Jareth Roberto “H”, the alleged murderer of the FGR delegate in Tamaulipas, had already been arrested in 2020.

MEXICO CITY (apro).- Since January 2020, Jareth Roberto “H,” the only person investigated for the murder of Ernesto Cuitláhuac Vásquez Reyna, the delegate of the Attorney General's Office (FGR) in Tamaulipas, had been detained with long weapons and more than 200 cartridges for the exclusive use of the Army, Navy, and Air Force.

Documents to which Proceso had access indicate that, despite this, the Attorney General's Office was forced to release "La Machorra" and three other men with whom he was detained while being investigated for carrying firearms and possessing magazines and cartridges for the exclusive use of the Army, Navy, and Air Force, and has lost track of them since 2021.

According to the documentation reviewed on January 24, 2020, Jareth Roberto "H", Jesús Enrique "M", Edgar Alejandro "M" and Hilarión "O" were arrested in flagrante delicto by Tamaulipas state police and National Guard officers with four 7.62x39 mm caliber rifles, 242 cartridges, and 15 magazines.

Since then, the Attorney General's Office (FGR) has launched an investigation against them, but because the crimes did not warrant pretrial detention at the time, the federal prosecutor's office released them while determining whether to pursue criminal charges.

On May 29, 2021, the Attorney General's Office sent its investigation file, ending in 220/2020, to a supervisory judge in the state of Tamaulipas, requesting a date for an initial hearing.

The judge ordered the four suspects to be summoned for June 30, 2021, however, only Edgar Alejandro "M" could be served, while the others could not.

In the case of Jareth Roberto "H," the attorney was assisted by his father, who indicated that his son no longer lived with him and refused to accept any notification; Jesús Enrique "M" was not found at his home, and Hilarión "O" indicated an "abandoned, overgrown, and windowless" home, according to the arrest warrant issued for "La Machorra."

Although the judge could have held the hearing only with Edgar Alejandro “M,” the FGR said it preferred that everyone be together.

Given this, the judge gave the Attorney General's Office time to find the three remaining individuals who had yet to be notified, and because it failed to do so, criminal case number 176/2021 was closed on September 24, 2021.

It wasn't until July 25 that the Attorney General's Office reopened the case and requested arrest warrants for the four men. Ricardo Ignacio Rivera Pacheco, Specialized District Judge for the Accusatory Criminal System of the Federal Criminal Justice Center in Tamaulipas, granted the request solely for three of them.

He refused to order the arrest of Edgar Alejandro "M" because he was the only one whose address was known and who could have been notified in 2021 and that the hearing was not held then at the request of the prosecutor in charge of the case.

"There is no risk of abduction that would justify the need for caution mentioned by the prosecutor; on the contrary, this judge believes it does not exist at this time. It will be a matter of re-summoning him, and if he is no longer present or does not attend the hearing, it could be renewed."

"It should be noted that if the defendant is not present at the address, this matter would not be attributable to the defendant, since five years have passed since the crime. Therefore, the prosecutor will have the burden of proof to investigate the defendant's new address or location. Therefore, he must conduct new investigative acts, since the ones cited in his request are from 2022," the judge indicated.

Despite the fact that a warrant had been issued against him since July 25, Jareth Roberto "H" did not seek any protection until after the murder of the FGR delegate in Tamaulipas, which occurred on August 4.

On August 5, "La Machorra" filed for an injunction against any arrest warrant, and Seventh District Judge Fidel Gallegos Figueroa of the state of Tamaulipas granted him a provisional suspension, which, in theory, protected him from capture regardless of the crime for which he was accused.

According to file 1065/2025, the amparo claim was also filed by Edgar Alejandro "M," against whom there is currently no arrest warrant.

“A PROVISIONAL SUSPENSION IS GRANTED to the complaining party with respect to the acts challenged, under the following terms: To ensure that the complaining party is not deprived of personal liberty and remains at the disposal of this jurisdictional body, only with respect to said liberty, but at the disposal of the judge handling the original criminal case, for the continuation of the proceedings, and thus guarantee their continuation; the foregoing, regardless of the crime attributed to him.

"The foregoing does not imply the suspension of the original criminal proceedings; rather, the natural judge does, in fact, have the legal jurisdiction to continue the corresponding proceedings. However, when the complainant appears at the initial hearing, if applicable, he may order the relevant precautionary measures, including justified pretrial detention at the request of the Public Prosecutor's Office. However, pretrial detention will not be enforceable, since the applicants will be under the jurisdiction of the District Judge with regard to their personal liberty, by virtue of the suspension granted, as long as it remains in effect," the amparo judge indicated.

In granting the measure, which will remain in effect at least until August 13th, when the judge will hold the preliminary hearing to determine whether or not to grant the permanent suspension, the complainants were required to provide a bond of 10,000 pesos each.

Likewise, the Seventh District Judge reiterated the arguments of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR), which considered that pretrial detention in Mexico is unconstitutional and ordered that the suspension protect them even if they are accused of crimes that warrant this precautionary measure.

"It is considered that there are elements that constitute the appearance of good faith and the danger of delay, since the provisional suspension will also prevent the complainant from being deprived of his liberty when the arrest warrant is related to crimes that warrant ex officio preventive detention. This interpretation aims to strike a balance between national and international laws, giving priority to those that provide the most extensive protection. Therefore, given the change in approach represented by recent rulings and jurisprudence of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, and considering the progressive and dynamic nature of the Mexican legal system, this court considers granting this advance measure under the specified terms," he explained.

On August 11, the judge announced that the Attorney General's Office (FGR) had filed a complaint against the provisional suspension, which must be resolved by a Collegiate Court.

THE ONLY PERSON INVESTIGATED FOR AN ATTACK ON A PROSECUTOR WAS NOT PROSECUTED FOR THAT CRIME.

Although "La Machorra" was arrested on August 7, the Attorney General's Office (FGR) has not charged him with the murder of Ernesto Vásquez, the institution's representative in Tamaulipas, and he even managed to avoid one of the three crimes for which he was arrested.

On August 8, the Attorney General's Office (FGR) announced his arrest and alleged links to "Los Metros," a faction of the Gulf Cartel and the main perpetrator of fuel theft in Tamaulipas.

The arrest was made at 12:57 a.m. on August 7 at the "Guerreros con ganas de vivir" rehabilitation center in Reynosa, where, according to the Attorney General's Office, "La Machorra" was hiding.

There, two 9x19 mm Luger Glock pistols were found with magazines containing 11 cartridges each, along with marijuana, methamphetamine, and cocaine.

In its statement, the Attorney General's Office (FGR) indicated that Jareth Roberto "H" is being investigated for the murder of Vásquez Reyna. However, during the initial hearing held via videoconference on August 9, he was not charged with any crime related to the attack on the federal official.

Instead, he was charged with possession of firearms for the exclusive use of the permanent armed forces; possession of cartridges for firearms for the exclusive use of the permanent armed forces; and crimes against public health in the form of possession for the purpose of trafficking methamphetamine, cocaine, and marijuana.

During the initial hearing, the Specialized District Judge for the Accusatory Criminal System of the Criminal Justice Center in the State of Sonora, acting as Control Judge, Carlos Andrés Miranda Verdugo, refused to charge him with possession of cartridges and only charged him with the two remaining offenses.

The judge ordered him to be held in the Altiplano federal prison for justified reasons, so he was transferred by air and entered the penitentiary on Sunday.

Likewise, the Attorney General's Office (FGR) has not yet executed the arrest warrant it has had pending since July 25 for carrying weapons and possessing ammunition for the exclusive use of the Army.