A man who was the second-highest ranking lawman in a rural town in Coahuila will spend 75 years in prison for his role in helping Los Zetas cartel kidnap, massacre, and incinerate roughly 300 victims.
As Breitbart Texas reported, from March 2011 to 2013, Los Zetas kidnapped, murdered, and incinerated at least 300 victims from the rural communities just south of the border from Eagle Pass, Texas. As part of a three-month investigation, Breitbart Texas learned that approximately 150 of the victims were incinerated at the state prison in the border city of Piedras Negras. Some of the victims were burned in ovens and 55-gallon drums filled with fuel.
This week, Juan Ariel Hernandez Ramos, the second in command at the Allende Police department, went before a state judge and received a 75-year prison sentence on the charge of aggravated kidnapping. According to information released by the Coahuila Attorney General’s Office, the former lawman kept Los Zetas informed about local, state, and federal activities in the area. The former cop also relayed to his subordinates some orders issued by the cartel.
State prosecutors were only able to formally pursue Hernandez for 28 kidnappings that took place in March 2011, when Los Zetas began their massacre. Authorities have been able to identify and target 14 suspects in connection. Despite the prosecutions, top-ranking state officials believed to have turned a blind eye to the horrors managed to avoid any consequences.
At the time, the criminal organization had full operational control of the state and had managed to bribe or threaten officials at the highest levels. Los Zetas were able to mobilize convoys of gunmen without interference. When the criminal organization began their massacre in Allende, the cartel targeted every person that was related to, was friends with, or had done business with those allegedly turned against the cartel. While the killings initiated in March 2011, disappearances throughout northern Coahuila went on until 2013. The real number of victims remains unclear.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded the Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and Stephen K. Bannon. You can follow him on Twitter and on 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 Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and Stephen K. Bannon. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.
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