The Revolving Door: "El Parra" and his Bodyguards Released

Translated by Yaqui for Borderland Beat from: Debate

           Oscar "El Parra" Parra freed, alleged leader of drug trafficking in San Felipe, BC

He was arrested along with his two escorts on September 13 in possession of long weapons and methamphetamine. See sidebar for my Post of his arrest Sept 16th: The "revolving door" opened in one week.

Extra Material from: The Province

A judge in Mexico ordered the release Friday of a man accused of illegal fishing that endangers the world’s smallest porpoise. A federal judge of Almoloya de Juárez freed the alleged drug lord in the area of ​​the Sea of ​​Cortez, Óscar Parra Aispuro aka "El Parra" , as well as two escorts who had been arrested on 13 September in San Felipe, Baja California, in possession of long weapons and methamphetamines.

''El Parra" is known for his alleged murder of a soldier on December 31, 2017, for controlling part of the drug traffic between Sinaloa and Baja California , and for trafficking in totoaba , a marine species in danger of extinction.

The arrest of Oscar Parra in September had been depicted as an advance in efforts to save the critically endangered vaquita marina, of which fewer than 30 remain. Instead, it has proved an embarrassment.

The Control judge, whose name was not published by the Federal Judicial Council, ruled that the defendants were not detained in the terms disseminated by the State Police, according to which "El Parra" and his men were apprehended during a surveillance tour in the San Felipe-Mexicali highway, but they were actually taken from their homes three hours before.

"In addition, five witnesses testified to what happened, stating that an armed group entered the house, breaking doors and beating the detainees, where there was the wife of one of them and a baby; the three people of the property along with the two cars that later reported would have weapons, "he added.

Other elements were called by the emergency number 911 at the time of the suspect's removal, videos of road cameras showing a police convoy escorting the vehicles of "El Parra" three hours before the alleged arrest, and videos of four stores in which appears the wife of one of the detainees, asking for help at the time of the operation that actually occurred.

It should be mentioned that the PGR had only accused Oscar "El Parra" Parra for the possession of arms, loaders and cartridges for the exclusive use of the Army, as well as for methamphetamine, but not for the other illicit acts with which he has been linked, ie, a main drug dealer for the Sinaloa Cartel and dealer of black market Totoaba swim bladders.

In addition to Parra, a writ of non-attachment to the proceedings was issued and the preventive detention in the Cefereso del Altiplano was lifted for Edgar Alejandro Bastidas González and Carlos Eduardo Bastidas Moreno, "El Parra's" alleged escorts. 

Netting Totoaba is not only illegal and a threat to the last few remaining Vaquita, but also decimates populations of turtles and dolphins which become ensnared in the nets by poachers. 

Police in Baja California state had claimed Oscar Parra was a lieutenant of the Sinaloa drug cartel who also oversaw fishing for totoaba, a fish that lives in the Gulf of California, around the port of San Felipe. The Gulf, also known as the Sea of Cortez, is the only place the vaquitas live in the world.

                       Very small Vaquita Porpoises, endemic to the Gulf or the Vermillion Sea

Vaquitas have been decimated by nets set for the totoaba fish, whose swim bladder is considered a delicacy in China and commands high prices. Totoaba are also a protected species and fishing for them is prohibited, but criminals equipped with go-fast boats and apparently allied with drug gangs catch and sell the bladders.

On Friday, the federal judiciary council said a judge found evidence police hadn’t told the truth about how they arrested the man. It appears police told two different versions of what happened, neither of which were true.

In an initial press statement Sept. 13, state police said they pulled the suspect and two bodyguards over in two vehicles on a highway following “several months of hard investigative work.”

Extra Treat for those who wonder why I call it COCAINE of the SEA

But according to the judiciary council, police said in court documents they were conducting routine patrols on the highway when they saw one of the trucks broken down on the side of the road with the hood up. They stopped, saw assault rifles and drugs in the vehicle and arrested the men.

But a federal judge said relatives submitted evidence that state police actually dragged Parra and the other two from a house three hours earlier, beating him and taking him to the vehicles.

“It is evident that these people were not arrested in the way that the police described,” the council said in a statement.

While Mexican police once routinely carried out warrantless searches and arrests, under Mexico’s new criminal codes if police don’t tell the truth about how an arrest was carried out, the arrest is illegal and the suspects can be freed.