Nearly 600 Percent Drop in Cartel Property Seizures In Current Presidency

"MX" for Borderland Beat

Some of the narco-properties seized are auctioned by Mexico's Institute to Return Stolen Goods to the People (INDEP).

The Mexican federal government has abandoned the strategy of seizing real estate property from drug cartels. According to official figures, the drop is nearly 600 percent.

The administration of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) is no longer seizing mansions, ranches, luxury apartments, safe houses, and warehouses at the rate of his predecessors: Vicente Fox Quesada (2000–2006), Felipe Calderón Hinojosa (2006–2012) and Enrique Peña Nieto (2012–2018).

Between 2019 and 2020, Mexico's Attorney General's Office (FGR) seized only 27 cartel properties (19 in the first year and 8 in the second). In contrast, during the first two years of the Fox administration, 208 properties were seized (47 in 2001 and 161 in 2002).

Meanwhile, at the start of the Calderon administration, the FGR secured 53 properties in 2007 and 88 in 2008, totaling 141. In the government of Peña Nieto, the FGR seized 134 properties in two years; 93 in 2013 and 41 in 2014.

During the first two years of the Fox, Calderón and Peña Nieto governments, an average of 161 properties were seized. If compared to AMLO's numbers, the figure marks a 596 percent drop.

In the past, these cartel seizures garnered national headlines and were a source of accomplishment for federal authorities.

Constructions such as the palace that Amado Carrillo Fuentes built in Hermosillo, Sonora; the mansion with seven pools that José Antonio Yepez Ortiz (El Marro), had in Celaya, Guanajuato; the residence of Zhenli Ye Gon, in Lomas de Chapultepec, in Mexico City; the ranch with more than 200 animals that Jesus 'El Rey' Zambada owned near Toluca, State of Mexico; or the 475-square-meter cabin that Edgar Valdez Villareal (La Barbie) had in La Marquesa, State of Mexico, have ceased to be in the center of attention of the Mexican government.

Milenio reporters interviewed a real estate lawyer who has handled cartel property seizure cases in the past. The lawyer (whose identity and professional trajectory were fully verified by Milenio but were kept in reserve for security reasons) described these properties as mansions whose measurements range between 300 and 400 square meters.

Inside, he detailed, there are numerous bedrooms that are larger than the average Mexican apartment. They are equipped with the highest quality furniture and bathrooms that look like full bedrooms. He also pointed out that most of the properties have large gardens, swimming pools and parking space for at least five vehicles.

Once these properties are seized, the government can try to sell or auction them but most of the times they are abandoned.

Source: Milenio