Mexican security chief says federal judge released brother of notorious drug lord

Mexico's security chief said Tuesday that Abraham Oseguera Cervantes, the brother of Nemesio Oseguera, alias 'El Mencho,' leader of the Jalisco Cartel—New Generation (CJNG), was released late Monday after the Supreme Court ordered his release.

Rosa Icela Rodríguez said at a news conference that the Supreme Court ordered Cervantes released because of potential fabricated evidence.

Cervantes, also known as "Don Rodo," is a prominent leader of the CJNG, one of the most influential and powerful cartels in the country and the world. He was arrested April 21 in a joint operation between the National Guard, army and the Attorney General's Office.

A federal judge ordered Cervantes' release after finding alleged irregularities in his detention.

The Prosecutor's Office admitted in a statement that the National Guard had entered Cervantes' home without a search warrant and lied in its initial report that the arrest had been taken in a public space.

The judge ordered the release of Cervantes on Sunday and fined the state more than $1,400.

Nevertheless, Undersecretary of Public Security Luis Rodriguez Bucio said the judge favored the 71-year-old narco, basing his ruling on the age of the defendant and three videos presented by the defense, which Bucio did not rule out the possibility could have been edited.

According to Bucio, the judge found it "implausible" that a 70-year-old man was heavily armed and in possession of fentanyl, as the National Guard had reported at the time of his arrest.

"(The Judge) estimated that Abraham 'N' was not in conditions to carry a long gun due to his health, based on a simple opinion of the doctor that the detainee offered as a witness and not through an impartial expert opinion," said Bucio.

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador condemned the judge's actions.

"Even if it is the Judiciary, even if it is a judge, it is the prestige of a country, of the nation, of the Mexican state. We cannot be the mockery of anyone," he said at a news conference.