The sister of a drug gang leader accused of murdering two Jesuit priests last year has identified a body found shot to death in northern Mexico as her brother, prosecutors said Wednesday.
The murder of the two beloved Jesuit priests in June 2022 shocked Mexico, and Jesuits said the suspect’s death, if confirmed, would only prove that the Mexican government can’t catch criminals and has lost control of parts of the country.
The body is believed to be that of accused killer José Noriel Portillo Gil, alias “El Chueco,” or “The Crooked One.” Despite nine months of supposed searches for Portillo Gil, the circumstances of his death suggest he was executed by his own or a rival drug gang. Portillo Gil’s gang was also implicated in the 2018 killing of an American traveling in the area.
César Jáuregui, the chief prosecutor of the northern state of Sinaloa, said police received a report about a dead body Tuesday in the town of Choix, an area dominated by the Sinaloa drug cartel.
Jáuregui said Diana Carolina Portillo, the suspect’s sister, identified the body of the man, who was believed to have been shot to death sometime Monday, March 20th.
Jáuregui said “we cannot conclusively determine this case is closed until we have scientific proof,” he told a news conference.
But the corpse was relatively fresh, found in a field only a day after the man was killed, and the face was intact, making the sister’s identification very plausible.
The Society of Jesus, as the Jesuits are known, said Wednesday that the mere fact that Portillo Gil had been shot to death didn’t mean justice had been done.
“If it is confirmed that this is the person implicated in the murder of the two Jesuit priests, his turning up dead can in no way be considered a triumph for justice, or a solution to the structural problem of violence” in the mountainous Sierra Tarahumara region, the Jesuits said in a statement.
“On the contrary, the lack of an adequate legal process in the murder case would only imply the Mexican government has failed in its basic duties and confirm that the authorities do not have control of the territory,” according to the Society of Jesus.
Source: Publmetro
