisco cartel was chargeable 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 internal circle, in addition to one alleged CJNG member.

In keeping with Milenio, federal and state authorities arrested Diego López Ibarra, the mayor’s chief of employees, 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 gather extortion funds. Authorities additionally took into custody Flores Mendoza Severo, referred to as “El Rey Mago,” who’s reportedly a CJNG middleman.

Initially revealed on Latin Occasions