Former Mexican governor, Cesar Duarte Jaquez who has been on the run has finally been arrested in the United States on corruption charges.
Cesar Duarte Jaquez was arrested on Wednesday by the U.S. Marshals Service and will have a detention hearing in the next 72 hours in a federal courtroom for the Southern District of Florida, the Mexican Attorney General’s Office said in a statement.
Duarte, 57, has been wanted on state corruption charges since 2017 and on federal illegal enrichment and conspiracy charges since 2019. The Mexican government last year requested his extradition from the United States after he was allegedly spotted in El Paso, Texas and Albuquerque, N.M.
Mr Duarte was governor of Chihuahua from October 2010 to October 2016.
Upon leaving office, the incoming administration of Gov. Javier Corral allegedly discovered a budget deficit in excess of $2.5 billion and suspected the former governor had routed at least $12 million to his former political party, the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI.
He was known for his lavish lifestyle and is accused of having used an official helicopter to fly friends and family to his ranch on weekends.
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He is also alleged to have stolen hundreds of cows imported by the state to help small-scale Mexican ranchers replace their herds after a devastating drought.