Thursday, April 3, 2025

Suspected gangster was senior staffer in Cuernavaca government

A Morelos man arrested on Monday night for alleged involvement in organized crime worked as a senior staffer in the Cuernavaca municipal government, prompting accusations of a cover-up by Mayor Francisco Antonio Villalobos Adán.

Juan David Aparicio Sotelo began working for the municipal government as director of the Jardines de la Paz public cemetery on January 1, 2019, and left the position on March 30 of this year.

He was arrested in an operation to take down Crispín “El Cris” Gaspar Corté, presumed lieutenant in the Guerreros Unidos criminal gang, a known ally of the violent Jalisco New Generation Cartel.

Police arrested Aparicio, Gaspar and two other men at a gas station in Cuernavaca while responding to a 911 call about a kidnapping in the area.

At least one early media report claimed Villalobos had been aware of and kept quiet about the criminal connection in his administration, prompting municipal secretary Erik Salgado to state that the mayor had no knowledge of Aparicio’s link to the Guerreros Unidos.

Aparicio is known to have participated in a 2017 march to protest the arrest of José Manuel Gaspar, son of El Cris, who had been detained in an operation in Temixco in which four women, one teenager and a baby were killed.

That operation took place on property owned by El Cris, believed to be responsible for much of the violence in Temixco and the southeastern part of the state.

Salgado said that Aparicio voluntarily left his post in the municipal government for personal reasons.

Sources: La Silla Rota (sp), El Universal (sp)

Have something to say? Paid Subscribers get all access to make & read comments.
Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum stands at the presidential podium looking out at an audience off-camera with her fist raised and her mouth open as if cheering. Behind her is a wall with the words in Spanish: Plan Mexico, Strenghtening the Economy and Well-Being, Mexico City April 3, 2025.

Sheinbaum unveils an even more ambitious version of her transformative Plan México

3
Sheinbaum said the projects she announced as part of Plan México will bring about more well-paid employment, less poverty and inequality, greater investment and production and more innovation.
A clear-cut strip of land cuts through the jungle along the Maya Train route in Yucatán

Government promises restoration plan for Maya Train environmental damage

1
Government officials said the track's builders will be responsible for funding a restoration effort that includes reforestation and improving natural migration corridors.
Cans of Cororna Extra beer lying on a bed of large ice cubes

Trump announces new US tariffs on Mexican… beer

15
Mexico didn't end up on Donald Trump's "liberation day" list of enemy countries, although the U.S. did impose tariffs on a surprising Mexican item: beer in cans.