The mayor of the Mexican border city of Tijuana, Baja California, is threatening to take legal action against any news outlet that publishes information about an ongoing money-laundering investigation into him. The politician is allegedly linked to two businessmen who have been singled out for their alleged ties to both Cartel Jalisco New Generation and the Sinaloa Cartel.
During a series of public events this week, Miguel Brugueno Ruiz confirmed that he had received a notification from Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office for a hearing as part of an investigation from the organized crime division (FEMDO). However, the politician claimed that it was a politically motivated stunt since an anonymous tip triggered the investigation.
The issue began this week, when various local news outlets in Tijuana published photographs of court documents from the case. One of the photographs was of a notice to appear requesting Bruguenos’ presence at the FEMDO headquarters on Tuesday. Along with Brugueno, authorities were also looking to talk to other politicians from Baja California and several businessmen.
According to Infobae, Bruguenos has been linked to Mexican businessmen Fernando Rafael Salgado Chavez and Marco Antonio Moreno Santelices, who have been outed in local news outlets as key connections to both CJNG and the Sinaloa Cartel. Both of those cartels are considered foreign terrorist organizations by the U.S. government.
Earlier this year, Fernando Salgado had used a Virginia-based law firm in an attempt to silence local news outlets that had been exposing his ties to organized crime, the Los Angeles Press reported.
The new scandal in Baja California comes just months after the state’s Governor Marina del Pilar and her husband, Carlos Torres Torres publicly admitted that the U.S. Department of State had revoked their tourist visas, Breitbart Texas reported. The politicians had tried to claim that the visa revocation was due to a clerical error; however, they are just two of a growing list of Mexican politicians who have had their visas taken away over alleged ties to criminal organizations.
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 [email protected].
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 [email protected].
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