El Pozoles sentenced to five years in drug case

Reporting and context

Brayan Mauricio Miranda, known as “El Pozoles” and identified by authorities as a La Unión Tepito leader, received a five-year prison sentence for possessing narcotics for sale, Azteca Noticias reported. Federal prosecutors obtained the conviction at an oral trial, along with a fine and an order to confiscate the drugs.

According to Azteca Noticias, an inspection of the vehicle Miranda was driving uncovered 496.7 grams of marijuana, 538.3 grams of methamphetamine and 18.6 grams of cocaine. The drugs were packaged in transparent plastic bags for sale. Those quantities relate to the vehicle seizure described in the case.

The report places his arrest in October 2023 on Tonalá Street in Mexico City’s Roma Norte neighborhood, in the Cuauhtémoc borough, where he was detained with a Venezuelan woman. In January 2024, local authorities transferred jurisdiction over the case during the supplementary investigation to federal prosecutors in Mexico City, who continued the proceedings through trial.

Azteca Noticias reported that Mexico City’s security ministry had previously identified Miranda as a probable suspect in the killing of Venezuelan model Kenny Mireya Finol, who was found dead in 2018. The five-year sentence described in this report concerns narcotics possession for sale; the report does not describe a homicide conviction.

Authorities had also linked him to alleged protection rackets, extortion of central-city merchants and drug distribution. The source described him as a suspected member of a cell tied to David “N”, known as “El Pistache”, who was described as a close associate of Roberto Moyado Esparza, “El Betito”. These allegations and reported affiliations remain distinct from the drug offense covered by the sentence.

Original report: Azteca Noticias