Guatemala Defends Fumble Which Allowed Drug Lord's Escape

Guatemalan prosecutors have defended staff who allowed an infamous Mexican drug lord to escape prison using falsified documentation, insisting they complied with normal procedures.

RELATED: 
Captured in Colombia: One of the World's Most Wanted Narcs

Rudy Esquivel, spokesman for the Special Prosecutor Against Impunity, said Friday that Ramon Antonio Yanez Ochoa was released after officers received a note apparently signed by Judge Javier Eduardo Sotomora Chacon, who was scheduled to review the case.

Ochoa had been sentenced to 28 years in prison in 2016 on charges of conspiracy, illicit association, trade, trafficking and money laundering. He was jailed in Pavoncito.

Yanez appealed his sentence, but the case had not yet arrived in court. The release order bore what appeared to be the signature of Judge Chacon, who described the convict as a "merchant" and said he had served sufficient corporal labor to merit early release.

RELATED:
Brazilian Police 'Euphoric' Over Arrest of Drug Lord Rogerio 157

The order was reviewed internally six times as it traveled through the General Directorate and the detention center, Esquivel said.

Yanez was also wanted by the United States for allegedly heading a drug-trafficking network which transported goods to and from Mexico and Guatemala for distribution.

Authorities say the convict's whereabouts are still unknown, although they believe he could be in Mexico. In January, the department will continue its investigation and further analyze the order which resulted in Yanez' release.