A woman who belonged to the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel has been sentenced in Guanajuato to 40 years in prison for sedition and aggravated attempted homicide and was fined 1.6 million pesos (US $80,000).

In addition to attacking a public servant, Mariela Josefina “La Chola” Ruiz López organized roadblocks on highways and streets that prevented police from entering the municipality of Santa Rosa de Lima during their hunt for the leader of the cartel, prosecutors said.

She also coordinated the payment of people who participated in the blockades, they said.

Ruiz was arrested in March 2019 along with the alleged financial chief for the cartel’s former leader, José Antonio “El Marro” Yépez Ortiz, and a federal police intelligence officer.

The Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel has gone through big changes since Ruiz’s arrest: In August, Yépez was arrested by federal and Guanajuato authorities and awaits trial.

In October, authorities arrested his successor, Adán “El Azul” Ochoa, who has been accused of ordering the murder of Jesús Tinajero, a mayoral candidate in the Guanajuato municipality of Jerécuaro who was killed and and body left dismembered on a highway on October 8 with a note signed by “El Azul”.

Sources: El Universal (sp)