“La China” Awaits Transfer

Translated by Yaqui for Borderland Beat from: ZETA

By: Luis Carlos Sainz

After confirming the amparo granted in 2017 to Melisa Calderón to be returned to the penitentiary in La Paz, BCS it is unknown what her fate will be. Her  transfer to Cefereso 16 in Morelos in 2016 was considered a violation of fundamental rights. Prison authorities justified that it was urgent to "act" because the inmate was a leader of a cell of hit men of the Los Damasos group and required special security measures. The decentralized administrative body of prisons assesses whether it is convenient to return her to BCS, to another prison in another state of Mexico or to stay in Morelos.

Although the Collegiate Court of the Twenty- sixth Circuit, with residence in La Paz, Baja California Sur, confirmed since May 24 the amparo granted by a federal judge to Melisa Margarita Calderón Ojeda "La China", to be transferred from the female prison maximum security of Morelos to the prison of La Paz, the measure entered a waiting period. 

Melissa Margarita Calderón "La China":

This was reported by judicial sources to ZETA , after warning that in the execution phase of the judgment of the trial of guarantees, "a controversy arose on the terms in which the execution of amparo must be fulfilled". Due to the above, the opening of the "substitute compliance incident was ordered to determine the designation of a new penitentiary center in which the sentence that was imposed on her or stay in the federal Center in which the complainant is currently located must be filed."

The aforementioned incident was opened at the end of July, but because the notifications have to be made via an appeal for the distance between Baja California Sur and Morelos, it is the date on which the incidental hearing is not held, in which in this case, the evidence that the parties offer will be received. Afterwards, allegations will be admitted and the corresponding resolution will be issued.

The intentions of Melisa Calderón ,"La China" - who in legal proceedings appears as "Meliza" - to return to the Center for Women's Social Reintegration in La Paz, were hampered in recent weeks by the insistence of the State Public Security Secretariat and prison authorities to implement measures in the face of the risk that this transfer implies for that prison and its population deprived of liberty.

Precisely within the incident promoted by the BCS government, the federal judge will value what both authorities and the complainant may wish to manifest according to their legal interests.

At the time, "La China" was transferred on March 23, 2016 from La Paz, BCS  jail to the Federal Center for Social Readaptation (Cefereso) Femenil Number 16, where she is currently located, as the responsible authority requested to send the inmate to a federal prison, since "it required special security measures, since it does not cover the guidelines for its permanence in the Social Reintegration Center of La Paz, since she  is identified as leader of the cell of hit men of the criminal group ''Los Dámasos'', extension of the Sinaloa Cartel, which operates in the entity of BCS and was , in fact, responsible for a huge wave of violence that occurred through out the entity".

According to the petition, Calderón Ojeda intended to carry out "actions tending to violate and destabilize the order, discipline and security of the detention center, and putting life at risk, that of the other inmates, the visit and the staff working in the penitentiary institution ".

It was the mother of "La China" who promoted the amparo trial by expressing in her lawsuit that the "girl"  was released from Cereso de La Paz and was taken out of the State by air, despite the fact that she was available to the First Judge of First Instance of the Criminal Branch, on the occasion of the order of formal imprisonment issued on December 17, 2015 in criminal case 344/2017 for the crime of qualified homicide and "where it relieved evidence in its favor in order to accredit its innocence in the facts that they are imputed to her. "

According to federal and military investigations, the criminal cell of "La China" was dismantled after the capture of her boyfriend and accomplices, she is the only  leader of this Los Damasos group pending to fall ( awaiting conviction).

The plaintiff of the amparo said she had learned of the transfer of her daughter through a newspaper that said that it was intended to "deactivate a supposed regrouping that was taking place inside the prison."  It is also mentioned that some groups were taking over by force and to deactivate them it was decided to separate their members to prevent the development of their activities or plans. "

The woman said that the human rights of Melisa and of herself  as a mother were violated when she was not provided with any information about the transfer and destiny of the inmate; that  it was published in the newspaper with the largest circulation in La Paz, but in addition to the fact that said damage causes me an aggravated grievance, I fear for the life of my daughter. "

After studying the matter, the First District Judge in the State of Baja California Sur decided to grant the protection and protection of the federal justice to "La China" on January 18, 2017 and ordered her  to be transferred back to the Capital City prison, ie in La Paz, BCS because the human rights of the then-accused person were effectively violated.

The judge recalled that since the criminal reform of 2008, it ended with the discretion of the administrative authorities had around the handling of defendants and sentenced, leaving this power to the judicial authority in the monitoring and supervision of all events of importance of the convicts.

In the administrative file of the inmate, the judge found no evidence that the prison authorities had notified the transfer on the next working day after it came to the judge of the criminal case, "which violates the right of legal security for the complainant, it is an act devoid of the jurisdictional control established by law for said act ".

Thus, the protection was granted to the effect that the Commissioner of Órgan  Administration for Prevention and Social Rehabilitation, "to declare void the transfer order dated March , 23 2016 and order the necessary actions so that the plaintiff's  amparo is reinstated in the female Cereso of La Paz ". However, as is now reported, after confirmation of the ruling, there is still a controversy over the prison to which the inmate will be admitted.

Melisa Margarita Calderon Ojeda , "La China", was arrested on 19 September 2015 at the  airport of Cabo San Lucas, when she tried to leave the state on board an aircraft , destination Culiácan, Sinaloa and investigating officers were notified that she had a warrant for the crime of murder.

The girl was in the waiting room of the air terminal accompanied by a pregnant teenager. When she was approached by her captors, she offered no resistance, as she did not have any guns or guns, despite the fact that she was designated as alleged chief of hitmen of the  Damaso Special Forces  (FED) of the Sinaloa Cartel. Previously, she had escaped six times when police officers were about to catch her.

"La China" is formally imprisoned for its probable responsibility in the homicide qualified with a degree of complicity committed in the grievance of Humberto Juárez León "Don Maleno" on January 16, 2015, in a residence of the Colonia Revolución, when they confused the 54-year-old man with his son José Humberto Juárez Mora "El Pollón". In addition, it is pointed out in other criminal events that occurred before 2015 in Baja California Sur.

Keeping up the dispute for the Plaza:

Violence remains in the State. In July, authorities spoke of a possible decrease of 76% in intentional homicides but a few days after the end of August, the figures start to once again look discouraging.

In July there were six intentional homicides, while at the 23-day court in August, there are nine, 50 % over the previous month, as well as strong numbers of drugs and weapons confiscations which implies a high presence of organized crime.in the streets of the five municipalities of Baja California Sur.

From San José del Cabo in the Municipality of Los Cabos to Guerrero Negro in the Municipality of Mulegé, events have been recorded that show the presence of organized crime.

"During the review of the parcel and trailers services, they located a vehicle, which contained a load that was detected by a canonical binomial, which marked and when doing the detailed review, 62 boxes were found in which there were bags with enervants , ie drugs , which  were put in the station of the mentioned authority that will determine the type of drug and the exact amount ", documented Edgar Humberto Flores García, Commander of the Third Military Zone in the State.

Of the nine murders throughout August, four took place in Los Cabos, two in La Paz, one in Loreto and two in Comondú; so far, only the double homicide occurred in the Vado de Santa Rosa invasion in San José del Cabo (August 9), in the streets of Octava and Novena, where two dead bodies have been located; as well as the homicide of a male person in the ranch known as "El Wereque" in Ciudad Constitución (August 10), where a young man named Armando, 21 years old, was arrested.

In terms of arrest warrants, four have been issued, one on Monday, August 13 and two days later against "three men, 22, 37 and 48 years old, originally from the states of Sinaloa, Veracruz and Oaxaca, respectively" , reported the State Attorney General's Office.

"In the case of San José del Cabo, in Colonia Ampliación Vado de Santa Rosa, two people killed by a 9-millimeter firearm, the three people detained for responsibilty for that incident have already obtained amparos , ie injunctions. 

"In the municipality of Comondú we were informed of the deceased person, the investigation was made and the investigation was carried out, and the arrest warrant was obtained against the person responsible for the crime, in which case the link to the process for qualified homicide was obtained. " Daniel de la Rosa Anaya, Attorney General of the State of Baja California Sur, said at the time.

In terms of drugs and weapons, 15 detainees are counted, however, even after the last arrested for  homicide on August 13, there were more four malicious homicides, which could mean that there are still hit men in the streets.

According to the PGJE, 15,132 doses of drugs have been insured from its various presentations, while the Ministry of National Defense has reported more than 115 kilos of marijuana was found - 110 of them in the Port of Pichilingue on  August 15th, which were transported in trucks by the Baja Pack Express parcel company; the rest of the drug was located in five ready-made packages, unconfirmed if they were coming from Sinaloa on the Ferry. 

A bust was made on August 6 and was carried out by personnel in the 16th Infantry Company in San Ignacio, on the Santa Rosalía-Guerrero Negro road section, ie  Mex # 1, when carrying out a review of a passenger bus. There is a large Mexican  Military Federal Revision checkpoint at that location, usually, but not always the last one heading north to the BCS /BC State borderline checkpoint.

               NOTE: That is the Baja California roving carnival that lives in San Ignacio, BCS

The latest blow to cells of organized crime occurred in the Colosio neighborhood of the community of San José del Cabo on August 20, in a seemingly empty home, when the elements of the Homicide Crime Investigation Unit arrived, as well as the Specialized Unit in Investigation and Judicialization in Trade of Narcotics Destined to the Final Consumption, executed order of search where they managed to secure:

* 244 rectangular packages containing a green and dry vegetable inside, with the characteristics of marijuana

* 11 clear plastic bags containing a crystalline and granulated substance, known as crystal 

* Three blank firearms

* A 9-millimeter short weapon

* Four caliber 7.62 chargers

* Various useful cartridges caliber 7.62 × 39.

It should be noted that at home no people were insured, the weapons were hidden under the beds and the drug was covered with plastic bags.

With these facts, it is demonstrated that Baja California Sur continues immersed in the fight between criminal cells that seek to establish themselves in the drug market, which resort to violence to pressure their rivals and have more territory , ie to control the plaza in BCS.