The government of Veracruz today filed a criminal complaint with federal authorities against the state attorney general for probable involvement in crimes that effectively amount to collusion and the obstruction of justice.

State Interior Secretary Erick Patrocinio Cisneros Burgos said Jorge Winckler Ortiz had concealed more than 150 arrest warrants over a period of two years, including some issued against suspects believed to have committed high-impact offenses such as homicide.

“In these two years, those high-impact criminals enjoyed total impunity in Veracruz and the country,” Cisneros said.

“This cannot be, the law says that once an arrest warrant is issued, it has to be uploaded to the Plataforma México [criminal database] within 24 hours so that it’s visible to state and federal authorities.”

However, Winckler took up to eight days to publish the warrants, Cisneros said.

The interior secretary asserted that the government has all the proof necessary for federal authorities to pursue the case against the attorney general.

Winckler was appointed to his current role during the administration of former governor Miguel Ángel Yunes Linares and has continued to serve in the government of Morena party Governor Cuitláhuac García, who took office in December.

The attorney general has recently been under pressure to resign as a result of accusations of corruption and collusion with organized crime and the former governor. Winckler is also accused of manipulating crime statistics.

President López Obrador said last month that “if he’s linked to the past governor, we have to look at things carefully because Veracruz had a problem with crime being supported by the government.”

He also said that Winckler “is not highly recommended.”

After the criminal complaint was filed today at a branch of the federal Attorney General’s Office (FGR) in Veracruz, state Public Security Secretary Hugo Gutiérrez Maldonado charged that Winckler is in cahoots with organized crime.

He contended that it will be difficult to fix the security situation in Veracruz if Winckler remains attorney general, charging that the Secretariat of Public Security (SSP) arrests criminals and turns them over to the state Attorney General’s Office (FGE), which instead of prosecuting them, sets them free.

“We can’t put up with so much impunity in Veracruz. It’s double the work but it doesn’t matter. If we have to arrest them five times, we’ll do it,” Gutiérrez said.

“We came to file this complaint and we’re going to follow it up. We’re sure that when we have an attorney general who is impartial to all residents of Veracruz, a lot of justice issues will significantly improve.”

Source: El Democrata (sp), La Jornada (sp), Al Calor Político (sp)