HomeNewsBriefMexico Dismisses Judge who Freed 'Michoacanazo' Officials
BRIEF

Mexico Dismisses Judge who Freed 'Michoacanazo' Officials

MEXICO / 25 OCT 2012 BY CLAIRE O NEILL MCCLESKEY EN

A judge who freed 12 of the 35 officials arrested during the "Michoacanazo," a 2009 mass arrest of Michoacan state and local officials suspected of involvement with organized crime, has been removed from his post due to judicial misconduct.

On October 24 the Federal Judiciary Council (CJF) ruled to remove Efrain Cazares Lopez, a district judge in Michoacan, due to "serious offenses" committed during his tenure, reported El Universal. The judgement is not final, pending a possible appeal by the Supreme Court.

Cazares was the judge who freed 12 out of the 35 state and local officials arrested on suspicion of involvement with organized crime during the 2009 mass arrest known as the "Michoacanazo."

During his time as a judge, Cazares also ruled in favor of former congressman and current fugitive Julio Cesar Godoy Toscano, the brother of then-governor Leonel Godoy, who the Attorney General's Office has publicly accused of having links to Caballero Templarios leader "La Tuta" and accepting large sums of money from the Familia Michoacana.

According to EFE, these suspicious rulings led the Attorney General's Office (PGR) to lodge several administrative and criminal complaints against Cazares, resulting in him being suspended in June of this year. Currently the PGR is investigating Cazares for links to organized crime and money laundering, though no criminal charges have yet been filed.

InSight Crime Analysis

It remains to be seen how the removal of Cazares, and possible future criminal charges against him, will affect the cases he presided over, particularly the "Michoacanazo."

The operation that was initially hailed as a historic step forward in fighting official corruption, but fell apart when by 2011 every official had been released due to lack of evidence.

The series of arrests was one of several high-profile attempts to strike blows to politicians with links to organized crime that resulted in embarrassing failures for the Calderon administration. Another was the arrest of former Tijuana mayor Hank Rhon who was detained last year for weapons possession and then released after being formally charged with murder. 

share icon icon icon

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

What are your thoughts? Click here to send InSight Crime your comments.

We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to InSight Crime in the byline and links to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. Check the Creative Commons website for more details of how to share our work, and please send us an email if you use an article.

Tags

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

Related Content

HUMAN RIGHTS / 17 JAN 2022

Reported kidnappings have decreased significantly in Mexico, but in recent years, at least one out of every 10 kidnapping victims…

COCAINE / 25 APR 2022

Mexican authorities have arrested a leader of the initially Guerrero-based Los Rojos crime group in the neighboring state of Michoacán,…

MEXICO / 18 OCT 2021

Gunmen have gone on a shooting spree of police surveillance cameras in the Mexican city of Culiacán – attacks that…

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela Coverage Continues to be Highlighted

3 MAR 2023

This week, InSight Crime co-director Jeremy McDermott was the featured guest on the Americas Quarterly podcast, where he provided an expert overview of the changing dynamics…

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela's Organized Crime Top 10 Attracts Attention

24 FEB 2023

Last week, InSight Crime published its ranking of Venezuela’s ten organized crime groups to accompany the launch of the Venezuela Organized Crime Observatory. Read…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime on El País Podcast

10 FEB 2023

This week, InSight Crime co-founder, Jeremy McDermott, was among experts featured in an El País podcast on the progress of Colombia’s nascent peace process.

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Interviewed by Associated Press

3 FEB 2023

This week, InSight Crime’s Co-director Jeremy McDermott was interviewed by the Associated Press on developments in Haiti as the country continues its prolonged collapse. McDermott’s words were republished around the world,…

THE ORGANIZATION

Escaping Barrio 18

27 JAN 2023

Last week, InSight Crime published an investigation charting the story of Desafío, a 28-year-old Barrio 18 gang member who is desperate to escape gang life. But there’s one problem: he’s…