Lawyer Says Reynosa Councilwoman Was Threatened With Death to Take Drugs to The U.S

"Sol Prendido" for Borderland Beat

Attorney Samuel Reyes stated, on June 20, 2023, that Denisse Ahumada Martínez, councilwoman of Reynosa, Tamaulipas, of the National Action Party (PAN) -detained by agents of the United States Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (CBP), on June 10, in Falfurrias, Texas, in possession of almost 42 kilos of cocaine-, was forced to commit said crime, under death threats.

According to the police report, she also acknowledged that she had previously carried out a similar operation. But "she never admitted that she was transporting drugs, that's a lie," the Texas litigator, who took on Ahumada Martinez's case in Texas, told the French agency AFP.

"There are violent subjects in Mexico who are behind drug trafficking who threatened her presumably, they are linked to drug trafficking, a cartel she doesn't know who these people are, but they threatened her with firearms, they said they would kill her and her two daughters if she didn't do exactly what they told her," Reyes explained.

"They told her: you are going to move this vehicle, and she moved the vehicle and did not know what was inside. Approximately thirty days later, they asked her to move another vehicle, again, and if she didn't do it they would kill her. She moved the vehicle and they stopped her at the Falfurrias checkpoint, where they found cocaine," added the Texas litigator.

The Tamaulipas councilwoman, still detained in Texas, was awaiting a process at the state level, after she was re-arrested on June 16, 2023 by Brooks County police officers, in Texas, accused of possession of a controlled substance.

The woman's defense  told AFP he hoped that a "reasonable" bond would be set, so that Ahumada Martinez could be released and initiate an asylum application, with immigration lawyers. "I believe that, under her circumstances, she qualifies for asylum," he commented.

Judge Juan F. Alanís, of the Southern District Court of Texas, based in McAllen, on June 15, 2023, released Ahumada Martínez, a councilwoman of Reynosa, Tamaulipas, from the National Action Party, for lack of evidence.

FOR LACK OF EVIDENCE, U.S. FEDERAL JUDGE FREES PANISTA COUNCILWOMAN OF REYNOSA

On June 15, 2023, Judge Juan F. Alanís, of the Southern District Court of Texas, based in McAllen, released Denisse Ahumada Martínez, councilwoman of Reynosa, Tamaulipas, of the National Action Party (PAN), arrested by agents of the United States Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (CBP), on June 10, in Falfurrias, Texas, in possession of almost 42 kilos of cocaine, due to lack of evidence.

According to the order made public by the federal magistrate, there was not enough evidence to indict the councilwoman for drug possession with intent to distribute, as requested by the Texas prosecutors.

On June 14, 2023, the preliminary hearing had been suspended because Ahumada Martinez did not have a defense attorney. In addition, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) had to prove to the federal judge that the councilwoman had knowledge that she was transporting drugs.

Alanis argued that he did not find probable cause against Ahumada Martinez, as the U.S. Department of Justice agency had not met the elements of probable cause after hearing the regidora's testimony.

The federal judge held that the U.S. Government could not prove that the defendant knew the drugs were in the car she was driving. However, the DEA has the option to challenge Alanis' decision and provide more evidence.

AMLO EXPOSES PAN COUNCILWOMAN IN REYNOSA, DETAINED IN THE U.S. WITH 42 KILOS OF COCAINE

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador exhibited, on June 15, 2023, Denisse Ahumada Martínez, councilwoman of Reynosa, Tamaulipas, of the National Action Party (PAN), detained by agents of the United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP), on June 10, in Falfurrias, Texas, in possession of almost 42 kilos of cocaine.

During the morning press conference -held at the Treasury Room of the National Palace-, Mr. Tabasco celebrated the fact that the capture of the 34-year-old councilwoman took place in the US, so that the opposition would not accuse his Government of politically persecuting members of other parties.

López Obrador showed a video in which the state leader of the PAN in Tamaulipas, Luis Rene Cantú Galván, welcomes the councilwoman, who was previously a member of the Mexican Green Ecologist Party (PVEM), to his party. However, he criticized that after the case was made public, he distanced himself from the detained woman.

"The PAN councilwoman, she was arrested [...] when I was informed the first thing I said was: 'where?'. When they told me that she was in the United States, ah, otherwise they were going to say that we were chasing her, that it was a political matter", said the national president.

"They are very hypocritical, even when apparently it is a minor matter, they are very used to hypocrisy, it is their doctrine and it is not just them, we are talking about millions of people with all due respect", added the head of the Federal Executive Power.

"National Action takes care of the welfare of the citizens, the party I was in before did not do this", commented Ahumada Martinez in a video, in which she appears together with the also local Tamaulipas deputy Cantu Galvan.

According to a press release from the U.S. Government, the councilwoman arrived at the "Javier Vega Jr." checkpoint, located in Falfurrias, Texas, in her white Mazda SUV, coming from Reynosa and was on her way to San Antonio.

The CBP agents subjected the vehicle to an X-ray inspection, where they detected that there were packages inside the seats and in the door panels, so they conducted a manual inspection in which they found several packages with the drug, wrapped in adhesive tape and aluminum foil.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection notified the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), which sent special agents to interview Ahumada Martínez, who confessed her responsibility.

"She said she was going to transport the narcotics hidden in the vehicle to San Antonio, Texas [...] Martinez also said that she has also transported narcotics in the past," the U.S. authorities' complaint states.

On Monday, June 12, 2023, after appearing during a first hearing in the Southern District Court of Texas, based in McAllen, Judge Juan F. Alanís denied the Reynosense councilwoman the right to bail.

Ahumada Martinez came to the Reynosa City Council as a plurinominal councilwoman for the PVEM. However, during the 2022 gubernatorial campaign, she joined the PAN, resigned from the PVEM and actively participated in the promotion of César Augusto Verástegui Ostos, alias "El Truko", former candidate of the alliance between the PAN, the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and the Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD).

The detained councilwoman has a degree in International Relations, and before entering politics, she worked coordinating imports and exports through the internet and supervising inventory in a manufacturing company.

After condemning the incident and requesting an investigation, Cantú Galván, local deputy and state leader of PAN in Tamaulipas, disassociated himself from Ahumada Martínez, arguing that he belonged to PVEM and later switched to Acción Nacional, but did not become a member.

"She was elected by the Green Party, she decided to leave her party and ask for a political agreement, to be in National Action. That agreement was carried out and was complied with at the time [...] Unfortunately, for months she stopped communicating with the party and did not attend the calls made to her", insisted Cantú Galván.

"She is related to me because I am the president of PAN. When she made the decision to leave the Green Party and join the National Action, we have always been an open door party, inclusive and with a councilwoman", said the local deputy.

Cantú Galván affirmed that a month before he met with Ahumada Martínez, through the PAN Municipal Committee, during a meeting with councilmen. "No, she is not my friend, I did not know about that, at the end of the day I did not know, I never had a conversation other than what really matters to us, which is the city," he said.

For his part, the National Delegate of the PVEM in Tamaulipas, Sergio Ernesto Gutiérrez Villanueva, pointed out that it was the same president of the state PAN and Senator Ismael García Cabeza de Vaca, who integrated Ahumada Martínez to his team in the municipality of Reynosa.

"In the PVEM we do not have disloyal members, much less with bad morals, that is why we completely disassociate this alleged delinquent from our movement," said the state delegate of the Mexican Green Ecologist Party in Tamaulipas.

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