Iberdrola Case / Caro Quintero’s Arrest

Iberdrola Case. President López Obrador informed that the government is investigating Iberdrola in which a judge suspended the payment of the MX$9 billion fine imposed by the Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE) to Iberdrola Energía Monterrey for selling electric energy to non-authorized companies between 2019 and 2020.

The Mexican president criticized the decision to grant the company an amparo and accused it of delivering documents to the judges. Moreover, he warned about the possibility of reporting judges if they acted irregularly.

Last May 25, the CRE determined to impose a penalty fee on Iberdrola for allegedly selling electricity to enterprises that did not originally appear as its partners in its “Dulces Nombres” plant in Pesqueria, Nuevo Leon.  According to the regulatory commission, the commercialization of electricity to the “simulated” partners was carried out between Jan 2019 and June 2020.

The imposed fine represents 56.4 percent of the revenuethat the company obtained during the first trimester of the year.

Rafael Caro Quintero’s Arrest. After the arrest of the famous drug dealer Rafael Caro Quintero, President López Obrador clarified that the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) did not have direct interference in the operations. Instead, he said the arrest was carried out by the prosecutor’s office with the support of Mexico´s Navy.

Caro Quintero was among the FBI´s Top 10 most wanted and has a US extradition order. Furthermore, the drug dealer is considered by Mexican authorities as the founder of the Guadalajara Cartel and is being accused of trafficking methamphetamines, heroin, cocaine and marihuana. The Mexican Navy reported that the operative was executed in the municipality of San Simon in Sinaloa and that the drug dealer was found behind a bush next toa dog.

Nuevo Leon’s drought. Amid Nuevo Leon’s water scarcity problems, President López Obrador asked breweries and beverage factories to decrease or stop production in order to help the population with this water situation. Moreover, he pointed out that companies have been helping before the lack of water in Monterrey.

At the beginning of this month, the Head of the National Water Commission (CONAGUA), Germán Martinez Santoyo, revealed that of the 63 companies that use Nuevo Leon´s aquifer, 38 have contacted the state´s government to reach agreements in order to combat water scarcity in the entity.

Nuevo Leon has suffered prolonged drought seasons, and this had led the government to enforce water cuts over the past months. Starting on May 8 until August, 50 percent of the population in the metropolitan area will not have water from 6pm to 6am, unless there is a meteorological phenomenon that refills the water dams. This, in addition to the water cuts that have been enforced once a week where there is no water after 10pm.