Former Tabasco security minister arrested in Paraguay on organized crime charges
Hernán Bermúdez Requena, a former security minister in the state of Tabasco who is accused of heading up a crime organization, was arrested in Paraguay on Friday, Mexican and Paraguayan authorities said.
The Public Ministry of Paraguay said in a statement that it was involved in an “international cooperation procedure” that resulted in the arrest of Bermúdez, alleged leader of La Barredora, a crime group linked to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG).
It noted that the arrest — which was filmed — occurred for “extradition purposes.”
The suspect, security minister during the governorships of Adán Augusto López Hernández (2019-2021) and Carlos Manuel Merino Campos (2021-2024) in the Gulf coast state of Tabasco, fled Mexico from Mérida, Yucatán, in early 2025. He was detained at a home in an exclusive area of Asunción, the capital of Paraguay.
Federal security authorities in Mexico said in a joint statement that they were involved in the arrest of Bermúdez, also known as “El Abuelo” (The Grandfather) and “Comandante H” (Commander H).
They said that the 72-year-old former state security minister was wanted on charges of criminal association, extortion and express kidnapping.
In a social media post, President Claudia Sheinbaum thanked the president of Paraguay, Santiago Peña, for his “collaboration” in the arrest of Bermúdez, who held other security positions in Tabasco before becoming security minister in 2019.
“Our strategy of attention to the causes [of crime] and zero impunity reduces violence in our country,” she added.
The accusations against Bermúdez have been at the center of a major political scandal in Mexico.
Opposition formally accuses AMLO’s ex-interior minister of ties to Tabasco crime gang
López Hernández, the governor who appointed him as security minister, has faced questions over what he knew about the alleged criminal activities of his police chief.
He relinquished the governorship of Tabasco to become interior minister in the federal government led by former president Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
After the arrest of Bermúdez, López Hernández — now the ruling Morena party’s top senator — reiterated his willingness to speak to authorities about the case against his former security minister. Opposition politicians have claimed that it is not possible that he was unaware that his security minister in Tabasco headed up a criminal organization.
López Hernández and Bermúdez are said to have a relationship dating back more than 30 years.
López faces allegations that, in his capacity as notary public, he helped Bermúdez and his brother set up shell companies utilized to carry out illegal activities as well as earn millions in state-issued contracts.
Extradition to Mexico may take months
Bermúdez’s transfer to Mexico will not be swift, as the suspect, during a hearing on Saturday, refused to agree to a simplified extradition process.
The regular extradition process in Paraguay takes 60 days, meaning that the former security minister is expected to return to Mexico in November.
Bermúdez is currently in the custody of Paraguay’s National Anti-Drugs Secretariat (SENAD).
The Public Ministry of Paraguay said that it received an extradition request from Mexico in accordance with an extradition treaty between the two countries.
During the Friday night raid at the house where Bermúdez was hiding, authorities seized “assets that could constitute important evidence for the open [criminal] process” in Mexico, the Public Ministry said.
The former official is believed to have been in Paraguay since March. Bermúdez was reportedly in Panama, Spain and Brazil before entering Paraguay.
His nephew was arrested in Paraguay in July on illegal gambling charges, a development that reportedly alerted Paraguayan authorities to the possibility that Bermúdez was also in the South American nation.
‘One of Mexico’s most wanted crime bosses’
Paraguayan President Peña said on social media that his government dealt a “forceful blow” to “transnational organized crime” by arresting Bermúdez.
He described “El Abuelo” as “one of Mexico’s most wanted capos,” or crime bosses, and an ally of the CJNG.
Peña said that Paraguayan authorities had collaborated closely with Mexico’s National Intelligence Center on the operation to arrest Bermúdez.
“I recognize and value the commitment of the president of Mexico, @Claudiashein, whose cooperation was key to achieving this great accomplishment,” he added.
“Paraguay won’t be a refuge for criminals and will remain resolute in the fight against organized crime,” Peña said.
La Barredora
La Barredora is a Tabasco-based criminal organization said to be affiliated with the CJNG, one of six Mexican cartels designated as foreign terrorist organizations by the United States government.
The crime group is allegedly involved in a range of illicit activities, including migrant trafficking, drug trafficking, fuel theft and extortion.
The newspaper Excélsior reported last month that “the structure” of La Barredora “is characterized by operating from the inside of public institutions, especially in security areas, which allowed it to expand without facing an effective response from the state.”
With reports from EFE, Reforma, Infobae, El País and La Jornada
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