5 of the 6 bodyguards of El Mini Lic arrested this week are set free by a Judge today

Translated by Otis B Fly-Wheel for Borderland Beat from a Reforma article

Subject Matter: Bodyguards of El Mini Lic
Recommendation: See link to article on their arrest

A federal judge released five people who the PGR indicated as escorts of Dámaso López Serrano "El Mini Lic", in concluding that they were arrested without a warrant and allegedly tortured.

Maria Elena Cardona Ramos, a judge of the Federal Criminal Justice Center of the Southern Congregation, issued a plea of ​​non-attachment to the accused, after finding that the police likely arrested these men without an arrest warrant.

In addition, she ordered the Attorney General's Office to investigate possible acts of torture against Ramón Arrellanes Almazán, Juan Enrique Rodríguez Acosta, Jesus Alejandro and Trinidad Francisco García Parra, originally from Sinaloa, as well as Jorge Tovar Calleros from Jalisco, who were released yesterday morning from prison. 

The attorney specializing in investigation of organized crime (SEIDO) accused them of crimes against health in the form of possession for purposes of trade, carrying and possession of weapon, as well as possession of cartridges and magazines, all for the exclusive use of the army.

The above, by the confiscation of 4 kilos 920 grams of methamphetamine, 12 grams of cocaine and 805.7 grams of a mixture of caffeine with methamphetamine, as well as a 2 rifles, 2 side-arms, 160  cartridges, 2 grenades, a grenade launcher and 8 magazines.

The Police report states that the past May 4, agents of the Ministerial Federal Police (PFM) performed a surveillance operation, when an armed subject outside a house, in the Jardines 
Sur colonia, Xochimilco delegation were detected.
 
"What do you want assholes? Fuck off ", that person  told the agents, according to the version of the PFM.

La police said that almost immediately another individual came out of the building with a rifle and then the agents got out of their vehicles, demanding that they dropped their weapons and raised their hands.

Instead, the suspects ran to the interior of the building and left the door open. Then the cops say they chased them into the property and secured drugs, weapons and other accomplices.

On Wednesday the suspects were presented to a bail hearing before the judge Cardona that started at 13:30 and ended at 23:02.

The judge concluded that there never existed an actual or imminent threat that jeopardized the lives of agents, to justify the intrusion into the home without a search warrant, as the suspects had not shot at them or tried to shoot.

Even if they had fired, it would have been concluded at the time that, after they fled to the interior of the home, the suspects subject to the exceptions which marks the current standard, would not present an imminent threat according to the judge.

During the hearing, the names of defendants were revealed but not other personal data. In their statements, they stated before the entry of the police into the building they heard a bang on the door.

Mauricio Rosas Martínez, defenders of the accused, also offered an opinion that established that the secured weapons had no fingerprints, proof that, the Judge granted no relevance.

SEIDO revealed at the hearing that the defendant Juan Enrique Rodríguez Acosta had been a prisoner in the Culiacan prison for firearms-related offences and that the brothers García Parra spent time in the Federal Penal del Rincón, Nayarit.

However, this data was rejected because it may only be given before the Court in pre-trial detention, which had already happened.

The fact that seems to have influenced the Court's decision, was an office of inspection of the PFM that recorded the existence of a blow to the top of the main door.

When the judges were available to determine the bail process, the prosecutors of the PGR were questioned as to why that document had been submitted at the hearing if the search warrant was requested on Monday.

Visibly uncomfortable, the judge Cardona agreed Wednesday night to give a break of almost two hours for the PGR submit it.

The document inspection, held on Wednesday at 8:00 in the morning, was sent by electronic means. Immediately, the judge issued her ruling.

"The door shows a blow, although there is no damage shown, this makes the presumption that the door was violated in this way so that agents could enter the home." If it is related to the statements of the accused and the police report, it is likely that the entrance of the agents was carried out as the defendants themselves say it.

"There is improbability in the police report and this finds support in what was said by the defendants themselves. For bail process are not only required evidence, but prima facie evidence. I believe that with the data and evidence, it cannot  be that there is veracity in the evidence", said the judge.

According to the national code of criminal procedure, the decision of the judge can not be contested. However, Cardona said he would not dismiss the case, which means that the SEIDO can return to investigate and accuse those released with the same facts.

The judges also gave the view that the prosecutors of the PGR should investigate acts of torture, since several of the defendants declared that agents of the PFM tried to asphyxiate them with plastic bags on the head, were kicked in the chest and shoulders, and threatened with death if they did not disclose the whereabouts of "El Mini Lic".

Original article in Spanish at Reforma