Mexican president under fire after tycoon’s release

Anti-crime activists attack government after judge frees former mayor of Tijuana at whose home officials say they found 88 guns The Mexican government of Felipe Calderón has been left with egg on its face after a judge ordered the release of a former Tijuana mayor arrested earlier this month when dozens of firearms were allegedly discovered in a raid on his mansion. The federal judge released Jorge Hank Rhon saying there was insufficient evidence to indict the 55-year-old gambling magnate and politician, despite reports from officials that 88 guns were found at his sprawling complex in Tijuana. Hank Rhon – a father of 19 – is famed for his fortune, machismo, and exotic animals. But he did not get to enjoy his freedom for long, as he was immediately taken to the state prosecutor’s office for questioning over murders reportedly committed with two of the guns. Hank Rhon was arrested in the early hours of 4 June after soldiers entered his home, which stretches up a hill from the racetrack he owns. The compound also includes a private bullring and zoo populated by white Bengal tigers, guacamayas and other rare animals. The attorney general, Marisela Morales, said Hank Rhon had no permits for 78 of the weapons said to have been found, which comprised 40 rifles and 48 handguns. The raid also yielded 9,298 bullets, 70 ammunition clips and a gas grenade. The judge who ordered Hank Rhon’s release in the early hours of Tuesday morning also freed 10 of his employees detained during the raid. The former mayor left the jail before dawn and was taken to an office of the state prosecution service for questioning, after ballistic tests that allegedly linked two of the seized handguns to murders in Tijuana. Officials said the tests indicated that one of the guns had been used to kill a security guard in December 2009 and the other to kill a car salesman in June 2010. State human rights ombudsman Heriberto Garcia, called in to monitor the case by Hank Rhon’s lawyers, said the local authorities were seeking a judge’s order to allow them to hold him for a maximum of 30 days while the investigations continued. Hank Rhon is a member of a political clan associated with the Institutional Revolutionary party (PRI), which governed from 1929 to 2000. His supporters claim the arrest was politically motivated. His father, Carlos Hank González, was one of Mexico’s most durable powerbrokers. He died in 2001 with an estimated US$1.3bn (£800m) fortune and reputedly coined the Mexican phrase “a politician who is poor is a poor politician”. Anti-crime activists were outraged by the news of Hank Rhon’s release. “This is another farce from the government of President Calderón,” said Eduardo Gallo, one of the leading figures of a growing movement deeply critical of the government’s claims to be hounding major criminals. “The state lacks the ability and the moral authority to tackle organised crime. The law in Mexico is never applied against those with money and political power.” Hank Rhon’s business empire, centred on the racetrack, includes hotels, shopping malls and gaming houses across Mexico. He was elected mayor in 2004, but stepped down in 2006 to fight an unsuccessful campaign to become state governor.While the accusations against him are legion, he has never come so close to facing formal charges. A former bodyguard is currently in prison for the murder of reporter Hector “El Gato” Felix of the local weekly magazine Zeta in 1988. In 1995 he was briefly detained after a suitcase full of ivory tusks and waistcoats made of the skins of endangered ocelots was found. Hank Rhon’s arrest has prompted accusations of orchestration by Calderón as part of an attempt to derail the PRI´s campaign in upcoming elections in Mexico state. Enrique Peña Nieto, the current PRI governor, was mentored by Hank Rhon’s clan and is the runaway favourite to win the 2012 presidential elections. The federal release order is highly embarrassing for the government. Mexico Jo Tuckman guardian.co.uk

Posted by on June 14, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.