Judicial resolution maintains legal status of businessman linked to criminal network
A federal magistrate has granted the co-owner of the Miss Universe franchise in Mexico, Raúl Rocha Cantú, a definitive suspension. This precautionary measure preserves him indefinitely under the figure of collaborating witness of the Attorney General’s Office (FGR). The resolution is part of the investigation by a network dedicated to hydrocarbon trafficking (huachicol), arms trafficking and drug trafficking in which the businessman is involved.
Implications and foundations of the precautionary measure
Mario Jorge Melo Cardoso, head of the First District Court in Criminal Matters with residence in Nuevo León, specified that the suspension aims to prevent the execution of the agreement that revoked the opportunity criterion. This procedural benefit had initially been granted to him by the then prosecutor Alejandro Gertz Manero. The judicial resolution will remain in force until the amparo suit that Rocha Cantú promoted against the revocation issued last December is resolved, after the change of administration in the FGR with the arrival of Ernestina Godoy Ramos.
In his request, Rocha Cantú, who is currently considered a fugitive from justice, asked Judge Melo Cardoso to remind the representatives of the FGR of the binding effects of the definitive suspension that was granted to him in a resolution dated December 26 of the previous year. This petition highlights the strategic nature of the legal remedy to maintain your legal situation in a state of procedural freeze.
Judicial response and actions of the prosecutor’s office
The amparo judge responded through an agreement published in the lists of the Judicial Administration Body (OAJ). In it, he formally granted the definitive suspension requested by the businessman. The legal text orders “that things remain in the state they currently have and, specifically, so that the claimed acts are not executed or produced effects… consisting of the agreement by which the responsible authority determined the revocation of the opportunity criterion previously granted to the complainant.” This protection will extend until an enforceable sentence is issued within the main trial.
This ruling represents a counterweight to the actions undertaken by the Specialized Prosecutor’s Office for Organized Crime (FEMDO). After the arrival of Ernestina Godoy to the FGR, this specialized unit not only revoked the collaborating witness agreement, but also obtained an arrest order against the Monterrey businessman. The coexistence of an active arrest warrant and a suspension that preserves his collaborator status illustrates the complexity and counterpoints within the Mexican criminal justice system, where justice enforcement strategies can vary significantly with changes in administration.
The case transcends the individual figure of Rocha Cantú and stands as a paradigmatic example of the application and possible reversal of the opportunity criterion, a legal instrument designed to obtain crucial information about organized crime structures in exchange for procedural benefits. The judicial decision analyzed here establishes a precedent on the limits of the prosecutor’s power to unilaterally modify these agreements once an amparo judge has been notified, emphasizing the role of control of the Judicial Branch over the acts of the investigating authority. The final resolution of the amparo will determine whether the revocation of the benefit was in accordance with the law or if, on the contrary, it constituted an arbitrary act, a verdict that will be closely followed by experts in criminal law and national security.
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