A Mexican politician who was recently deported after spending time in a U.S. federal prison is now behind bars in Mexico. The former governor of Tamaulipas is facing new charges tied to his support for drug cartels. The Mexican government spent years protecting the politician.
A judge in Mexico ruled in favor of allegations made by prosecutors with the country’s Attorney General’s Office (FGR) this week, pointing to Tomas Yarrington Ruvalcaba having been an ally or associate of the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas. The judge ordered that Yarrington be held on the charge of crimes against health in the modality of enabling said crimes. Crimes against health is the commonly used term in Mexico to refer to drug trafficking. The case is expected to be appealed while Yarrington awaits trial behind bars in Mexico.
As Breitbart Texas reported, last week, the U.S. government deported Yarrington after he served his sentence in the U.S. of 108 months for money laundering charges. Yarrington had pleaded guilty to those charges in March 25, 2021 at which time U.S prosecutors moved to dismiss the more serious drug trafficjing conspiracy charges that accused him of working with the Gulf Cartel, Los Zetas and the Beltran Leyva Cartel, The U.S. plea followed an extradition from Italy where agents with U.S. Homeland Security Investigations arrested him after years on the run, where he was living in Mexico with government protection.
As Breitbart Texas first reported in an exclusive investigation, Yarrington spent years in Mexico having police officers as his bodyguards while listed as a fugitive by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Breitbart Texas exclusively published a series of photographs that showed Yarrington living a life of luxury in Europe and even partying with models.
After Yarrington’s arrest by HSI agents, Mexico’s government tried to take credit for the capture and tried to have him extradited to Mexico first as a way to protect him. This protection came at a time when Mexico had a different ruling party. The current ruling party is different.
Breitbart Texas reported exclusively on the internal wrangling between U.S. and Mexican officials over the fate of the narco-politician. Eventually, an Italian court sided with the U.S. and turned Yarrington over to HSI agents, who then moved him to Texas.
Yarrington served as governor of Tamaulipas from 1999 to 2005. During his time in office, he embezzled millions in government funds and also protected drug cartels in exchange for large cash bribes. According to prosecutors, he hid those bribes through real estate purchases as well as the purchase of airplanes. He bought some real estate in Texas, which ultimately led to U.S. authorities investigating him.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart News Foundation. He co-founded Breitbart News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com.
Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.
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