Tuesday, July 15, 2025

Gloves are off in Baja California: governor calls candidate state’s biggest criminal

The governor of Baja California has made explosive allegations against one of the contenders for his job.

Morena party Governor Jaime Bonilla accused Jorge Hank Rhon, a gambling tycoon and former mayor of Tijuana who will represent the Solidary Encounter Party in the June 6 election for governor, of being the head of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) in the northern border state.

He described Hank as the biggest criminal Baja California has ever seen.

“I identify Jorge Hank as the head of this criminal group in the state,” he said in a live video message, adding that he believed that the 65-year-old is responsible for the high levels of crime in Baja California.

“I think that Jorge Hank has been behind all this, the high levels of crime and homicides in Baja California, for many years,” the governor said.

“… He is the true generator of violence. … The day Jorge Hank leaves Baja California, 80% of the violence will end because the violence arrived with him,” Bonilla said, apparently referring to Hank’s 2004–2007 term as mayor of Tijuana.

The governor, who took office in November 2019 and attempted to extend his term from two years to five, cannot stand for reelection this year.

Bonilla’s allegations against Hank come after presumed members of the CJNG, generally considered Mexico’s most powerful and dangerous criminal organization, threatened Bonilla in a video posted online.

The governor accused Hank of having told the presumed criminals what to say.

“[He is] a person who has stolen everything from the people,” he said, adding that the candidate’s deceased father, Carlos Hank González — a former governor of México state, mayor of Mexico City and a federal minister — did the same.

“The other day he was boasting that he was a very rich man and didn’t need to enter government to steal. We would have thought the same about his dad, but he was in government and he stole,” Bonilla said.

Morena’s candidate, Marina del Pilar Ávila Olmeda, who is a former mayor of Mexicali, is considered the favorite to win the June 6 election. Some polls indicate that Hank is the second-most favored candidate.

Source: Reforma (sp)

Have something to say? Paid Subscribers get all access to make & read comments.
Street protest with US flags

Mexicans’ opinion of the United States has soured drastically since Trump took office

20
A recent Pew survey found that just 29% of Mexicans polled had a favorable opinion of the United States, the sharpest drop observed in any of the 24 countries Pew surveyed this year. 
Ovidio Guzmán

Sinaloa Cartel leader Ovidio Guzmán pleads guilty to drug trafficking and organized crime charges in the US

3
Guzmán also admitted to overseeing the production and smuggling of fentanyl and other drugs as part of his plea deal.
Salinas, California, USA - June 19, 2015: Immigrant (migrant) seasonal farm (field) workers pick and package strawberries directly into boxes in the Salinas Valley of central California

Sheinbaum promises more resources for consulates after ‘unjust’ ICE raids in California

24
The military-style immigration raids on two California farms on Thursday drew sharp criticism and a pledge to action from Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum.
BETA Version - Powered by Perplexity