Overview
- After his Dec. 21 arrest in Monterrey, a federal judge kept Mario Alberto “El Betillo” Cárdenas Medina in pretrial custody on imputations of military-use firearms possession and methamphetamine sales.
- In a separate case, a judge ordered preventive detention for Mario Lindoro Elenes and Mario Lindoro Navidad, identified as Iván Archivaldo Guzmán’s father-in-law and brother-in-law.
- Prosecutors accused the Lindoro relatives of organized crime, illegal weapons possession and drug-trafficking, with case filings citing meth sales, money-laundering and, for one suspect, alleged fentanyl sales.
- The Zapopan arrests followed coordinated raids by the SSPC, the FGR and the Army, with authorities reporting seizures of drugs, four handguns, ammunition, vehicles, a motorcycle, phones and cash.
- Defense teams sought duplicidad del término constitucional, delaying rulings on whether the detainees will be formally bound to trial, and the FGR has not announced dates to resume the initial hearings.