Former Commander of the Military Zone in Puebla: He is accused by U.S. authorities of maintaining ties to the Sinaloa Cartel and accepting bribes. The individual in question is Gerardo Mérida Sánchez, who served as commander of the 25th Military Zone in Puebla between 2021 and 2022, during the tenure of Governor Miguel Barbosa.
This accusation was issued by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, where Gerardo appears on a list alongside nine other current and former officials including the Governor of Sinaloa, Rubén Rocha.
This stems from allegations that they maintained ties to a criminal organization. But what exactly is he accused of? The investigation conducted by the DEA indicates that the defendants face charges of conspiracy to import narcotics, possession of weapons and military-grade equipment, as well as collaboration with organized crime structures.
In Mérida Sánchez’s case, it is alleged that during his tenure as Secretary of Public Security for Sinaloa, he received over 100 million dollars per month in cash from “Los Chapitos” between 2023 and 2024.
Furthermore, he allegedly failed to interfere with the criminal group’s drug trafficking operations; he conducted no arrests and even provided warnings regarding operations carried out by security forces.
Among these actions, at least 10 operations [music] targeting drug laboratories are cited— actions which allegedly allowed both personnel to evacuate and narcotics to be removed before authorities could seize the drugs or make arrests.
Source: El Sol de Puebla
Discover more from Cartel Insider
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
