Leaked El Chapo Texts Reveal Huge Problems with Mexico's Legal System Roque Planas - The Huffington Post
go to original February 6, 2016

Is Mexico Safer After El Chapo's Recapture? (wochit News)

Since recapturing fugitive drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán Loera last month, Mexican authorities have been eager to prolong the drama. They released footage of the operation, as well as surveillance video showing the moment that Guzmán hijacked a car in order to escape. Perhaps most famously, they leaked a series of three-way text messages between Guzmán, his attorney and actress Kate del Castillo.

The texts offered a glimpse into Guzmán's flirtations with del Castillo, who helped arrange a meeting between the drug baron and actor Sean Penn in October that Penn would later describe in a controversial Rolling Stone article. In the United States, the main thing most people took away from the leaked texts was that prior to their meeting, Guzmán apparently had no idea who Penn was.

It made for fun reading. But some of the wiretaps conducted by the Mexican government were likely illegal and may have violated del Castillo’s constitutional rights, according to several experts interviewed by The WorldPost - raising questions about Mexican officials’ adherence to procedure in criminal investigations, even as the country implements a sweeping reform of the justice system.

Article 16 of the Mexican Constitution protects the privacy of personal communications. Wiretapping private conversations, including text messages, requires an order from a federal judge that states the purpose of the surveillance and establishes that it will only last for a specified period of time.

It’s difficult to know whether the government obtained such a court order for the wiretaps connected with Guzmán's case, because in Mexico, that information is sealed while the criminal case proceeds. Mexican officials haven't commented on it one way or the other, despite prodding from the national media. Mexico’s attorney general’s office declined to discuss the wiretapping issue, noting that the case against Guzmán remains open.

But in practice, Mexican officials routinely flout the rules that govern wiretapping, according to Mike Vigil, a former head of international operations for the Drug Enforcement Administration who worked in Mexico for 13 years.

Read the rest at The Huffington Post

Related: Chapo Guzman May be in Jail But Mexican President Pena Nieto's Reputation Still Ailing (Fox News Latino)

Related: Mexico Could Ask US to Guarantee El Chapo Will Not be Executed (teleSUR)

Related: El Chapo: Mexico’s Latest Telenovela (Fusion)

Related: One Big Reason Mexico Will Still be a Dangerous Place Despite the Capture of 'El Chapo' Guzmán (Business Insider)

Related: To Catch a Drug Lord: Scary Conference in Mexico City (TMZ)

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