Latin American drug trafficking

Cartel Lawyers May Increase Their Power in Judicial Elections

Next Sunday, Mexico will hold its first general judicial elections, where a number of high-ranking judicial positions will be filled. The reform – part of the former president’s major anti-corruption package – has resulted in several candidates with backgrounds in the country’s cocaine cartels choosing to run, which risks increasing the cartels’ influence in the country’s legal system.

Reuters reports that Leopoldo Chavez, who spent almost six years in a US prison after being convicted of smuggling several kilos of methamphetamine in 2015, is now running for a judgeship in the state of Durango, which is part of the cartel-controlled “Golden Triangle.”

“I have never described myself as a perfect candidate,” Chavez said in a video on Facebook.

Another candidate, Francisco Hernandez, has previously been forced to resign from judicial positions after allegations of corruption and sexual exploitation. A criminal lawyer who represented cartel leader Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman is also running for judge.

Cartel boss “Little Doggy” killed in gunfight

Jorge Humberto Figueroa, a high-ranking leader in the Sinaloa cartel, has been shot dead in a gunfight with the Mexican army. This is reported by several media outlets.

Figueroa is said to have been responsible for security for one of the two factions that are waging war against each other within the cartel, which was previously led by Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.

Figueroa went by the nickname “El Perris,” which in Swedish can be translated as “little doggy.” He was killed when the military tried to arrest him on Friday.

He had previously been wanted by US authorities, suspected of money laundering and fentanyl smuggling, among other things. A reward of one million dollars had been issued.