Mexican Cartel Leader Taken to High-Security Jail Ahead of Trial, Official Says

BUENOS AIRES (Sputnik) - Jose Antonio Yepez Ortiz, also known as El Marro (the sledgehammer), the suspected leader of Mexico’s notorious Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel, has been placed in a high-security prison facility where he will be awaiting trial, Secretary of Security and Civil Protection Alfonso Durazo said on Friday.

"This morning, Jose Antonio Y., known by the El Marro alias, the alleged leader of the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel, was taken to the Altiplano penitentiary facility … He will be held there and he will stand before a federal judge for organized crime and fuel theft", Durazo tweeted.

Ahí será puesto a disposición del juez federal que lo requiere por delincuencia organizada y robo de combustible. Expreso mi reconocimiento al trabajo conjunto de la @FGRMexico y la @SEDENAmx. 2/2

— Alfonso Durazo (@AlfonsoDurazo) August 7, 2020

The Altiplano maximum-security federal prison is located in the state of Mexico.

Yepez Ortiz was detained with five other people on 2 August by Mexican security forces in the central Guanajuato state.

In April 2019, reports emerged that the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel, among other criminal groups, made threats to Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. El Marro reportedly urged the president to stop a crackdown on cartels stealing fuel from pipelines and promised to resort to violence otherwise.