Bride Arrested in Her Wedding Dress on Charges Connected to Large-Scale Extortion Case in Mexico
Nancy N. was booked into jail still wearing her wedding dress and veil. Her groom, who goes by the nickname “Ratón” is still on the run, according to Mexican authorities
The woman identified only as “Nancy N.” was arrested on her wedding day, then booked into jail on extortion charges, still in her bridal dress and veil.
Meanwhile, the groom, “Clemente N” who goes by the nickname “Ratón” meaning “Mouse” – and who is also implicated in the case out of central Mexico – remains on the run, according to Mexican prosecutors.
Prosecutors allege the couple is part of El Borrego, a criminal cell known for extorting chicken and egg merchants and suspected in the disappearance of four local poultry shop workers last year. El Borrego has also been engaged in a deadly feud with another local criminal group for extortion rights in the capital city of Toluca near Mexico City, according to a press release from the Attorney General’s Office out of the State of Mexico.
The organization has forced local wholesalers to pay “an illegal quota” of two pesos per kilo on the chickens and eggs they sell and retailers to pay five pesos, the fine of which was long-delivered to men in the group, who went by the aliases “El Fresa” and “El Pez” (“The Strawberry and “The Fish”), prosecutors stated in a translated version of the press release.
In December, shortly after her wedding ceremony, the bride – along with five other men allegedly associated with the criminal organization – were arrested, per prosecutors. Meanwhile, the newly-married “Ratón” is still wanted by Mexican law enforcement for homicide and extortion.
La @FiscaliaEdomex con apoyo de @SEDEMA_CDMX, @SEMAR_mx, @SSPCMexico @GN_MEXICO_, @CONASE_mx #CONAHO, #CNI, @SS_Edomex y policías municipales fueron detenidos objetivos prioritarios relacionados con extorsiones al comercio de pollo y huevo entre otros delitos. (2/2) pic.twitter.com/3N56XQkEFE
— Fiscalía Edoméx (@FiscaliaEdomex) January 12, 2024
Also in December, several associates were arrested in connection to the disappearance of the four poultry shop workers, who prosecutors believe went missing when an arm of the group meant to “deprive chicken and egg merchants and workers of their freedom with the purpose of ‘aligning them’” kidnapped them December 22.
Among those arrested in connection to the kidnappings was a man who went by the nickname “Opossum” and who was “captured while driving an Explorer-type truck,” which prosecutors say they believe “was allegedly used to transport the victims.”
Related: Mexican Authorities Investigating After Alleged Cartel-Drone Attack: Report
The bridal couple and their and their El Borrego associatesare allegedly tied to the cartel known as La Familia Michoacana, CBS News reported, citing prosecutors.
That cartel was also allegedly linked to a drone attack on a small village in the neighboring state of Guerrero, which charred five people to death in a blown-up vehicle, earlier this month.
Prosecutors logged 4,010 extortions in the state last year, much of it in just a handful of cities, including Toluca.
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In the four-page press release, prosecutors said they were cracking down on extortion, noting that 593 people had been detained since the end of 2022 on extortion charges and 274 people had been convicted.
Among those detained was a man named Nabor, who prosecutors called “an extortionist, main hoarder and controller of the chicken and egg trade” in several municipalities, as well as a man who went by the alias “El Pollo” or “The Chicken.” Prosecutors said both men were “in cahoots” with the bridal couple’s El Borrego crime syndicate.
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