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Wednesday, May 12, 2021

Héctor 'El Güero' Palma In Custody Until Mid-June, But On What Charges?

"Morogris" for Borderland Beat

Hector "El Guero" Palma's next court hearing is on 15 June 2021 (photo credit: Jovani Silva, Infobae). 

After he was acquitted and released from prison a little over a week ago, Sinaloa Cartel founding member Hector "El Güero" Palma was re-arrested outside the prison gates. Federal authorities said he was facing more criminal charges and described it as an "urgent case". No more details were given.

However, Palma's attorney José Gabriel Hernández Martínez confirmed to a Mexican media outlet that it is likely that Palma will be released on 15 June 2021, when his 40 day preventative arrest (Spanish: arraigo) term ends.

As determined by Mexican law, a person detained under arraigo may be held without formal charges for up to 40 days with a judge's approval, or up to 80 days with further judicial approval, just as long as the detainee is suspected of cartel involvement.

By such rules, Palma could be released by mid-June if the presiding judge is not convinced that the prosecution's evidences against him are sufficient. Palma's attorney is convinced that will be the case.

The attorney explained that Palma was re-arrested on an old 1996 indictment for which he was already tried and absolved. He suspects that Palma was re-arrested to prevent media and political backlash.

"It was easy to re-arrest Palma without any clear charges because of his bad reputation ... the arraigo issued shows that Mexican authorities have no proof that he has committed any crime, otherwise they would not need 40 days to gather evidences against him", he said.

Palma's release and re-arrest garnered international headlines and worried Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO), who said that Mexico was about to become the target of international ridicule.

It is worth mentioning that Mexican prosecutors have historically struggled to gather evidences against suspects. Prior to the adoption of Mexico's New Criminal Justice System (Nuevo Sistema de Justicia Penal, NJSP) in 2016, the judicial system allowed for authorities to keep suspects under arraigo for up to 80 days while the prosecution gathered more evidences and built a case to present before a judge.

Arraigos have been greatly reduced over the years because critics stated that it could be abused and lead to arbitrary detention and human right violations. Prosecutors need to have the entire case against Palma ready by the end of his arraigo term.

Any errors in the case can get Palma walking out of prison within hours. As reported by Borderland Beat, Mexican investigators are still not very adjusted to this judicial reform and often hurry to put cases together. Defense attorneys are now looking into these things very carefully to help get their clients be released.

Why was he absolved?
Palma was released because the Attorney General's Office (FGR) was unable to prove or link him to the following charges:
  • The seizure of 3,288 kilograms of cocaine, weapons, and vehicles on July 19, 1999 in Tecomán, Colima.
  • The murder of Antonio Contreras, deputy director of the Nayarit State Police, perpetrated on May 18, 1995 in Xalisco, Nayarit.
  • The seizure of a plane with 12 million dollars in the mountains de Nayarit, coming from San Luis Río Colorado, Sonora, on October 12, 1995.
  • The drug theft case at FGR's offices in San Luis Rio Colorado, Sonora, on May 21, 1997. The prosecution said that Palma coordinated this operation from prison.

More on Palma's background

Palma was born in La Noria de Abajo, municipality of Mocorito, Sinaloa, where he reportedly met Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo, ('The Godfather'), who recruited him as a hitman. He eventually met Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzmán and both became business partners.

In 1995, he was arrested while heading to a wedding on his private jet. While flying his jet suffered engine problems and he had to do a forced landing near the Jalisco and Nayarit state borders. His arrest confirmed what many Mexicans had long known: in Mexico, the police are for sale and drug lords are purchasing them. When Palma was arrested, most of his entourage were active members of the Federal Judicial Police (PJF).

Palma was imprisoned at the Federal Social Readaptation Center No. 2 ("Puente Grande"), the infamous prison where El Chapo escaped in 2001. In Mexico, Palma won several appeals and had his charges dropped multiple times.

However, in 2007, Palma was extradited to the U.S. and sentenced for his drug trafficking involvement. He was deported back to Mexico in 2016 and was re-arrested by Mexican authorities who were waiting for him at the border crossing. He was released from prison a week ago and re-apprehended for charges that have not been clearly revealed.

Sources: Zeta Tijuana; Infobae; Noroeste; La Jornada; Borderland Beat analysis

23 comments:

  1. Pinche vato inservible como todo narco.
    Para que chigados queremos todos que lo suelten?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That’s what I’m saying but then read the comments of these pendejos cheering and crying for this guy’s release.

      Delete
  2. Makes sense now. It’s just to prevent AMLO and his party from looking bad before the 6 June elections. Pura mafia los de Morena.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And keeping a old retired capo in jail will make a difference???
      I swear people dont think before they post. @1:29pm

      Delete
    2. Yeah yeah yeah. Because we all know Guero Palma is an Angel sent to this earth from the heavens above. Dejate de segar por el pendejismo. He deserves life in prison.

      Delete
    3. The problem is that the constant releases and re-arrests make the Mexican judicial system look even more broken. This just looks like judicial persecution and prosecutorial misconduct.

      Delete
    4. 1:35 - when did I ever say it made a difference or not? Your straw man argument makes me wonder if my comment hit a nerve simply Bc of my comment about Morena.

      Delete
  3. This is interesting. A couple days ago a sicario belonging to CJNG was captured in sonora. Then the following events unfolded .....



    #SLRC | Encuentran sin vida a esposa de ‘El Nicky’; había sido levantada por órdenes del ‘Sabino’ líder de Los Salazar en esa región

    Alma Janeth Gallardo Olivas fue reportada como desaparecida el día domingo 9 de Mayo, por medio de redes sociales.

    El reporte mencionaba que la última ves que había sido vista fue en Adelas Nails, ubicado entre las calles Tlaxcala y 21, en San Luis Río Colorado, Sonora. Donde se presume que habría sido privada de la libertad por sujetos armados de ‘Los Salazar’.

    Este ‘levantón’ fue planeado por qué Alma Janeth mantenía una relación sentimental con Ramón, “El Nicky” quien hasta ese día era de un alto rango para la organización CJNG en esta ciudad fronteriza.

    ‘Los Salazar’ interrogaron a la joven logrando obtener la ubicación donde “El Nicky” se encontraba, lo cual prometían liberarla si revelaba dicha información.

    Esa misma información se la pasaron a los mandos Gerardo Camacho Ramírez “El Camacho” y Luis Manuel Lugo Durón “El Puntilla” de la policía municipal los cuales mantienen vínculo cercano y trabajan en conjunto para realizar todo tipo de crímenes como ejecuciones y ‘levantones’ y que además están en la nómina del crimen organizado.

    “El Camacho” mantiene un vínculo cercano con Eduardo Molina Flores “El Sabino” y/o “El Zabe” quien también fue policía municipal y judicial en Agua Prieta, de donde es originario.

    El día Lunes 10 de Mayo se implementó un operativo entre la Policía Municipal y efectivos de la Secretaría de la Defensa Nacional en la colonia Residencias donde tras “un reporte” de gente armada se logró la captura de Ramón, “El Nicky” al cual se le encontró a bordo de un Jeep Grand Cherokee, modelo 2006, color negro, el cual al ser revisado se encontró el arsenal.

    En total se encontraron tres armas largas y una corta, varios cargadores, cartuchos, chalecos balísticos y tácticos.

    El día de ayer sobre La Brecha y 21 fue encontrado un cuerpo de una joven que correspondía a las características de la persona reportada como desaparecida el día domingo.

    Posteriormente el día de hoy fue confirmado que el cuerpo corresponde a la joven Alma Janeth.

    Lamentable la guerra que se está viviendo entre las células del crimen identificadas como “Los Rusos”, “Los Salazar” y CJNG, quienes disputan San Luis Río Colorado y su valle.

    Todo esto por qué las autoridades apoyan al crimen organizado para realizar este tipo de ejecuciones. Solo venden su trabajo.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Very informative I did read of el Nickys capture, how did you come across this info and how do you know that los Salazar said they would release her if she have up his location?

      Delete
    2. She had communication with her family prior to being murdered @727

      Delete
  4. El Rey Zambada removed from US Department of Treasury black list today.

    Any theories as to why?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 3:04 because hes in witness protection and is a dead man walkin

      Delete
  5. The executive and legislative branches of Mexican government are laughably bad, but not near as bad as the judicial. Que desmadre en todas partes

    ReplyDelete
  6. Good it will just give Palma and his people more time to build hole in the dirt hideouts to disappear into the mountains like Caro Quintero, Zambada, Mencho.

    ReplyDelete
  7. If he was a smart man he would disappear... No doubt Guero probably is... at this point he has been incarcerated for decades, his whole family was murdered, & he is 80 years old... he prob no doubt would like to live anonymously... he may not get that chance...

    -Holden D. Cash

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. He isn't 80, no way this dude was born in 40-41. He's from the the 50's. MX apoco no decía de que año era en el BOP?

      Delete
    2. 2:13 - After your comment, I looked up old USDT sources and found he was cited as born in 1960, not 1940. This makes him 61 years old.

      You know what I think happened? Someone changed his DOB on Wikipedia without providing a source and most Mexican media sources went with it. I followed suit. I've gone back and changed his Wikipedia pages in English and Spanish (will do other languages later), and provided the source for his 29 April 1960 DOB:

      https://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/financial-sanctions/recent-actions/20030602

      His name no longer appears on the BOP database. I tried looking and couldn't find it.

      Delete
    3. 2:13... even at 61 yrs old is still a long time to jump back in the game after being out so long... RCQ did it but he is a rare case & prob never left in the first place...

      Delete
  8. Makes sense just let these sociopaths go so they can kill more and more people. Mexico is a lost cause. Its sad tbh. Give him the needle.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Don't talk about mi papi like that

    ReplyDelete

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