Overview

• Hernán Bermúdez Requena appeared by videoconference at his first hearing in Villahermosa and received prisión preventiva oficiosa from Judge Ramón Adolfo Brown Ruiz.
• He faces state arrest orders for asociación delictuosa, extorsión and secuestro exprés, with the case tied in court to gas station businessman Ramón Martínez Armengol.
• A witness identified as “CTDR” told the FGR he transported about 40 million pesos in cash by private aircraft from Tabasco to Mérida to deliver to hotelier Miguel Sánchez Ficachi as part of La Barredora’s operations.
• Bermúdez was detained after expulsion from Paraguay and transferred to Mexico in a coordinated operation involving Interpol, Paraguayan authorities and Mexican agencies including CNI, Sedena, Semar, UIF, FGR and SSPC, and is now held at El Altiplano.
• Tabasco’s prosecutor said a conviction on the state charges could carry up to 158 years in prison, with proceedings kept private and the defense granted extra time to prepare.