The Aguascalientes security minister was arrested Wednesday on charges including torture and abuse of authority.
Porfirio Javier Sánchez Mendoza, security minister since 2018, was taken into custody by federal agents in an operation supported by the army.
According to a report by the newspaper Milenio, an investigation into Sánchez’s alleged wrongdoing dates back to 2016. The minister previously worked for the now-defunct Federal Investigation Agency and the Federal Police when Luis Cárdenas Palominio was intelligence chief.
Cárdenas was arrested on charges of torturing kidnapping suspects last July. Sánchez also worked with Genaro García Luna, a former federal security minister and ex-Federal Police chief accused of colluding with the Sinaloa Cartel.
A person who filed a complaint with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights claims that he or she was tortured by Sánchez and another Federal Police official after being arbitrarily detained in Mexico City.
The state security minister also faces charges of giving false statements to authorities, Milenio said.
The Aguascalientes government said in a statement that it was willing to collaborate with federal authorities in their investigation into crimes allegedly committed by Sánchez.
It also said that his conduct as security minister has been “irreproachable” and that he has achieved “optimal” results for the state.
Juan Manuel Flores Femat, secretary-general of the Aguascalientes government, said in a radio interview that Sánchez was detained after a security meeting and didn’t resist arrest. “It seems he had no knowledge of any investigation against him,” he said.
With reports from Milenio and Animal Político
