Mexican federal investigators arrested the former top police commander in the state of Puebla for allegedly orchestrating the arrest and torture of a journalist. The reporter exposed a network of pedophiles made up of powerful politicians and businessmen. The list included the former governor of that state.
This week, police officers in Veracruz served a federal arrest warrant against Hugo Adolfo Karam Beltran, the former Director of the Judicial Police in Puebla. Investigators accused him of targeting, arresting, and torturing a journalist. Authorities took Karam before a Mexican federal judge in the state of Quintana Roo who formally charged him and will decide on setting a bond or holding him without one.
Court documents from the case revealed that Karam is accused of having overseen the 2005 arrest and torture of journalist Lydia Cacho under orders of then-Puebla Governor Mario Marin. The arrest came as an alleged reprisal for publishing Cacho’s book, “The Demons from Eden,” where she exposed a network of powerful businessmen and politicians who were allegedly engaged in the sexual trafficking of children.
The network operated in the popular beach resort of Acapulco, as well as in various parts of central Mexico. The conspirators used codes to describe the age of children. One of the examples points to the term whiskey to describe a 12-year-old child.
The book named several powerful businessmen including Jean Succar Kuri, Kamel Naciff Borge, and politicians Emilio Gamboa Patron and Miguel Angel Yunes Linares as individuals either trafficking children, abusing them, or protecting the network.
After the book’s release, Naciff Borge sued Cacho for defamation. Marin, currently in jail awaiting trial for his role in the case, allegedly abused his position as governor to target Cacho.
Court documents revealed that under Marin’s orders, Karam oversaw Cacho’s 2005 arrest in Cancun and her move to Puebla where authorities reportedly tortured her for 30 hours before she finally bonded out.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ 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 Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.