Two Mexican immigration officials have lost their jobs after Mexico’s Immigration Service (INM) failed to cover up their arrests. The officials were arrested as part of an investigation into a large-scale extortion plot that allegedly targeted immigrants.
The case revolves around INM leaders in Tijuana who used their position to extort money from migrants to avoid deportation. In some cases, victims were required to pay payments to corrupt authorities even if they had travel permits or visas. INM’s initial reaction was to cover up the incident, but after two officials were arrested and the home of a third executive was searched, the institute announced it had begun laying off employees. .
The case first began in late February when Mexican federal authorities raided the home of David Pérez Tejeda, INM’s regional representative in Baja California. Since then, INM authorities have tried to cover up the incident and deep-rooted corruption allegations.
During the raid, authorities found more than 1 million pesos (approximately US$60,000) and more than $27,000 (US$) hidden inside the safe. Authorities also found some ammunition and a set of notebooks with the migrants’ names written on them. It is believed that these notebooks were used to record extorted immigrants.
Former Mexican senator Perez Tejeda has not been arrested, but he is currently being investigated in the case, law enforcement sources told Breitbart Texas.
From left: U.S. Rep. Juan Vargas and Tejeda INM Delegate David Perez.
During the raid, authorities arrested INM Acting Superintendent Marte Antonio Camacho and Perez Tejeda’s secretary María Elizabeth Paredes. The two remained in federal custody until this week. On Wednesday afternoon, Mexican federal judge Oscar Saul Cortez Ortiz ordered the release of Camacho and Paredes, saying their arrests were illegal. la jornada report.
After release, in response to Tijuana revelations punto norteINM released a short prepared statement announcing the termination of the secretary and INM staff, but did not name Camacho or Paredes.
Breitbart Texas spoke with a director-level official at INM, and while the institute’s statement claims Camacho is assigned to guard the chaparral, Camacho was not seen as a senior INM official at the Tijuana airport. He revealed that he was also working there and had ordered his agents to extort tourists. Breitbart Texas previously published exclusive photos from the Tijuana airport showing Camacho’s agents extorting travelers.
Inside INM, Camacho was protected by Rebecca Merino Ordonez, deputy director of the INM Surveillance Center in Mexico City. INM officials who spoke to Breitbart Texas claimed that Merino Ordonez had previously blocked an internal affairs investigation targeting Camacho and granted him arbitrary access to a highly secured surveillance center.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist at Breitbart Texas. He co-founded the Breitbart, Texas Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and Breitbart’s senior management team.you can follow him twitter And even more Facebook. He can be contacted at: iortiz@breitbart.com.
Brandon Darby is managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded the Breitbart Texas Cartel His Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and Breitbart’s senior management team.please follow him twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at: bdarby@breitbart.com.
Williams Cortez of Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles contributed to this report
