Grandpa does forced tourism in Latin America
After an air transfer of almost six hours, because of course, a direct flight would be too simple for a character of his stature, the Challenger 605 plane of the Attorney General’s Office (FGR) that was transporting the former Secretary of Security of Tabasco, Hernán Bermúdez Requena, alias “El Abuelo” or “Comandante H”, decided that this Wednesday was a perfect day to make a tourist stop in Bogota, Colombia. Because what’s better than stretching your legs in the middle of an extradition trip?
The aircraft, which had departed from the Silvio Pettirossi Airport in Asunción, Paraguay (from where our protagonist was kindly expelled), landed briefly at the “El Dorado” Airport. It is rumored that the stopover was to load up on more fuel, or perhaps so that Mr. Bermúdez could buy some souvenirs. After it was revealed that it would make another stopover in Cozumel, because a trip of this caliber deserves at least two technical stops, the aircraft, in a turn worthy of a spy novel, changed the flight plan to head directly to Tapachula, in Chiapas. The FGR travel planners were clearly using a roulette wheel to decide the destination.
The flight from El Dorado to Tapachula was estimated at 3 hours and 20 minutes, a perfect length to watch a full movie or reflect on bad life decisions. Their arrival in the Mexican southeast was scheduled for midnight, the ideal time for a discreet welcome. The Mexican authorities, masters of logistics, had scheduled to admit Bermúdez to the maximum security federal prison of the Altiplano, in the State of Mexico. A place so cozy that you never want to leave.
The express expulsion and the end of the road
The Government of Paraguay, tired of judicial dramas, made a sovereign immigration decision after determining that our character’s stay in that country was “irregular.” What a euphemism to say that he had gone a little overboard with the visa. With this masterstroke, they avoided continuing with the boring ordinary judicial process of extradition that had been opened days before, after Bermúdez himself, in a burst of legal optimism, rejected the fast track of voluntary surrender. Apparently, he liked complicated things.
For this high-profile operation, elements of the National Intelligence Center (CNI), the Secretariat of Security and Citizen Protection (SSPC), the Attorney General’s Office (FGR) and the National Migration Institute (INM) participated. An entire delegation of honor that traveled to Asunción to coordinate the direct delivery of the detainee. Almost as if he were a dignitary, but with handcuffs.
Bermúdez was arrested on September 12 in a luxury residence in the Surubi’í neighborhood, in Mariano Roque Alonso, an exclusive area near Asunción. Because when the law is after you, what better than hiding in a nice neighborhood? The National Anti-Drug Secretariat (SENAD) and the Paraguayan Prosecutor’s Office participated in the operation and took cash, jewelry and a high-end vehicle found on the property as souvenirs. Something like the consolation prize of the operation.
Prior to the expulsion, Judge Osmar Legal offered the former Mexican official the option of a simple voluntary extradition procedure, which would have shortened judicial times. But the defense, in a move that only they will understand, chose to reject it, keeping the ordinary process open. However, the Paraguayan government, which has no patience for nonsense, decided to use the migratory route, de facto closing the judicial procedure and immediately handing over the detainee to the Mexican authorities. Take it now.
The former Tabasco official had an arrest warrant issued in Mexico since February 2025 and a red file from Interpol since July. Basically, he was the most wanted man at the party, and Paraguay decided he didn’t want to host him any longer. Now, your final destination is the famous Altiplano prison, where you will surely have plenty of time to remember your aerial tour of Latin America.
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