Authorities in Mexico arrested a cartel lieutenant in connection with allegations that he ordered the kidnapping and murder of a female journalist in Mexico.
This week, the Veracruz Attorney General’s Office, with the help of Mexico’s Navy, arrested Jose Del Carmen “Delta 7” Cadena Escayola, one of the leaders of the criminal organization known as Grupo Sombra. The regional cartel group has spread terror through Veracruz for years.
According to information released by Mexican authorities, Cadena revealed to investigators details of the June 2 kidnapping of Roxanna Berenice Guzman Ramirez, a local journalist in Veracruz who was taken at gunpoint by a group of gunmen. The murder gained much relevance in Mexico after the victims of the case were able to record the group breaking into the home and taking Ramirez. Since then, the woman was never heard from.
At a rural location described by Cadena, authorities were able to find a woman’s body. Authorities have not officially revealed that it is Guzman’s body.
Authorities also arrested a woman named Karen, who is believed to be Cadena’s girlfriend, and three local police officers who are accused of working for Grupo Sombra.
The murder comes at a time when Mexico’s President, Claudia Sheinbaum, has been publicly claiming that Mexico is safer under her watch by using doctored statistics. Additionally, the U.S. government has been pressuring Sheinbaum to eradicate drug cartels, but she has been hiding under claims of national sovereignty to keep international interference at bay.
Tension has been growing between the U.S. and Mexico after Sheinbaum’s government refused to arrest and extradite current Sinaloa governor Ruben Rocha Moya and nine of his allies in government, who have been criminally indicted and are wanted by the U.S. Department of Justice for allegedly working with the Sinaloa Cartel.
Rather than help the U.S., Sheinbaum has openly challenged the U.S. government, claiming that there is no proof of wrongdoing on Rocha Moya’s part and that the indictment is, in fact, international interference pushed by the “U.S. far-right” aimed at hurting her political party and her political rivals.
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.