Latest news with #SinaloaCartel
BBC News
3 days ago
- Politics
- BBC News
El Chapo: Lawyer Silvia Delgado who defended drug lord elected as judge
A former defence lawyer for the jailed drug lord Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán has been elected as a judge in Mexico's first-ever judicial published on Tuesday showed that Silvia Delgado had won enough votes to secure a position as a local criminal judge in the city of Ciudad Juárez, on the US-Mexico border. Her candidacy was one of the most controversial in the election held on 1 June. A leading transparency organisation accused Delgado of being one of several candidates with alleged links to organised crime on the ballot sheet, an accusation she dismissed vehemently, arguing that she had simply been doing her job by defending El Chapo. The 51-year-old lawyer was part of the defence team for El Chapo before the notorious drug lord was extradited from Mexico to the United States in leader of the Sinaloa cartel was found guilty of drug trafficking in 2019 and is serving a life sentence in a supermax prison in Colorado. In an interview with the BBC ahead of the election, Delgado argued that El Chapo was entitled to legal counsel and dismissed suggestions of a conflict of interest, should she be elected as a defended drug lord El Chapo - now, she's running for officeFollowing the publication of the voting tally on Tuesday, Delgado said she would refrain from commenting until her win had been officially confirmed. The judicial election was the first of its kind to be held in Mexico following a radical reform brought in by the governing Morena backers said electing judges - including Supreme Court justices - in a direct vote would make the judiciary more democratic and beholden to its critics argued that it undermined the independence of the was low at 13% - the lowest in any federal vote held in Mexico - which many observers said showed that there was little enthusiasm among Mexicans for choosing judges President Claudia Sheinbaum said the election had been a resounding success.
CBC
3 days ago
- CBC
Record Toronto-area drug bust may be linked to fugitive ex-Olympian Ryan Wedding
A recent record-setting $50-million cocaine seizure by police in the Toronto area may be connected to former Olympic snowboarder turned alleged crime boss Ryan Wedding, a CBC News investigation has found. Peel Regional Police said last week the cocaine bust – the biggest such seizure in the agency's history – came after investigators discovered a criminal network exploiting commercial trucking routes to move drugs across the U.S. border into Canada. The smuggling routes outlined by police mirror those that U.S. prosecutors have linked to the murderous drug ring allegedly led by Wedding, one of the FBI's 10 most wanted fugitives. The network is accused of routinely shipping tons of Colombian cocaine from Mexico to U.S. and Canadian destinations. "The likelihood of what's happening here in Peel being traced back to an organization like that is very high," Peel police Deputy Chief Nick Milinovich told CBC. He said it's "very likely" Wedding's network remains active in the suburban area west of Toronto, a key logistics hub for central Canada. Wedding, who competed for Canada as a snowboarder at the 2002 Olympic Games in Utah, is believed to be living in Mexico under the protection of the notorious Sinaloa cartel. He was among 16 men charged last year in a U.S. federal indictment that sought to dismantle what U.S. authorities called the "Wedding Drug Trafficking Organization." According to U.S. prosecutors, Wedding's network used semi trucks as its primary means of transporting drugs across North America. Two men arrested last fall in Toronto are accused of orchestrating cocaine shipments to Canada for a flat rate of $220,000 each. Hardeep Ratte and his nephew Gurpreet Singh both remain in custody and face extradition to the U.S. Wedding's top lieutenant, fellow Canadian Andrew Clark, was arrested in Mexico last year and later transferred to U.S. custody. Still, U.S. prosecutors said earlier this year that Wedding, 43, "continues to traffic drugs while in hiding" and warned he still has access to a "network of hitmen." The RCMP also recently confirmed to CBC "elements of his network" remain in place in Canada. Wedding and Clark face murder charges tied to four deaths in Ontario, including an "execution-style" shooting over a drug debt, and the mistaken-identity killings of a couple visiting from India. Cocaine seized at the border According to Peel police, Canadian border agents earlier this year intercepted a combined 177 kilograms of cocaine hidden in trailers of commercial trucks at the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor, and the Blue Water Bridge near Sarnia. Both spans link Ontario to Michigan. Public records from a separate case in U.S. federal court in Michigan show Wedding's $1-billion US network used the exact same scheme. Two Ontario men – both indicted as members of Wedding's drug ring – concealed cocaine in hidden truck compartments last August as they attempted to cross the Blue Water Bridge toward Canada, according to the court files. As for the recent record-setting drug bust in Peel Region, police said they seized a total of 479 kilograms of bricked cocaine, with an estimated street value of $47.9 million, plus two loaded handguns. Police said the drugs were destined for the Toronto area and other parts of Canada. Nine men were arrested and charged with a combined 35 charges related to firearm and drug offences, police said. "This investigation is still ongoing on our U.S. partners' side, to work back where the networks originate," Peel police Chief Nishan Duraiappah said. Peel police said the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and Homeland Security Investigations are both involved in the case, dubbed Project Pelican. Neither agency responded to requests for comment. The seizures come as an "unprecedented" 6,000 kilograms of cocaine have poured into Canada since last fall, according to Ontario Provincial Police. Ryan Wedding's path from Olympian to most-wanted fugitive 3 months ago Duration 6:03 Ryan Wedding once represented Canada as an Olympic snowboarder; now he's accused of being a drug kingpin and is on the FBI's most wanted list — with a $10 million US reward being offered for information leading to his arrest. CBC's Thomas Daigle traces his shocking path from the top of the slopes to the underworld. 'You're next,' U.S. official says of Wedding A senior U.S. official told CBC the public has been providing a steady flow of tips about Wedding's whereabouts, since the State Department began offering a $10-million US reward for information leading to his arrest or conviction. F. Cartwright Weiland, who leads the State Department's Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, said it appeared as though Wedding's connections to Mexican officials have helped him to evade capture. "Any time that we've gotten close, he can rely on those people watching out for him, to alert him in advance," Weiland said in an interview. "Ryan, we're getting tips every day. People are calling in," Weiland said, when asked if he has a message for the Thunder Bay, Ont.-born fugitive. "You're next, buddy."
The Star
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Star
Ex-lawyer for El Chapo wins judge position in Mexico
Silvia Delgado, former defense attorney for Sinaloa Cartel boss Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman in 2016 and current candidate for criminal judge, distributes campaign materials ahead of Mexico's first judicial elections, to be held on June 1, in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, May 12, 2025. REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez/File Photo MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -Silvia Delgado, a former lawyer for drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, has won a criminal judge position in Mexico's controversial judicial elections, results showed on Tuesday. Delgado's candidacy drew scrutiny from opponents to the judicial overhaul, one of the most radical to be enacted by any country in the Western Hemisphere in recent years, stoking concerns that the vote could threaten Mexico's rule of law. Civil rights group Defensorxs highlighted Delgado, a Chihuahua state-based attorney who represented the notorious former chief of the Sinaloa Cartel in 2016, as a "high risk candidate" for her past ties to El Chapo, a characterization she vehemently rejected. Critics saw Delgado's bid to become a criminal court judge in the border town Ciudad Juarez as emblematic of broader fears about the vote's threat to Mexican democracy, and the possible removal of checks and balances on the ruling Morena party and the increasing influence of organized crime groups over the judiciary. The June 1 vote, which stemmed from a sweeping constitutional reform in September 2024, was the first-of-its-kind with Mexico's electorate voting for more than 840 federal judge and magistrate positions, including Supreme Court justices, and thousands more local positions. Analysts say the newly elected Supreme Court leans heavily towards Morena. An online vote tally by Chihuahua state electoral body IEE, with 100% of ballots accounted for, showed Delgado netted the second-highest number of votes, securing her a judge position. The results had not yet been formalized on Tuesday afternoon. As an attorney on El Chapo's legal team, Delgado visited him weekly in prison to share updates before he was extradited to the United States and eventually sentenced to life in prison. Delgado said she would not comment until her win was formally confirmed. Defensorxs President Miguel Meza called on Delgado's competitors to file a lawsuit to block her victory on the basis that she does not meet a Constitutional requirement that candidates be of "good reputation." Defensorxs also flagged a number of other candidates it said should not have been allowed to run, and Meza said the organization had filed complaints for about 20 winning candidates to Mexico's federal electoral authority INE. Meza said the authority had so far not disqualified anyone. "What INE is doing is basically eliminating the good reputation requirement which is in the Constitution," Meza said in an interview with Reuters. A media representative for INE declined to comment. The authority has said it would investigate complaints and invalidate any winning candidates deemed unfit for office. (Reporting by Cassandra Garrison; editing by Stephen Eisenhammer and Leslie Adler)
Straits Times
3 days ago
- Politics
- Straits Times
Ex-lawyer for El Chapo wins judge position in Mexico
Silvia Delgado, former defense attorney for Sinaloa Cartel boss Joaquin \"El Chapo\" Guzman in 2016 and current candidate for criminal judge, holds campaign materials ahead of Mexico's first judicial elections, to be held on June 1, in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, May 12, 2025. REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez/File Photo Silvia Delgado, former defense attorney for Sinaloa Cartel boss Joaquin \"El Chapo\" Guzman in 2016 and current candidate for criminal judge, distributes campaign materials ahead of Mexico's first judicial elections, to be held on June 1, in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, May 12, 2025. REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez/File Photo MEXICO CITY - Silvia Delgado, a former lawyer for drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, has won a criminal judge position in Mexico's controversial judicial elections, results showed on Tuesday. Delgado's candidacy drew scrutiny from opponents to the judicial overhaul, one of the most radical to be enacted by any country in the Western Hemisphere in recent years, stoking concerns that the vote could threaten Mexico's rule of law. Civil rights group Defensorxs highlighted Delgado, a Chihuahua state-based attorney who represented the notorious former chief of the Sinaloa Cartel in 2016, as a "high risk candidate" for her past ties to El Chapo, a characterization she vehemently rejected. Critics saw Delgado's bid to become a criminal court judge in the border town Ciudad Juarez as emblematic of broader fears about the vote's threat to Mexican democracy, and the possible removal of checks and balances on the ruling Morena party and the increasing influence of organized crime groups over the judiciary. The June 1 vote, which stemmed from a sweeping constitutional reform in September 2024, was the first-of-its-kind with Mexico's electorate voting for more than 840 federal judge and magistrate positions, including Supreme Court justices, and thousands more local positions. Analysts say the newly elected Supreme Court leans heavily towards Morena. An online vote tally by Chihuahua state electoral body IEE, with 100% of ballots accounted for, showed Delgado netted the second-highest number of votes, securing her a judge position. The results had not yet been formalized on Tuesday afternoon. As an attorney on El Chapo's legal team, Delgado visited him weekly in prison to share updates before he was extradited to the United States and eventually sentenced to life in prison. Delgado said she would not comment until her win was formally confirmed. Defensorxs President Miguel Meza called on Delgado's competitors to file a lawsuit to block her victory on the basis that she does not meet a Constitutional requirement that candidates be of "good reputation." Defensorxs also flagged a number of other candidates it said should not have been allowed to run, and Meza said the organization had filed complaints for about 20 winning candidates to Mexico's federal electoral authority INE. Meza said the authority had so far not disqualified anyone. "What INE is doing is basically eliminating the good reputation requirement which is in the Constitution," Meza said in an interview with Reuters. A media representative for INE declined to comment. The authority has said it would investigate complaints and invalidate any winning candidates deemed unfit for office. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Daily Mirror
3 days ago
- Daily Mirror
Chilling reason deadly drug cartel is assassinating its own hitmen
The Sinaloa Cartel - one of the largest drug trafficking organisations on the planet - is said to be assassinating its own hitmen as part of an internal 'cleanse' A Mexican drug cartel is assassinating its own hitmen in a bizarre internal power struggle which has rocked the criminal world. The killings of known Sinaloa Cartel members has seen operators and drug dealers, who had previously gone unidentified by the authorities, exposed in the most bizarre circumstances. This phenomenon, identified by a researcher from the Baja California Roundtable for Peace and Security, suggests the organisation is carrying out an 'internal cleansing' in a bid to take back control. In one instance, Wendy Martínez, 39, was murdered inside Tijuana General Hospital on May 21. She was later identified as a drug dealer in the Ignacio Ramírez neighbourhood and had been attacked by another member of the same gang. According to ZETA Tijuana, the current wave of violence not only involves clashes between rival factions, but also conflicts deep within the organisation itself. "It seems they're engaged in what they call a clean sweep, trying to gain control of areas and points of sale among themselves," one insider said. Back in March the Sinaloa Cartel ordered its "cooks" to stop making fentanyl after US president Donald Trump labelled designated them as a terrorist organisation. Sinaloa Cartel operators were instructed to immediately suspend production of the synthetic drug after bosses made the order, concerned that any identification the drugs came from them would lead to enforcement action. An investigation by Mexican TV news show Nmás found no staff at a fentanyl factory, with supplies including chemical bottles with residue, scales, gas masks, and dust-covered overalls all left behind. Drums containing precursor residue were also found. The news outlet interviewed former cooks who explained that everything was dismantled to avoid the cartel being tracked. One worker said: "We've practically destroyed everything. Working is now completely prohibited. "All you do is hunker down, hide, and try to sell the few things you have left to survive. If the government doesn't take you down, the other one will." The White House's war on cartels began on the first day of President Trump's second term in office on January 20, when he announced he would be designating eight cartels as 'foreign terrorist organisations'.
