Court orders pretrial detention for alleged CJNG operator “El Tanque”
Original reporting: ZETA Tijuana
What happened
A federal judge ordered Iván Cazarín Molina held at Altiplano prison after authorities accused him of probable organized-crime and weapons offenses and identified him as an alleged CJNG operator.
Reporting and context
A federal judge ordered mandatory pretrial detention for Iván Cazarín Molina, also known as “El Tanque” or “El Boricua,” after authorities identified him as an alleged operator of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), ZETA Tijuana reported. The decision was issued during an initial hearing at the Federal Criminal Justice Center in Almoloya de Juárez, State of Mexico, after the court ruled that his arrest was lawful.
According to the report, the federal Attorney General’s Office, through its organized-crime unit, accused Cazarín Molina of probable organized-crime offenses allegedly linked to drug trafficking, as well as unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition reserved for the Armed Forces. His defense requested an extension of the constitutional period used to determine his legal status. He will remain at the Altiplano federal prison while the next hearing is scheduled.
Authorities arrested Cazarín Molina on Oct. 5 in Zapopan, Jalisco, in a joint operation involving Mexican Army special forces, the federal security ministry, the National Guard, the National Intelligence Center and the Criminal Investigation Agency. Official reports cited by ZETA Tijuana describe him as a purported plaza leader with alleged activity in Veracruz, Oaxaca, Tabasco and Puebla, and link him to a 2015 attack on a Mexican Army aircraft. The source also recounts a previous 2015 case that ended with his release in 2016 after a federal judge found problems with evidence obtained through an unconstitutional form of detention and with the lack of direct allegations about his role.