Latest news with #SimónLevy
Daily Mail
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
America's refusal of world leaders' visas linked to El Chapo's son plea as Trump targets drug cartel connections
Joaquín ' El Chapo ' Guzmán's jailed son is expected to provide telling evidence that would help the United States designate Mexico 's ruling party, Morena, as a narco-organization, a former Mexican official claims. Simón Levy, who served as the Tourism Ministry's deputy secretary under the former President Andres López Obrador, explained in a post on X that Ovidio Guzmán will confirm evidence that will show how the Sinaloa Cartel influenced current and former government officials, including former Presidents Felipe Calderón and Andrés Manuel López Obrador. 'The U.S. State Department and the FBI have already classified the Sinaloa Cartel as a narco-terrorist organization,' Levy wrote. 'And this move is the precursor to an even more disruptive declaration: using the family's testimony to expose the cartel's financial ties to the @PartidoMorenaMx,' sources explained to Levy. 'The goal? To also declare Morena a narco-terrorist organization.' Ovidio Guzmán, who was arrested in Mexico in January 2023 and extradited six months later to the United States, submitted a change of plea last week in an Illinois court and is set to enter a guilty plea July 6. Three days later, he is expected to reveal damaging information that will shake the political structure in Mexico, according to Levy's sources. Levy learned from his insider that Ovidio will provide dollar amounts, drug routes, key dates and deals that were made with the government. Ovidio, who along with his three siblings led the Sinaloa Cartel faction known as 'Los Chapitos,' will also confirm confessions provided by one of Morena's biggest financiers, the late Sergio Carmona and Horacio García, and Jocelyn Hernández, a former Sinaloa state congress member. Carmona, who was executed in November 2024, operated a business that stole petroleum and sold it between Mexico and the United States. 'With that dirty money, he financed political campaigns, especially those of Morena,' Levy said. García allegedly connected Carmona with Tamaulipas Governor, Américo Villarreal, and pumped 'more than $25 million into Morena campaigns in various states.' According to Levy's source, 'Guzmán will validate that confession in court.' Ovidio will also back Hernández's acknowledgement that Carmona also financed the campaign of Sinaloa Governor Rubén Rocha and that Fausto 'El Chapo Isidro' Meza provided money to Rocha's campaign. During hearing, Ovidio will also signal President Claudia Sheinbaum's spokesperson Jesus Ramírez as 'the key operator and organizer in the distribution of oil money during the campaigns, and [that] he coordinated the flow of resources from Carmona to the Morena campaigns from the National Palace.' Levy explained that Ovidio and his brothers needed 'allied governments, free routes, and official protection' to keep their transnational drug trafficking organization afloat after replacing El Chapo. The change in Ovidio's defense came just three days before 17 family members, including his mother and sister, were allegedly met by the FBI at the San Ysidro Port of Entry in San Diego. President Claudia Sheinbaum pressed the administration of President Donald Trump over its decision to permit the arrival of El Chapo's family on U.S. soil. 'They need to explain themselves first,' Sheinbaum said during her press briefing Wednesday. 'We still don't have any official explanation or public details about why this family was permitted entry into the United States.' Senator of the Republic, Ricardo Anaya, who ran for president under the National Action Party in 2018 and lost to Morena's López Obrador in a landslide, warned that members of the latter party may be shaking in their knees. 'There's no doubt that Los Chapitos are going to sing, and we're going to learn a lot of things because the US government doesn't offer immunity in exchange for anything,' Anaya said in a press conference Tuesday. 'It offers it in exchange for information, and this leads me to reiterate my demand that the Mexican government break the pact of impunity now. It can't be that we only learn information about politicians' links to organized crime when another country intervene. 'And of course, there must be many people, particularly from Morena, who are trembling at this moment because there's no doubt these men are going to sing and provide information.' Since then, at least 12 National Regeneration Movement [Morena] politicians and their family members reportedly were stripped of their travel privileges in recent days as part of an ongoing investigations headed by Department of State. News of their visa loss was leaked by the Mexican media and made public by one governor after 17 family members of El Chapo, including his former wife, were seen on camera last Friday waiting at the San Ysidro Port of Entry in San Diego. The group is said to have been met by the FBI and escorted to an unknown location. Baja California Governor Marina del Pilar, who's aligned with Morena, came forward Sunday and revealed that she and her husband had their tourists visa taken away. On Monday, Mexican journalist revealed that del Pilar and her spouse were reportedly part of a U.S. federal money laundering investigation that linked them to businessmen, officials and the 'Rusos Cartel.' Del Pilar then followed by addressing reporters and reiterating that she had not committed any crimes and had nothing to hide. On Tuesday, Levy revealed the names of six of the eight Morena officials who were being probed by the Department of Justice and were in the process of having their visas yanked. He named governors Alfredo Ramírez Bedolla [Michoacán]; Miguel Angel Navarro [Nayarit]; Ruben Rocha Moya [Sinaloa]; and Américo Villareal [Tamaulipas]. Also identified were Senator Adan Augusto López and former Congresswoman Clara Luz Flores, who is the director of the Interior Ministry's Religious Affairs and Social Prevention Unit. Levy added that two unnamed former acting secretaries of state were being investigated for 'links' to the Gulf Cartel. 'You're going to see some very high-profile politicians involved in all this,' Levy told 'There are several more, and many more will happen in this matter, because the court has to incriminate them and prove the causal relationship between them and the money they received.' Campeche Governor Layda Sansores is among six governors from the Morena party who are being investigated by the United States and had their visas revoked The office of Governor Villareal responded to the bombshell with a statement on X stating that it was 'false information.' The governor's office followed up with a second statement on the social media network indicating it was 'information that was not confirmed by any authority' while urging the public 'to obtain information through official channels.' reached out to Villareal's office for comment. A report published by El Universal newspaper contained the same names that Levy revealed and included Morena governors Layda Sansores [Campeche] and Samuel García [Nuevo León] and Congressman Ricardo Monreal and Education Secretary Mario Delgado among the officials who are under investigation. Michoacán Governor Alfredo Ramírez Bedolla (right) and Nayarit Governor Miguel Ángel Navarro (left) are allegedly being probed by the United States Department of Justice The outlet found that former Jalisco Governor Enrique Alfaro is also part of the probe. The office of President Sheinbaum did not respond to request to comment.
Daily Mail
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
At least EIGHT more international politicians face visa bans as extent of US dragnet emerges
At least eight more prominent international politicians being scrutinized by US authorities face potential visa bans and bank account freezes, according to a former high ranking official in the Mexican government. The bombshell claim comes after the Governor for Baja California Marina del Pilar and her husband had their tourism visas to the US revoked this week over reports of money laundering and ties to drug cartels, which she has denied. Simón Levy, a past Minister of Tourism during the administration of former Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, claimed the US was actively investigating current and former officials including four governors, one senator and one congresswoman. He added that two unnamed former acting secretaries of state were being investigated for 'links' to the Gulf Cartel. 'As I told you before anyone else, today banks like Wells Fargo and Bank of America canceled the accounts of Mexican public servants with deposited money, confirming that it comes from illegal activities, such as money laundering,' Levy wrote on X Monday afternoon. Levy identified the officials on Tuesday as Senator Adan Agusto López and former Congresswoman Clara Luz Flores, who is the director of the Interior Ministry's Religious Affairs and Social Prevention Unit. He also named governors Alfredo Ramírez Bedolla [Michoacán]; Miguel Angel Navarro [Nayarit]; Ruben Rocha Moya [Sinaloa]; and Américo Villareal [Tamaulipas]. It comes a day after renowned Mexican journalist Luis Chaparro accused Baja California governor del Pilar, and her husband Carolos Torres, of having their American bank accounts frozen as part of a Justice Department probe. Chaparro reported that del Pilar met with U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Department of Homeland Security officials at a tourism event in the resort town of Rosarito on April 28, 2024, when she was first notified of the investigation. 'Both are being investigated by the United States for money laundering in an investigation involving other Baja California businessmen and officials...' Chaparro said during his YouTube show 'Pie de Nota'. He added that the U.S. agents told her the investigation was looking into the 'Rusos Cartel' in Mexicali, as well as a network of individuals and businessmen from Baja California allegedly linked to members of organized crime in that region. 'She pleaded with CBP and DHS supervisors to please not make public the actions against her and her husband and to not inform the Mexican consulate to prevent them from being leaked to the media,' Chaparro said. 'The governor requested, as a personal favor, that her actions not be communicated to the Mexican consulate or any other Mexican authority so that the information would not spread.' Del Pilar addressed the visa ban again in a press conference without making any comments over the alleged money laundering investigation or bank account closures, while also not make any reference to her husband or his visa ban. 'I have been included in a consular measure, and therefore today I do not have a visa to enter the United States,' del Pilar said. 'But that does not define me. Because I am not defined by what I have or by the permits granted or withheld. I am defined by my values, my convictions, and the purpose I have embraced since I decided to dedicate my life to public service.' Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum addressed the allegations during her press briefing at the National Palace in Mexico City on Tuesday and said that del Pilar informed her that they did not have accounts in banking institutions outside of Mexico. A photo taken in 2019 showed alleged Sinaloa Cartel cell leader Emmanuel 'El Botas' Serrano (third from the left) and Baja California Governor Marina del Pilar Ávila (third from the right) hugging at an event where she was campaigning for mayor of Mexicali. The picture went viral in September 2022, a year and three months after she was elected governor 'I want to clarify because yesterday some media reported that there was an account freeze,' Sheinbaum said. 'We spoke with the governor and the governor told us that she does not have accounts abroad. That is information from the governor.' Del Pilar's links to Mexican cartels have been questioned since 2022, when a photo emerged of her embracing alleged Sinaloa Cartel crime figure Emmanuel 'El Botas' Serrano while she was campaigning for mayor three years earlier. Del Pilar's office dismissed the past allegations, saying she's photographed with thousands of constituents and public figures while campaigning and running the major Mexican governments. The U.S. State Department press office said in a statement to media Monday that 'visa records are confidential under U.S. law; therefore, we cannot comment on individual cases.'
