The Attorney General's Office (FGR) confirmed that the arrest warrant against the former governor of Nayarit, Ney González, remains in effect, and that it is investigating Roberto Sandoval, who are accused of their alleged participation in the irregular sale of state-owned tourist lands. According to the specialized prosecutor for Jurisdictional Control, Cristina Reséndiz Durruti, the warrants were requested as of 2023 and are part of a case file initiated after the complaint from the Bahía de Banderas Trust (FIBBA). Authorities detected apparent sham operations in the sale and transfer of coastal lands in Bahía de Banderas and Compostela between 2005 and 2021, a period that covers the administrations of both former PRI governors. Federal investigations point to an irregular scheme of disincorporation of tourist lands belonging to FIBBA being established during Ney González's government (2005–2011). According to the FGR, the properties were sold at prices far below their commercial value—some at 50 pesos per square meter—through sham contracts and parallel trusts that allowed for the diversion of public resources for the benefit of individuals and companies linked to state officials. Prosecutor Reséndiz explained that the FGR requested an arrest warrant and an Interpol Red Notice against Sánchez González last year, after his alleged participation in crimes of operations with resources of illicit origin, embezzlement, and abuse of public service was proven. At the press conference, where state authorities, led by Governor Miguel Ángel Navarro, presented the results of the 'Mega Operation Nayarit,' federal authorities recalled that the case remains open. Meanwhile, local authorities insisted that 9.6 million square meters of land in tourist areas such as Nuevo Vallarta, Bucerías, La Cruz de Huanacaxtle, Sayulita, and Compostela have been recovered, valued at over 50 billion pesos. Regarding former Governor Roberto Sandoval Castañeda (2011–2017), the federal authority recalled that he is being investigated for continuing the same irregular land practices, although there is no federal arrest warrant yet in this case. The former governor has been imprisoned in the federal prison of El Rincón, in Tepic, since 2021, prosecuted for money laundering and sentenced to seven years in prison for falsifying documents to appropriate a plot of land in San Blas. If the sentence is ratified, he could regain his freedom in 2028; however, he still faces two cases of common jurisdiction and one of federal jurisdiction—operations with resources of illicit origin—and the investigation into his alleged involvement in the tourist land operations. Seizures and scope of the operation As part of the investigation, the FGR secured 359 bank accounts linked to former officials, businessmen, and relatives of the former governors, with resources amounting to more than 7 billion pesos, according to State Prosecutor Petronilo Díaz Ponce. For the FGR, this case file represents one of the largest real estate corruption cases in the country, by documenting the systematic sale of public lands in the Riviera Nayarita through contract simulation and diversion of funds from the state trust. Although the FGR confirmed the investigations are ongoing, it did not announce new legal actions. State authorities maintain that the resolutions obtained—27 contractual resolutions, 9 judicial transaction agreements, and 17 reparation agreements—constitute 'res judicata,' meaning firm decisions that do not allow for appeal or amparo. According to the prosecutor of Nayarit, Petronilo Díaz Ponce Medrano, the recovery of 9.7 million square meters is a done thanks to the application of absolute nullity and the figure of a continuing crime, which would prevent the statute of limitations from applying to the cases. However, affected parties question this stance, by warning that there are still legal proceedings underway and families who claim to have bought or sold the land in good faith, without knowledge of the irregularities attributed to former officials or developers. Furthermore, they demand that the state government has not clarified if these cases were included in the reported resolutions or what mechanisms exist to repair the economic damage to those who did not participate in the alleged illicit acts.
