The former security secretary of the Mexican state of Tabasco, Hernán Bermúdez Requena, alleged leader of the criminal group La Barredora -linked to the Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG) Cartel-, was admitted Thursday to the maximum security prison El Altiplano, in the State of Mexico, after his expulsion from Paraguay on Wednesday.
After more than a day of travel, which included a stop of more than 12 hours in Bogotá, Bermúdez Requena arrived Thursday night at the Toluca International Airport, capital of the State of Mexico (center), after a stopover in Chiapas (south).
Upon his arrival in Toluca, Hernán ‘N’ – alias ‘el Abuelo’ or ‘Commander H’ – was served an arrest warrant for his possible participation in the crimes of criminal association, extortion, and express kidnapping, according to security sources.
Around 23:00 local time (07:00 GMT on Friday), the detainee was held in the Federal Center for Social Reintegration No. 1, located in the municipality of Almoloya de Juárez, State of Mexico.
The defendant faces a second apprehension order for organized crime and kidnapping, recently issued by a federal judge, which was completed after he entered prison, according to the first reports.
The former Mexican official was imprisoned in Paraguay for almost five days, after being arrested on September 12 in a luxurious home in a closed neighborhood of the city of Mariano Roque Alonso, on the outskirts of Asunción.
On Wednesday, Paraguayan authorities confirmed the expulsion of Bermúdez Requena, who sought to avoid extradition to Mexico, after it was confirmed that his admission and stay in Paraguay were “irregular.”
Bermúdez Requena was Secretary of Security of Tabasco (Southeastern Mexican), during the administration of the then governor of the state, Adam Augusto López Hernández (2019-2021), who is now a senator of the ruling National Regeneration Movement (Morena), after having served as Secretary of the Interior with former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (2018-2024).
Hernan ‘N’ had an arrest warrant since last February for the crimes of criminal association, extortion, and express kidnapping in Tabasco, in addition to a red Interpol file, confirmed in July by Mexican authorities.
‘El Abuelo’ or ‘Comandante H’ is one of the alleged leaders of the ‘La Barredora’, a criminal cell dedicated to crimes such as drug trafficking and extortion, linked to the CJNG, one of the six Mexican cartels that the United States designated as terrorists in February.
According to intelligence, the former official had had ties to criminals since 1999 and was under arrest in 2006 for the execution of a rancher.
According to Paraguayan authorities, Bermúdez Requena intended to install his operations in Paraguay, where he entered illegally from Brazil on an undetermined date.
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