A judge in the State of Mexico has found María Elena Martínez Robles, former mayor of Amanalco, guilty of qualified homicide for the murder of the municipal syndic and his driver, which occurred on January 25, 2023. According to the State of Mexico's Attorney General's Office (FGJEM), the victims, identified by the initials G.J.R. and M.A.L.C., were murdered after being sent, on the orders of then-mayor Martínez Robles, to a high-risk area with criminal groups, from which they did not return alive. The institution stated that the ministry's investigation established that Martínez Robles directly ordered members of a criminal group with origins in Michoacan to murder the municipal syndic, with the aim of maintaining control over decisions within the municipal administration. The judicial authority determined the former official's guilt and scheduled the sentencing hearing for this Tuesday, where the corresponding sentence will be defined. The former mayor was detained as part of "Operation Enjambre," coordinated in the State of Mexico by federal and state authorities. The operation involves the Secretariat of Security and Citizen Protection (SSPC), the Secretariat of National Defense (Sedena), the Secretariat of the Navy (Marina), the National Guard (GN), the National Intelligence Center (CNI), and the State of Mexico Security Secretariat (SSEM). The state prosecutor's office reported that so far, the actions taken under "Operation Enjambre" have resulted in guilty sentences against 10 of the 16 targets who were detained.
