Latest news with #Sinaloa
Al Bawaba
9 hours ago
- Health
- Al Bawaba
Deadly fire at Mexican drug rehab center claims 12 lives
Published June 1st, 2025 - 09:10 GMT ALBAWABA - A tragic fire erupted at a drug rehabilitation center in central Mexico on Sunday, killing 12 individuals and injuring three others, according to the Guanajuato State Prosecutor's Office. Also Read Video: 2 killed as Mexican Navy training ship hits Brooklyn Bridge Authorities are still investigating the cause of the blaze, which broke out in a facility located in one of Mexico's most violence-stricken regions. Organized crime groups, particularly drug cartels, have previously been linked to attacks on such centers, often targeting them to forcibly recruit recovering addicts. In an official statement, the prosecutor's office confirmed that forensic teams are collecting evidence and conducting witness interviews to determine the exact cause of the incident. This is not the first violent episode involving rehab centers in Mexico. In April, armed assailants attacked a rehabilitation clinic in Sinaloa state, killing at least nine people. Officials suspect that drug cartels have increasingly resorted to eliminating or coercing patients who refuse to join their ranks. 🇲🇽 Mexicali | Fuga de internos tras operativo fallido en centro de rehabilitación🚨 Fiscalía General del Estado y COEPRIS no logran controlar la situación, decenas de internos huyen durante operativo.¡Preocupación por la seguridad en la zona! 📰 #SeguridadMexicali — El Blog del Narco (@narcoblogger) January 26, 2025 Mexico has faced a wave of cartel-related violence since 2006. Government data indicates that nearly 480,000 people have been killed in criminal incidents since then, and around 120,000 remain missing, underscoring the deep crisis plaguing the country's security landscape. © 2000 - 2025 Al Bawaba (
BBC News
2 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Mexico judicial reform: Candidate who defended El Chapo runs for office
As drivers sit in traffic near the Bridge of the Americas connecting Mexico with the USA, Silvia Delgado weaves between the cars handing out leaflets."I'm standing for penal judge," she says brightly. "Vote for number 12 on the ballot papers!"Most happily wind down their windows and accept a flyer from her. But in Sunday's rather unique election – the first of two votes by which Mexicans will choose the country's entire judiciary by direct ballot – Silvia Delgado is not an ordinary absent from the short biography on her pamphlets is the name of her best-known client: she was the defence lawyer for the notorious drug lord, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzmá critics say her past defending the leader of the Sinaloa Cartel should disqualify her from standing as a judge. She gives that idea short shrift."Why should it? For doing my job?" she retorts, her heckles immediately raised at any suggestion of a conflict of interest."For defending people's individual guarantees? For mounting an adequate technical defence for a human being? Why should that make me illegitimate?" she asks. Silvia Delgado has not been convicted of any crime, is not facing any charges and is not under investigation – whether over her links to El Chapo or anything a leading human rights and transparency organisation in Mexico called Defensorxs has included her in a list of 19 "high risk candidates" in the election. As well as Ms Delgado, the list includes a candidate with a drug trafficking conviction and another facing accusations of orchestrating violence against director of Defensorxs, Miguel Alfonso Meza, believes the so-called "high risk candidates" are a danger to the legitimacy of Mexico's justice system:"Someone that has already worked with a cartel, it is very difficult that they get out, even if it was only as a lawyer. It's not even about whether she's a good person or a bad person," says Mr Meza, referring to Silvia Delgado."The Sinaloa Cartel is not only 'El Chapo' Guzman. It is a company that has criminal and economic interests which are being resolved in the justice system. The cartel could pressure her to show loyalty because she has already been their employee."Silvia Delgado visibly stiffens at the mention of Defensorxs and Miguel Alfonso Meza."It's completely stupid," she bristles, claiming she has challenged them to "dig into her past as much as they like". She also dismisses their main accusation that she was paid with drug money and could be compromised if she is elected judge."How can you prove that? I received a payment which was the same as any normal monthly payment which was paid to me by lawyers, members of his legal team. I'm not his daughter or his sister or anything. I'm a professional." Ms Delgado is competing for one of more than 7,500 judicial position up for grabs – from local magistrates to all nine Supreme Court it was under discussion, the judicial reform prompted widespread protests by law students and a strike by workers in the legal system. Its critics maintain that electing every judge in Mexico amounts to the politicisation of the country's justice system."Of course, it's a political attack [on the judiciary]," says Miguel Alfonso Meza."Former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador didn't like to have constraints from the judicial power. When the pressure became too great and the constraints too tight, the only solution they found was to remove all the judges in the country," he reform was passed before President Claudia Sheinbaum was sworn in, but she is a firm supporter of it and polls suggest it has broad approval among the electorate point out that the United States, Switzerland and Bolivia elect many of their judges. But Mexico will become the first country in the world to elect all of them. Markets remain unconvinced with investors fearful of the prospect of the ruling party controlling the presidency, the legislative branch and the Alfonso Meza believes that problems will arise from "the agreements and negotiations judges have to make with political actors… in order to get the support they need to win the elections". One of the 64 candidates seeking a seat on the Supreme Court is Olivia Aguirre Bonilla. Also from Ciudad Juárez, her legal background is in human rights law and as an activist against gender-based violence in the notoriously dangerous border all the candidates, Ms Aguirre Bonilla has had to pay for her campaign out of her own pocket – candidates are banned from accepting public or private funding and forbidden from purchasing advertising spots. As such, she's primarily used social media to push out her 6-point plan from clamping down on exorbitant salaries to opening the Supreme Court hearings to the she acknowledges the criticisms over the potential politicisation of Mexico's justice system, Aguirre Bonilla believes the vote is an opportunity for meaningful change of a collapsed, corrupted and nepotistic judiciary."I think all the citizens in Mexico are politicised, and we're all part of public life," she says."The difference here is that our 'untouchable' legal system – and it was untouchable because it was controlled by the elites, by privilege – for the first time in history will be voted in. It will be democratised through the popular vote."Many people in the judiciary were there through influence and familial connections, Aguirre Bonilla argues, and it lacks the legitimacy of the executive and legislative branches."This vote will grant the justice system true independence as it's not chosen by the President of the Republic but elected by the people of Mexico to represent them." So far, the arguments over constitutionality and legitimacy, over the process and the candidates have been bitter and all eyes turn to the polling stations, particularly on the turnout and abstention rates as indicators of Mexicans' backing for the for Silvia Delgado, the woman who defended Mexico's most wanted drug lord, she just hopes the people of Ciudad Juárez will respect her work enough to allow her to sit in judgement of other criminals who are brought before her.
The Guardian
3 days ago
- General
- The Guardian
Mexico steps into unknown with world's first popular election of all judges: ‘A blind date with democracy'
On a heat-dazed afternoon in Culiacán, the capital of Mexico's Sinaloa state, a tannoy by the cathedral was droning through an advert for the judicial elections on loop when a plume of smoke appeared in the sky. A flicker of agitation ran through the plaza. After months of cartel conflict, Sinaloa is on edge. Yet on 1 June, it and the rest of Mexico will start to elect every judge in the country, from local magistrates to supreme court justices, by popular vote. It is a world-first democratic experiment, but one that has prompted warnings of low turnout, a political power grab and infiltration by organised crime. The reform is the most radical move made by the governing Morena party and its allies since they won a congressional supermajority last year allowing them to change the constitution at will. Few disagree that Mexico's judicial system needs change. Justice is inaccessible to many, corruption is commonplace and impunity is rampant. Morena claims its reform will address these issues by making the judiciary more responsive to popular opinion. But critics say it will bulldoze the separation of powers, and that by throwing the doors open to less qualified candidates whose campaigns may be backed by opaque interests – including organised crime groups – it could aggravate the very problems it seeks to solve. Delia Quiroa, a well-known advocate for Mexico's disappeared, is no fan of the reform. But she admits it has given her a chance to become a federal judge she would not otherwise have had. It is just the latest unexpected turn in a life that was shattered the moment her brother, Roberto, was disappeared on 10 March 2014. Though born in Culiacán, Quiroa moved to the border state of Tamaulipas when she was a child. She had been studying to become an engineer, but as the years stretched on with no sign of her brother, she retrained as a lawyer to force the authorities into action. Threats from criminal groups eventually displaced her family to Mexico City. Then last year they moved back to Sinaloa, which for years had been relatively calm owing to the dominance of the eponymous cartel. 'People used to say that the narcos in Sinaloa left the public out of [their fights],' Quiroa said, with a rueful smile. 'Then this conflict began.' In July 2024, Ismael 'El Mayo' Zambada, who founded the Sinaloa cartel with Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzmán, was detained by US authorities along with one of Guzmán's sons after a small plane touched down in Texas. El Mayo accused El Chapo's son of betraying and delivering him to US authorities. Now a faction led by El Mayo's son is waging war against another led by the two sons of El Chapo who remain free in Mexico. As the conflict enters a ninth month, it has left well over 2,000 dead or disappeared. And it has made the judicial elections even more complicated. 'The violence has hit the campaign,' said Quiroa. 'You can't always find people in the streets.' The city centre market was Quiroa's target for the day. Friends and family came along, handing out pamphlets with her logo: a spade and a gavel crossed over the scales of justice. 'I try to explain that I have no political or economic interest in this,' said Quiroa. 'That the only thing I want is a change in this country.' But as Quiroa bounced between market stalls, people's responses did nothing to dispel fears of an uninformed vote come 1 June. Unlike in other elections, parties cannot support candidates, nor can candidates openly profess a partisan affiliation, even if they clearly have one. Radio and TV spots are also banned, meaning largely unknown candidates are limited to handing out flyers and posting on social media. Then there is the sheer number of them. Voters will be faced with at least six ballot papers, some with dozens of names on them but little else. 'It looks like an exam,' sighed Quiroa. Even an enthusiastic supporter of the reform – a butcher behind a pile of cow hooves, who celebrated the election as a chance for 'the people to stop the robbery' – could not name a candidate. Others were sceptical, if not cynical. 'I'm not going to vote for candidates I don't know,' said one shoe shiner, who was reading a dog-eared biography of 19th-century president Benito Juárez. 'Just like I won't eat a meal if I don't know what's in it. It's common sense.' According to the president of the National Electoral Institute, voter turnout is expected to be less than 20%. Even though Morena is not allowed to back candidates, many assume it will use its unrivalled capacity to mobilise voters to help its preferred candidates – particularly for the supreme court, which has often acted as a check on Morena's executive power, and a new disciplinary tribune, which will keep judges in line. 'Morena wants to hoard all the power,' said the shoe shiner. 'They don't want to leave a crumb for anyone else.' But other interests, including organised crime, may also seize the opportunity. Defensorxs, a civil society organisation, has identified various 'highly risky' candidates, including a lawyer who was counsel to El Chapo and a former state prosecutor in Michoacán accused of alleged involvement in the murder of two journalists. 'I don't think people have managed to find out who the candidates are and what each kind of position actually does,' said Marlene León Fontes, from Iniciativa Sinaloa, a civil society organisation. 'People will vote on the basis of personal connections or political parties 'It's a blind date with democracy,' she said. If Quiroa emerges a judge, she says she will be an 'iron fist' against corrupt and negligent authorities – not least when it comes to searching for the more than 120,000 people registered as disappeared, and identifying the 72,000 bodies in Mexico's morgues. 'It was the feeling of being tortured by the authorities who should be protecting me that made me put myself forward as a candidate,' said Quiroa. Yet as far as Quiroa knows, she is the only candidate to have emerged from the many thousands searching for their relatives. 'I'd have liked there to be more – and more victims of all kinds who are lawyers and human rights defenders,' said Quiroa. 'But many people said they didn't want to be part of the destruction of the judicial system.' Quiroa shares their anxiety. 'This is an experiment,' she said. 'And we don't know how it's going to go.'
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Breaking down reports Trump let 17 Mexican drug cartel family members into US
In early 2025, news outlets reported that, according to a Mexican security chief, American officials allowed 17 drug cartel family members to cross the southern border into the United States — despite U.S. President Donald Trump's public posturing and harsh policies against drug smuggling. Many of these stories framed the security chief's statement as confirmation that the deal occurred. The Associated Press, for example, wrote that, "Mexico's security chief confirmed Tuesday that 17 family members of cartel leaders crossed into the U.S. last week as part of a deal between a son of the former head of the Sinaloa Cartel and the Trump administration." The Sinaloa cartel is a global criminal enterprise and one of two drug cartels "at the heart" of illicit drug-related dealings in the United States, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. The stories spread on social media platforms like Bluesky, X, Facebook and Reddit. Sen. Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York, accused Trump of allowing "17 relatives of El Chapo, one of the most notorious cartel drug dealers in the world, into America." "What kind of message does that send? Who the hell knows? Maybe you got a presidential helicopter from them, who knows," Schumer said in a May 16 Facebook video, referencing Qatar's offer of a Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet to the Trump administration. It is true that Mexico's security chief, Omar Hamid García Harfuch, said 17 family members of former Sinaloa cartel leader Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, who is imprisoned in the United States, crossed into America, apparently confirming reporting from independent journalist Luis Chaparro. García Harfuch told reporters it looked clear to Mexican authorities that the U.S. Department of Justice granted the family members entry as part of a deal with Guzmán's son, Ovidio Guzmán López, who is also a suspected member of the cartel's leadership. However, until the Trump administration confirms a deal occurred and the details of the purported deal — or documents verifying the deal took place are made public — Snopes cannot put a truthfulness rating on this statement. We reached out to the administration and await a response. Mexican authorities arrested Guzmán López in 2023 and extradited him to the United States, where the government charged him with various drug trafficking-related offenses; he is expected to plead guilty on July 9, 2025, as part of a plea deal, per court documents filed May 6, 2025 — but details of the deal were not yet public as of this writing. On May 12, 2025, Chaparro posted a video titled, "LUN 12 MAY | EXCLUSIVA: LA FAMILIA DEL CHAPO SE ENTREGA AL GOBIERNO FEDERAL DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS" on his YouTube channel — translated into English, his video title said: "MON, MAY 12 | EXCLUSIVE: EL CHAPO'S FAMILY SURRENDERS TO THE U.S. FEDERAL GOVERNMENT." Here's a transcript of his report citing anonymous sources, starting at 2:21, translated into English from Spanish (emphasis ours): Seventeen members of Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán's family, including a daughter and Ovidio Guzmán's mother, surrendered to the FBI this weekend at one of the international bridges between Mexico and the United States. According to reports from our sources, the family surrendered to the FBI at noon last Friday at the San Ysidro border port in Tijuana. And according to the same sources, among these people are Griselda López, Ovidio's mother, several nephews, a grandson named Archivaldo and a daughter of "El Chapo" along with a son-in-law of the drug trafficker. It is currently unknown why they surrendered, but the fact that they turned themselves in to agents who were already waiting for them is probably linked to the deal Ovidio Guzmán allegedly made with the United States government last week. The family reportedly arrived with several suitcases, at least two brand-name suitcases for each member, and between them all they were carrying more than 70,000 in cash. Chaparro also shared pictures of what he alleged were the family members at the border in his report at 3:19 but censored the faces. WMAQ's investigative team in Chicago also reported on May 13, using anonymous federal sources, that "the immigration of 17 Chapo relatives, including a sister, were part of the deal that resulted in Ovidio's guilty plea." On May 13, Mexican talk radio station Radio Fórmula published an interview with García Harfuch in which the security chief said the transfer of El Chapo's relatives was clearly part of a "negotiation" between the U.S. Justice Department and representatives of Guzmán López. Here's the interview, translated into English (emphasis ours): JOURNALIST: How should we read this news, Omar, which is on the front pages of virtually every national newspaper today, about Ovidio Guzmán's family surrendering to the United States authorities, the FBI... 17 people? Were the facts as reported, and if so, where does this decision come from, or are they colluding with the United States? How should we read it, Omar? GARCÍA HARFUCH: I think it's very clear that when — it's very clear that when Ovidio — we must first highlight who detained Ovidio. He was arrested by Mexican authorities in a Mexican army operation where fellow special forces soldiers were killed. Once the Mexican army arrested Ovidio, Mexico handed him over... extradited him to the United States. Ovidio, as we all saw on the news, began negotiations with the United States Department of Justice, and it's clear that since his family was leaving for the United States, it was because of this negotiation or an opportunity that the Department of Justice itself granted him. Let's also remember that this conflict in Sinaloa is understood to be an issue between the brothers themselves, and includes Ovidio and Ovidio's brothers, where they pointed fingers at other groups in the criminal organization, and it's clear that this is what's happening. JOURNALIST: So is it an agreement between a defendant in the United States and the authority that is prosecuting him? GARCÍA HARFUCH: That's right. […] JOURNALIST: The 17 people, with the information you have — the 17 people who left were Mexican citizens who didn't have an arrest warrant. They were exercising their freedom to cross into the United States. GARCÍA HARFUCH: That's right, and [authorities] were already waiting for them in the United States. As such, per García Harfuch, the family members did not appear to "surrender" to authorities, as no warrants were out for their arrest, but voluntarily crossed into the United States. It's unclear if the family members were under some sort of protective custody; their whereabouts, as of this writing, were unknown. Mexico's president, Claudia Sheinbaum, called on the Trump administration to provide more information on why the cartel family members entered the United States during a May 14 news conference and said the United States did not alert Mexican authorities ahead of time about the alleged deal. An excerpt from her comments are translated into English below: We don't have official or public information that says why this family entered. We must recall the issue of extradition again, and yes, indeed, it is — there is a policy of [the U.S.] not to negotiate with terrorists. It was their decision to name some organized crime organizations [like the Sinaloa Cartel] as terrorists. So, let them report if there's an agreement or if there isn't an agreement... they have to report it and they have to explain this to the people of the United States as well... how it is that, if they're reaching an agreement, how they're doing it. And to Mexico, obviously. Multiple news outlets reported that U.S. prosecutors and authorities declined to comment on the reported deal, including the Los Angeles Times, which also said the news outlet sent Guzmán Lopez's attorney, Jeffrey Lichtman a message, and did not receive a response. Snopes reached out to DOJ and Lichtman as well and await a response. Thus, while the evidence indicates that the Trump administration may have made a deal with a suspected Sinaloa cartel drug lord, Ovidio Guzmán López, to bring 17 of his family members into the United States, many details remain unclear, making it impossible to rate this claim. Snopes reporters Anna Rascouët-Paz and Jack Izzo contributed to the translations in this report. Coleman, Sharon Johnson. "UNITED STATES of AMERICA v. OVIDIO GUZMAN LOPEZ | NOTIFICATION of DOCKET ENTRY." CourtListener, 6 May 2025, Accessed 16 May 2025. Drug Enforcement Administration. "National Drug Threat Assessment 2024 ." May 2024, Accessed 16 May 2025. El Universal. "🗣️ 'Tienen Que Informar', Señala La Presidenta Claudia Sheinbaum Sobre El Ingreso de Familiares de Ovidio Guzmán, Hijo de 'El Chapo', a EU; Aseguró Que No Tiene Información Oficial al Respecto Y Recordó Que Hay Investigaciones En Curso Sobre Ese Caso." X (Formerly Twitter), 14 May 2025, Accessed 16 May 2025. Goudie, Chuck. "El Chapo Family Defects from Mexico in Deal Linked to Chicago Drug Case." NBC Chicago, 13 May 2025, Accessed 16 May 2025. "Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman, Sinaloa Cartel Leader, Sentenced to Life in Prison plus 30 Years." 17 July 2019, Accessed 16 May 2025. McDonnell, Patrick J. "Were 17 Members of El Chapo's Family Escorted into U.S. From Mexico?" Los Angeles Times, 14 May 2025, Accessed 16 May 2025. PIE DE NOTA | Con Luis Chaparro. "LUN 12 MAY | EXCLUSIVA: LA FAMILIA DEL CHAPO SE ENTREGA al GOBIERNO FEDERAL de LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS." YouTube, 12 May 2025, Accessed 16 May 2025. Radio Fórmula . "EXCLUSIVA 🚨 Omar García Harfuch Explica La Entrega de La Familia de Ovidio Guzmán al FBI: "Es Evidente Que al Estarse Yendo Su Familia a EU Es Por El Criterio de Oportunidad Que El Departamento de Justicia Le Da. ☝️Recordemos Que El Conflicto En Sina…." 13 May 2025, Accessed 16 May 2025. Santucci, Jeanine. "Family Members of Drug Lord El Chapo Enter US, Mexican Officials Say." USA TODAY, 14 May 2025, Accessed 16 May 2025. "Son of Joaquin Guzman Loera Aka 'El Chapo' Arraigned on Federal Criminal Charges Following His Extradition from Mexico to the United States for International Drug Trafficking." 18 Sept. 2023, Accessed 16 May 2025. Staff, MND. "Sheinbaum Demands Answers on 'El Chapo' Family's Entry to US: Wednesday's Mañanera Recapped." Mexico News Daily, 14 May 2025, Accessed 16 May 2025. Trump, Donald J. "Designating Cartels and Other Organizations as Foreign Terrorist Organizations and Specially Designated Global Terrorists – the White House." The White House, 21 Jan. 2025, Accessed 16 May 2025. Yuhas, Alan. "Cartel Family Members Cross Border in Apparent Deal with U.S., Official Says." New York Times, 14 May 2025, Accessed 16 May 2025.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Chapo's ex-lawyer among Mexico's 'high-risk' aspiring judges
In a crime-plagued Mexican border city, lawyer Silvia Delgado urges passersby to vote for her as a judge, despite her past work for one of the world's most notorious drug lords. Her candidacy is one of the most controversial in elections beginning on Sunday that will make Mexico the world's only country to choose all of its judges and magistrates by popular vote. But Delgado is not the only contender whose suitability to dispense justice has been called into question. Other hopefuls include a man who was imprisoned in the United States for drug crimes, even though those taking part are supposed to have no criminal record. Candidates must have a law degree, experience in legal affairs and what is termed "a good reputation." But that did not prevent a former prosecutor accused of threatening two journalists who were later murdered from getting his name on the ballot. Delgado, 51, was a member of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman's legal team in Ciudad Juarez, where the Sinaloa cartel co-founder was detained before being extradited to the United States in 2017. "I've defended many people," she told AFP in an interview, saying that having assisted Guzman in his hearings did not make her a criminal. "Every person has the right to counsel," she said, talking up her experience to voters. "You're going to have an impartial and knowledgeable judge," she told a street vendor near a border crossing between Ciudad Juarez and El Paso, Texas. - 'The most imperfect' - Delgado is one of around 20 candidates identified by rights group Defensorxs as "high-risk" for reasons including allegations of cartel links, corruption and sexual abuse. Defensorxs describes Delgado as someone who "defends alleged drug traffickers." It is a sensitive issue in Mexico, where criminal violence has claimed more than 480,000 lives since 2006 and left around 120,000 people missing. A violent split in the Sinaloa cartel -- one of several Mexican drug trafficking groups that have been designated terrorist organizations by US President Donald Trump -- has resulted in 1,200 deaths since September. Also on the Defensorxs list is Leopoldo Chavez, an aspiring federal judge in the northern state of Durango. He was imprisoned for almost six years in the United States between 2015 and 2021 for methamphetamine trafficking. "I've never sold myself to you as the perfect candidate," he said in a video posted on social media. "I'm the most imperfect, but the one who most wants to get this done. Fernando Escamilla, who is standing to be a judge in the northern state of Nuevo Leon, was a lawyer for Miguel Angel Trevino, a former leaders of Los Zetas, a cartel known for its brutality. - '0.01 percent' - In the western state of Michoacan, candidate Francisco Herrera is accused by the press of having threatened journalists Roberto Toledo and Armando Linares, who were murdered in 2022. He denies any involvement. In neighboring Jalisco state, Job Daniel Wong is a minister of the Mexican mega-church La Luz Del Mundo, whose leader Naason Joaquin Garcia was convicted in the United States of sexual abusing minors. President Claudia Sheinbaum has downplayed the importance of the controversial candidacies, saying "it's 0.01 percent" of all those standing. Her ruling party promoted the elections, which it says are needed to combat corruption and impunity. Critics say criminal groups who regularly use violence, threats and bribery will seek to increase their influence over the courts by meddling in the vote. The ruling party's Senate leader, Gerardo Fernandez Norona, has said that lawyers who represented drug traffickers "should not participate." The electoral authority will only assess the validity of their candidacies after the elections. Defensorxs director Miguel Alfonso Meza blames the situation on the haste with which the constitutional reform was passed and the lack of rigor in vetting candidacies. "It's impressive that to be a municipal traffic officer you have to take an exam, but to be a criminal judge who resolves cases involving a cartel, all you have to do is send your resume," he said. yug/axm/dr/bgs
