Mexican cartel gunmen sentenced to 141 years in prison
Two captives were freed and a dead body found when the military raided the property in the western state of Jalisco following reports of gunfire, according to authorities.
"The defendants were each sentenced to 141 years and three months in prison" for one count of homicide and two counts of kidnapping, according to a statement from the Jalisco prosecutor's office.
The Guerreros Buscadores collective, a group dedicated to locating missing relatives, reported in March that hundreds of objects and items of clothing had been found at the Izaguirre ranch, allegedly belonging to people who had been forced to join the cartel.
However, the government said that there was no evidence that the ranch was an "extermination camp" as the group alleged, but rather a cartel training center.
The case has received significant press coverage in a country where criminal violence has left more than 120,000 people missing since the government launched a war on drug cartels in 2006.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
France 24
a day ago
- France 24
Son of Mexico's 'El Chapo' set to plead guilty in US drugs case
Nicknamed "El Raton," or "The Mouse," Ovidio Guzman signed a deal dated June 30 indicating he would enter a guilty plea to avoid a jury trial and a potentially harsher sentence if convicted. During a hearing scheduled to be held in a Chicago court, the guilty plea is expected to be formalized after months of negotiation with the prosecution. Ovidio Guzman, 35, is accused of conspiring in a continuing criminal enterprise, importing and distributing fentanyl, laundering money, and using firearms. His guilty plea will likely result in a far shorter prison term than the life sentence given to his father El Chapo following a high-profile trial held in 2018. He could offer US authorities "valuable information" about the cartel and its protectors, Mike Vigil, former head of operations for the Drug Enforcement Administration, told AFP. Ovidio Guzman gained prominence in October 2019 when Mexican authorities detained him -- only to release him later on orders from then president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador amid a standoff between law enforcement and gang members. Ovidio Guzman was recaptured in January 2023, while Lopez Obrador was still in office, and later extradited to the United States. US authorities accuse Ovidio and his three brothers of leading Los Chapitos, a faction of the Sinaloa Cartel designated by the administration of US President Donald Trump as a global "terrorist" organization. His father, one of the world's most infamous drug traffickers, is serving a life sentence in a US prison. The United States alleges Ovidio Guzman and his associates trafficked fentanyl into the country, where the opioid epidemic is linked to tens of thousands of deaths. The Sinaloa cartel is one of six Mexican drug trafficking groups that Trump has designated as terrorist organizations. Another son, Joaquin Guzman Lopez, was arrested after arriving in the United States last July on a private plane with cartel co-founder Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, who claimed he had been kidnapped. The arrests sparked cartel infighting that has left more than 1,200 people dead and 1,400 missing in Sinaloa state, located in northwestern Mexico. In its aggressive policy against drug cartels, the Trump administration announced additional sanctions against Los Chapitos in June for fentanyl trafficking and increased the reward to $10 million for each of the fugitive brothers. © 2025 AFP
France 24
2 days ago
- France 24
Green activism or public threat? UK cracks down on environmental groups
Green activism or public threat? UK cracks down on environmental groups Environment To display this content from YouTube, you must enable advertisement tracking and audience measurement. Accept Manage my choices One of your browser extensions seems to be blocking the video player from loading. To watch this content, you may need to disable it on this site. Try again In the UK, the crackdown on environmental activists is becoming ever tighter, with many protesters now jailed for their actions. © FRANCE 24 02:58 02:58 min From the show In the UK, an ongoing crackdown on environmental activists is becoming ever tighter. Those who cause "public nuisance" by sitting on a road to block it, or spraying paint on a building or work of art can now be punished not by a simple fine, but a prison sentence of up to 10 years. It's part of the 2022 Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act. Over the past three years, more than 3,000 members of Just Stop Oil and other groups have been arrested. The British government has justified this crackdown by saying that the groups' actions cost tens of millions of pounds in public spending every year. The Down to Earth team takes a closer look.
France 24
3 days ago
- France 24
Mexican cartel gunmen sentenced to 141 years in prison
The men were arrested last September at a ranch authorities say was used as a forced recruitment center for the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, one of the country's most powerful criminal gangs. Two captives were freed and a dead body found when the military raided the property in the western state of Jalisco following reports of gunfire, according to authorities. "The defendants were each sentenced to 141 years and three months in prison" for one count of homicide and two counts of kidnapping, according to a statement from the Jalisco prosecutor's office. The Guerreros Buscadores collective, a group dedicated to locating missing relatives, reported in March that hundreds of objects and items of clothing had been found at the Izaguirre ranch, allegedly belonging to people who had been forced to join the cartel. However, the government said that there was no evidence that the ranch was an "extermination camp" as the group alleged, but rather a cartel training center. The case has received significant press coverage in a country where criminal violence has left more than 120,000 people missing since the government launched a war on drug cartels in 2006.
