Rodrigo Benítez Pérez, former deputy prosecutor and former magistrate of the Superior Court of Justice in the Judicial Branch of Nayarit, was arrested in the city of Elizabeth, New Jersey, by agents of the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The former official’s arrest came after he was declared a fugitive since November 2024.
According to official information, Benítez Pérez remains in custody at the Elizabeth Contractual Detention Center, a facility operated by ICE for individuals subject to immigration proceedings or deportation. To date, the US agency has not revealed the exact date of his arrest or the specific reasons for the immigration proceedings.
However, his arrest followed the loss of constitutional immunity and his removal from office as a magistrate, approved by the Nayarit Congress on November 21, 2024.
The Attorney General’s Office (FGR) is investigating him for high-impact crimes. Among them, the alleged forced disappearance of 39 people in Nayarit since 2017. He also faces charges of destruction of evidence, rape—allegedly committed in 2018 against a female employee under his command—and influence peddling during his tenure as Director General of Ministerial Investigations in the state prosecutor’s office between 2017 and 2023.
The process of stripping Benítez Pérez of his immunity was marked by intense legislative debate. During an ordinary public session, the Nayarit Congress acted as a Grand Jury and approved the ruling that allowed Benítez Pérez’s immunity to be removed with 24 votes in favor and six abstentions. The resolution stated that the objective was to allow the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office to continue its investigations into the alleged crimes.
At the same time, the former judge’s defense argued that the case should fall under the jurisdiction of the Congress of the Union, but the local legislature upheld the declaration of admissibility and removed him from office.
Despite his fugitive status, Benítez Pérez remained active on social media. There, he published allegations of alleged acts of corruption and fuel theft. In his posts, he named the governor of Nayarit, state officials, and figures such as Sergio Carmona, “The King of Fuel theft.”
Although these accusations were not accompanied by verifiable evidence, they generated political controversy and increased media attention on the case.
Benítez Pérez’s legal future will depend on immigration proceedings in the United States and the legal actions taken by the Attorney General’s Office in Mexico. His detention in the United States could open the door to a formal extradition request, if Mexican authorities deem there is sufficient evidence to bring him before a Mexican court.
Meanwhile, the Elizabeth Contractual Detention Center, where he is currently being held, operates under federal standards and houses individuals undergoing immigration review.
Source: infobae
