“Socalj” for Borderland Beat
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Following a wave of public violence including the armed robberies of several grocery and retail stores primarily in Villahermosa, Tabasco; there is a new Sheriff in town. It is an old cliche saying; however, in this case, it may be that the new head of public security in the state, is the same as the old Sheriff.
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SSPC Bermúdez Resigns
On January 5, 2024, the Government of Tabasco confirmed the resignation of Hernán Bermúdez Requena as head of the state Secretary of Security and Citizen Protection (SSPC).
His resignation occurred amid a wave of violence in different parts of the state, mainly in Villahermosa, where multiple commercial robberies have occurred. After the wave of assaults on dozens of grocery stores in the city, the governor of Tabasco, Carlos Manuel Merino Campos, reported in a statement that 8 alleged criminals related to the robberies were arrested.
He mentioned that: “Tabasco is not and will not be hostage to crime, justice, security, and peace are guaranteed for the tranquility of Tabasco families.”
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| Adán Augusto López Hernández appointed him as SSPC of Tabasco on December 11, 2019. |
When Bermúdez took office, then Governor López Hernández said his profile was ideal for leading the agency. By then, Bermúdez was already in the crosshairs of the Southeast Regional Fusion and Intelligence Center (CERFISE) and the Secretariat of National Defense (SEDENA) for apparent links to organized crime.
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José del Carmen Castillo Ramírez is now appointed to take charge of the office after serving as Commissioner of the State Police. In an interview with “Tabasco Hoy,” Castillo Ramírez asked the population not to panic since the authorities are working to guarantee peace in the city.
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SEDENA Leaks
Leaks from the Guacamaya hacking of SEDENA in 2022 revealed that by November 2019, an alleged relationship between Requena and a criminal leader in the region had already been identified with Trinidad Alberto de la Cruz Miranda, “El Pelón de Playas” who was captured on December 30, 2019.
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In more than a dozen reports, Cerfi Sureste identified Hernán Bermúdez Requeña as the “alleged leader of the CJNG in Tabasco,” known under the nickname “Comandante ‘H’,” and traced multiple connections to criminal groups in the region including the group La Barredora.
One of the 2021 reports mentions that the so-called “Commander H” intervened so that the criminal group took control of four Tabasco municipalities, including Macuspana, where President López Obrador is from. “Hernán Bermúdez Requena, ‘Commander H’, authorized ‘Pantera’ (alleged leader of the criminal group) to take control of Huimaguillo and part of Cárdenas, Tabasco,” said an intelligence report dated May 2021.
A report from Cerfi Sureste indicated that at least three huachicolero leaders from the area spoke, in private conversations, about the alleged relationships between the criminal Benjamín Mollinedo Montiel, “Pantera”, and “the governor” López Hernández. Mollinedo was at the time a “priority target” of SEDENA as leader of “La Barredora”.
In another report sent just last August 30, Cerfi indicated that Bermúdez, as well as José del Carmen Castillo Ramírez and Leonardo Arturo Leyva Ávalo – who were respectively appointed Commissioner and General Director of the Tabasco State Police by Adán Augusto López Hernández, are part of “La Barredora”.
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| “El Pelón de Playas” |
Trinidad Alberto de la Cruz Miranda is a former state police officer who was detained by the National Guard on December 30, 2019, in a safe house south of Villahermosa. The man was investigated for crimes such as extortion, kidnapping, vehicle theft, homicides, and drug trafficking.
When he was arrested, the National Guard transferred him to Military Zone 30, the same base where the military report was prepared that linked him to criminal activities with the newly appointed Secretary of State Security.
“Report regarding the possible cooptation and corruption of authorities of the Secretariat of Citizen Public Security of Tabasco, due to the alleged negotiation for the release of members of organized crime.”
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New Chief’s Ties to CJNG/La Barredora
When that report was issued, Adán Augusto López Hernández was still governor of Tabasco. His friend and fellow party member President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, appointed him to head the SEGOB on August 30, 2021.
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SEDENA Claims No Cartels Operate in Tabasco
On January 7, 2024, after declaring that the priority is to maintain the security of the Tabasco population, Héctor Francisco Morán González, commander of the 30th Military Zone, reiterated that cartels do not operate in Tabasco and that the latest criminal acts are acts perpetrated by local criminal gangs.
“We don’t have cartels here, they really are a group of vandals who are the same, before they were called La Barredora, then they called themselves the Northeast Cartel when it no longer suits them to be Barredora, then they call themselves the Jalisco Cartel, they are calling themselves.” He pointed out that based on their investigations and operations, this group that has tried to destabilize tranquility in the state are local criminal cells, which continually name themselves cartels according to their interests.
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| Tabasco State Police began guarding several schools on the first day of class from Christmas break. |
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