Appeals court overturns 2016 case against El Kado

Reporting and context

A federal appellate court in Tijuana has overturned the order placing Héctor Manuel Gil García, known as “El Kado,” in proceedings in a 2016 firearms case, ruling that the prosecution had expired. The decision closes criminal case 118/2016, which involved the alleged possession of a firearm reserved for the Mexican Army. Gil García remains in custody in Mérida because he faces other active organized-crime cases unrelated to that file.

According to Infobae México, the Collegiate Court of Appeal for the Fifteenth Circuit issued its decision on Oct. 1, 2026, in appeal file 477/2026. The court ordered the original judge to notify the Mérida prison that Gil García should be released immediately in that specific case, while recognizing that another legal basis could keep him detained. The source reported that the prison was asked to provide either a release date or the legal reason it could not carry out the order.

Infobae México reported that the case began after police intercepted Gil García in Tijuana in August 2016 with a handgun, a magazine and two cartridges. Authorities later identified him as an alleged leader of an Arellano Félix Cartel cell in Baja California and linked him, as an official allegation, to drug trafficking, extortion, homicides and other violence in Tijuana, Ensenada and Playas de Rosarito. Those allegations concern separate investigations and are not resolved by the appellate ruling in case 118/2016.