Morena promotes a former drug trafficker convicted in the U.S. as a judge.

Nominated by the Legislative Committee, Leopoldo Chávez Vargas acknowledged having spent almost six years in prison for drug trafficking. Today he seeks to become a federal judge, with the support of the judicial model promoted by Morena.

Chávez was convicted in the United States for attempting to cross the border with methamphetamine hidden in a fire extinguisher. Despite his criminal record, he is now being promoted to serve as a district judge.

A criminal past that doesn't prevent a judicial future

In a public video, Chávez admits to having been detained in 2015 at the Lincoln-Juárez bridge. He was charged with conspiracy, importation, and distribution of drugs, and served a sentence of five years and seven months in a Texas prison.

After being released in 2021, he returned to Mexico and in 2024 applied for his professional license. Shortly after, he was hired as a legal advisor in the municipality of Nuevo Ideal, Durango.

Morena's judicial model: rehabilitation or audacity?

Chávez's candidacy aligns with the model promoted by the Executive, where criminal background checks are removed in judicial appointments.

The case was challenged by the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies before the TEPJF, but the federal government keeps its support for the candidate. Organizations like Defensorxs AC have warned that the nomination represents a risk to judicial independence due to his criminal record and lack of experience.

Rewarding crime, punishing merit

Meanwhile, thousands of experienced jurists are ignored, a former drug trafficker advances toward the Judiciary. This is not reintegration; it is a clear display of institutionalized impunity.

Morena promotes its judicial model as "closer to the people", but if that means empowering criminals, justice loses all legitimacy.

"The president doesn't want an independent Judiciary; he wants it obedient."

With appointments like this, the so-called Fourth Transformation ceases to be a social justice project and becomes a refuge for criminals disguised as public servants.

Justice becomes a political instrument, and citizens remain trapped in a slow, inefficient system increasingly removed from legality.