2 days ago
Jake and Callum Robinson's accused killers linked to Mexican cartel, court document says
Two men charged with the murders of Australian brothers Jake and Callum Robinson in Mexico have been transferred to a maximum-security prison due to their alleged ties to organised crime, court documents have revealed.
In the coming hours, a Mexican court is expected to hear more details about the high-profile murder case, in which the surfers from Perth and their American friend, Carter Rhoad, were killed at their campsite while on a road trip in remote northern Mexico.
The men were shot dead in Baja California, a state of Mexico known for violent cartel activity that often targets innocent victims. It prompted early speculation about criminal cartel involvement.
Local authorities said they believed it was a robbery gone wrong and there was no evidence of cartel links.
But documents published by the court reveal for the first time that two of the accused killers have alleged links to the notoriously violent Sinaloa cartel, which earlier this year was designated a terror group by the Trump administration.
According to an appeals court decision from last year, the two men — Jesús Gerardo and Irineo Francisco — were moved from a local prison in the city of Ensenada to "El Hongo" a high-security desert facility more than 100 kilometres away.
The transfer was ordered last August after the court found the men "require special security measures given that penitentiary authorities have identified them as members of criminal groups affiliated with the Sinaloa Cartel".
One of the defendants had "claimed within the detention centre population that he can escape confinement at any time he chooses, in addition to participating in the use of prohibited substances on behalf of the gang known as 'Los Paisas'", the documents say.
Lawyers for the accused opposed the transfer, but two courts upheld the decision. The documents said both courts were satisfied that the men had connections to criminal groups operating in service of the cartel.
The courts also accepted evidence from prison authorities that the men posed a significant security and governance risk at the Ensenada facility.
The court of appeals noted that both men had "high criminal capacity, high aggressiveness, emotional detachment, high egocentricity, and marked emotional instability".
The appeals court decision was released online through the Baja California court's transparency process. Although the names were blacked out, the ABC was able to identify the suspects in a section of the document that was not properly redacted.
The men's surnames have been withheld under Mexican legal conventions.
Jake Robinson, a 31-year-old doctor, was due to start a job at Geelong Hospital after visiting his brother Callum, 32, who had been living in the US for 12 years.
They were reported missing in late April while travelling with Carter Rhoad, 33, after losing contact with their family in Australia and failing to check into their Airbnb. Search teams discovered their bodies several days later.
Local authorities initially said there was no evidence of a cartel connection and did not publicly identify the suspects as gang members. The newly released court documents are the first to officially link two of the accused to organised crime.
This supports the theory of former Ensenada police director Jesús Luna Lezama, who previously told the ABC the murders bore "the hallmarks of organised crime".
Lead prosecutor Miguel Ángel Gaxiola Rodríguez maintains that the alleged killers' primary motive was to steal the tyres from the victims' vehicle. However, in a new interview ahead of today's court hearing, Mr Lezama said he continued to believe that the brutality of the crimes suggested gang involvement.
"What started as a minor crime — car theft — turned into forced disappearance and the murder of three people, in a way that closely resembles the behaviour of organised crime groups," he told the ABC.
Investigators said all three victims were executed with a single gunshot to the head before their bodies were dumped in a well, where the body of a local farmer was also found.
The brothers' burnt-out car was dumped on a ranch, with its tyres missing. Their campsite was also burnt out.
"It could have been an isolated incident, not necessarily directed by cartel leadership," Mr Lezama said.
"These groups often avoid drawing attention from authorities."
He suggests federal authorities should consider taking over the investigation.
"Given the suspects' cartel ties, federal oversight may be warranted — not just local judges, but federal ones," he said.
"That's why it's important they remain in federal detention centres."
The two men, along with co-accused Ángel Jesús, face charges of aggravated homicide, aggravated robbery, violent robbery, grand theft auto, and forced disappearance. A fourth defendant, Ari Gisell, faces the same charges except for forced disappearance.
A court previously heard that Jesús Gerardo, also known as "El Kekas", visited Ari Gisell, his then-girlfriend, shortly after the killings. He allegedly told her: "I f****ed up three gringos."
Today, two separate hearings will be held at the Ensenada courthouse — one for the three men accused of forced disappearance, and another for all four defendants.
Prosecutors are expected to present more details about the case and the sentences they're seeking.
The trial date remains unclear.
The US government considers the Sinaloa cartel and its rival, the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación, to be the two largest and most dangerous in Mexico.
A US Drug Enforcement Administration threat assessment report last year said: "They are not just drug manufacturers and traffickers; they are organised crime groups, involved in arms trafficking, money laundering, migrant smuggling, sex trafficking, bribery, extortion, and a host of other crimes.
Zulia Orozco, an organised crime researcher at Baja California State University, said the Sinaloa Cartel had expanded its influence dramatically over the past two decades using "very violent techniques".
She doubts the cartel directly ordered the Australians' killings.
"Organised crime usually avoids targeting foreigners to prevent media attention," she said.
Still, she said, the cartel continues to terrorise local communities in what she describes as a "lawless" region:
"The community is essentially on its own, without support from security forces."
Mr Lezama said the killings had a lasting impact on Baja California's surfing community.
"It's still a topic of conversation," he said.
"Especially among surfers and frequent visitors, who now travel with greater caution — particularly to remote or isolated areas."
— with ABC NEWS Verify's Matt Martino and Phoebe Hosier in Washington DC
