Federal Investigators Accuse Tamaulipas Governor of Money Laundering and Organized Crime Involvement

 "MX" for Borderland Beat

Francisco Garcia Cabeza de Vaca has been accused of having ties to the Gulf Cartel for years

Mexico's Attorney General's Office (FGR) asked Congress to impeach Tamaulipas governor Francisco Garcia Cabeza de Vaca so that they can legally proceed with a criminal investigation. He is wanted for his alleged involvement in money laundering, tax fraud, and organized crime.

According to the FGR and the Financial Intelligence Unit (UIF), Cabeza de Vaca received MXN$42 million (US$2 million) from a suspicious shell company that investigators say has no employees, financial assets, or tax record. These payments were done between April and December 2019.

The UIF says that Cabeza de Vaca bought several properties and illegally tried to conceal some of the money by funneling it through other shell companies.

In addition, the UIF is also investigating Cabeza de Vaca for his possible involvement with a group of public officials who reportedly received bribes from Emilio Lozoya, former head of Mexico's state-owned company Pemex. As reported by Borderland Beat, this bribery scandal was done during the presidency of Enrique Peña Nieto.

In his official Twitter account, Cabeza de Vaca called the accusations "once again a partisan use of justice where there is no crime. A political attack is being organized." He added, "I have never violated the law." Other political supporters called this accusation a "witch-hunt" by incumbent President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

A few years ago, Cabeza de Vaca reported to Mexico's tax tribual that he had 12 properties, ten of them in Tamaulipas and two in Mexico City and McAllen, Texas, respectively. Tax authorities said the "information declared was exhaustive and valid at the date of presentation".

Investigators now maintain the charges against Cabeza de Vaca are strong. "This inexplicable enrichment does not coincide with the salary he has as Governor of Tamaulipas", the UIF said.

Background

In the Mexican political system, politicians enjoy degrees of political immunity (Spanish: fuero), and this can only be rescinded by majority vote in Congress. Although this law has been in place for years and was put there to prevent politically motivated harassments from opposition lawmakers, fuero has been criticized for allowing politicians to act with impunity while in office.

Cabeza de Vaca has governed the state of Tamaulipas since 2016. Tamaulipas is the home turf of multiple drug cartels, including various Gulf Cartel (CDG) factions, the Northeast Cartel (CDN), and the Zetas Vieja Escuela (ZVE). Over the years, several journalists and political rivals have accused Cabeza de Vaca of having ties to Tamaulipas criminal groups.

In 2005, when Cabeza de Vaca was the mayor of Reynosa, he was accused of having ties to the Gulf Cartel and its former paramilitary group, Los Zetas. The cartel plaza boss at that time was Zetas founder Jaime Gonzalez Duran ('El Hummer'), who reportedly gave money to Cabeza de Vaca in exchange for protection from security forces.

In 2006, protected witnesses who worked for the Gulf Cartel told investigators that Cabeza de Vaca had ties to Osiel Cardenas Guillen, the former top leader of the Gulf Cartel. Whilst in prison, Osiel arranged a gift giveaway at a baseball stadium in Reynosa during Children's Day, reportedly with Cabeza de Vaca's approval.

René Izaguirre Rodríguez, one of Cabeza de Vaca's bodyguards and close friends, was kidnapped and killed. According to investigators, Izaguirre had ties to the old Gulf Cartel and was once the bodyguard of Mexican federal police chief Guillermo González Calderoni, murdered in McAllen in 2003.

When Cabeza de Vaca was 19, he was arrested in McAllen, Texas, for stealing a weapon and drug possession. The three people who were arrested with him were killed in Mexico years later.

"[Cabeza de Vaca] received money from criminal groups to boost his political career," said Raúl Eduardo Monge Castillo, current head of the Fiscal Office of Finance in Tamaulipas.

In addition, Monge Castillo maintained that during Cabeza de Vaca's campaign for governor, his brother Ismael Cabeza de Vaca requested support from other cartel leaders, including Julián Manuel Loisa Salinas ('Commander Toro'), and José Rodríguez Sánchez ('El Gafe'), both former leaders of the Gulf Cartel.

Cabeza de Vaca is not the only Tamaulipas governor who has been accused of money laundering and organized crime involvement. Former governor Tomas Yarrington, now in prison in the US after being extradited from Italy, ran an international money laundering scheme and had ties to the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas.

His predecessor, Eugenio Hernandez Flores, is wanted in the U.S. for money laundering as well. The leading candidate that followed him in 2010, Rodolfo Torre Cantú, was assassinated while campaigning for office.

Sources: Milenio; (2); (3); Infobae; Proceso; Borderland Beat archives