HomeNewsBriefMore Zetas Accusations Do Little to Slow Mexico Politician’s Roll
BRIEF

More Zetas Accusations Do Little to Slow Mexico Politician’s Roll

ELITES AND CRIME / 16 JAN 2017 BY STEVEN DUDLEY EN

The testimony of an alleged former Zetas' plaza boss illustrates how deep the criminal syndicate's networks penetrated Coahuila's government in Mexico, a fact that has done little to impede the political ambitions of the former governor and the party boss implicated in the case.

Multiple news sources, including the Mexico Daily News, say an unnamed former Zetas leader told Mexico's Attorney General's Office that former Coahuila Gov. Humberto Moreira (2005-2011) and ex-head of the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (Partido Revolucionario Institucional - PRI) received "$2 million per month" to permit the criminal group to sell drugs and contraband alcohol in the state.

"Governor Humberto Moreira allowed us to set up over 400 'tienditas' [dispensaries] to sell drugs and alcohol in Saltillo and its surrounding areas [as well as] 240 in Piedras Negras, 100 in Acuña and 80 in the Cinco Manantiales region," the witness reportedly said, referring to different municipalities in the state. (The news reports cite Reforma as the original source for the story and said the testimony was taken by the Attorney General's Office in September.)

The witness added that the criminal group participated in "roundtables" with business and political leaders where they would trade favors.

"The arrangement was: we protected them and we murdered, kidnapped, stole and extorted people they singled out. In exchange, we had the freedom to carry on with our activities throughout the state," the witness reportedly said.

SEE ALSO: Zetas News and Profile

Those meetings were allegedly facilitated by Juan Manuel Muñoz Luévano, alias "El Mono Muñoz," an alleged criminal operator who was arrested in Spain in March 2016 and charged with money laundering and criminal association. Spain approved Muñoz' extradition to the United States on January 13, reported Proceso, where he faces an indictment for various drug and arms trafficking charges.

In a statement published by El Diario de Coahuila, Moreira denied having any connection to Muñoz Luévano.

InSight Crime Analysis

The case is further evidence that while criminal groups may come and go, political corruption seems to live on forever.

Allegations of criminal collusion and widespread corruption by former Zetas have piled up against Moreira, members of his family and his former political allies. But Moreira seems undaunted and had announced in December 2016 that he would run for a congressional seat.

Part of this may be related to the top-level political backing he has received. After Moreira was arrested in Spain in January 2016 on corruption and criminal charges related to his alleged connection to the Zetas, the Mexican government "put their entire diplomatic and legal machine" in motion to free him, according to El Pais.

Moreira was released soon thereafter. The Mexican government later denied it had made any diplomatic or legal push for his release.

SEE ALSO: Mexico News and Profile

This latest testimony also gives another dimension to the deep penetration of the Zetas into that state government, which included control of prisons and police. The results were catastrophic on a human level with hundreds of disappeared, and on a fiscal level since the Coahuila government amassed unprecedented debt

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.

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

FENTANYL / 14 APR 2021

Seizures of the deadly synthetic opioid fentanyl by customs agents in the United States have skyrocketed nationwide, underscoring potential shifts…

ECUADOR / 7 OCT 2022

Any chance of peace between warring gangs in Ecuador appears to be defunct after another two massacres.

CACHIROS / 31 MAR 2021

A judge in the United States sentenced the brother of Honduras President Juan Orlando Hernández to life in prison for…

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…