A judge in Vancouver, Canada, released Eduardo León Trauwitz, who posted a bond of 20,000 Canadian dollars to continue his extradition process to Mexico in freedom, as he is accused of maintaining relations with organized crime while he was in charge of security at Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex).
After granting him his release, the Canadian authorities ordered him to wear an electronic bracelet that will inform him of his location 24 hours a day; the general will not be able to be outside his home from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m.
The judge also withdrew Trauwitz's passport, as there is a risk of flight to another country in order not to face judicial charges against him in Mexico, as he is currently subject to extradition proceedings.
Michael Tammen, a judge of the Supreme Court of Justice of Vancouver, determined to grant the general precautionary measures after a local judge denied the general the benefit of parole on the grounds that there is a high risk of flight.
According to information provided by the Attorney General's Office (FGR), the Court determined that his alleged involvement in crimes considered serious, in addition to the fact that the property damage caused to the Mexican State merit his continued imprisonment, due to the “high risk of flight” that arises in his case.
The agency also thanked the Canadian authorities for “the support that the Government of Canada has provided to Mexico is an example of international solidarity in the face of crime and impunity,” FGR said.
Eduardo León Trauwitz, who was the security officer at Pemex during the six-year term of Enrique Peña Nieto, was arrested last Friday, December 17 in Vancouver, British Columbia, by Interpol and at the request of the FGR, which accuses him of fuel theft and providing protection to huachicoleros.
According to information provided by the prosecutor's office, the general created a criminal organization “huachicol” to extract fuel and protect the criminals who carried out the theft of hydrocarbons: “It was found that he and a group of accomplices, also already prosecuted, allegedly covered up and protected huachicol in the networks of distribution of Pemex”, assured the FGR.
The extradition request submitted by Mexican authorities to the government of Canada dates back to 2019, when judicial proceedings were initiated against the general and three other military personnel who collaborated in a network of huachicol while under contract for Pemex.
León Trauwitz has been singled out for having been close to Enrique Peña Nieto, as he was the former president's escort during his six-year term as governor of the State of Mexico, from 2005 to 2011. Later, when the Mexican was already in the presidency of the republic, he created the Strategic Safeguard Sub-Directorate of Pemex, which would be responsible for ensuring the security of the state oil company's assets.
The general left his post on September 13, 2018, months before the arrival of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador's administration, when he left the country to take refuge in Panama.
Authorities from the Secretariat of National Defense (Sedena) ordered him on several occasions to return to the country to face charges against him, requests that the military man rejected.
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