MONTERREY, Nuevo León — A top operator for organized crime has exposed flaws within the Mexican court system, given his ability to maintain power despite convictions that should carry a prison sentence. In his most recent run-in with the law, Nuevo Leon authorities let him go free.

Known mainly by his nickname El Sonrics, 42-year-old Miguel Abrego Nava began his criminal career as one of the leading operators for Los Zetas in Nuevo León but eventually joined the ranks of the Beltran Leyva Cartel. His power and influence remains steady despite previous imprisonment.

In May, El Sonrics was the target of an assassination attempt when gunmen intercepted him traveling through the western Monterrey. The failed attempt exposed the fact that Abrego was released from a federal prison in Nayarit–supposedly serving a prison term since 2011. After his hushed release, he returned to Nuevo Leon. The Ford Ranger El Sonrics was traveling in was shot more than 28 times with AR-15 rifles. El Sonrics should have been in prison for multiple crimes tied to the ongoing cartel war.

Two months after the attack, Abrego was quietly released from hospital, having recovered from the injuries that he sustained to include gunshots to the hip, abdomen, and arm.

A law enforcement source confirmed to Breitbart Texas that state officials did not detain or charge El Sonrics after the attack because they considered him a victim. It remains unclear how the self-proclaimed “businessman” was able to avoid scrutiny despite being the target of multiple investigations for murder, drug trafficking, and impersonating law enforcement.

An intelligence report obtained by Breitbart Texas links El Sonrics to the Beltran Leyva Cartel, a criminal organization that keeps control of drug trafficking and illicit businesses in San Pedro. Considered the “Mexican Beverly Hills”, it is home to powerful politicians, millionaires, and businessmen.

MURDER

A criminal complaint from a 1998 case revealed that Abrego was arrested, convicted and sentenced in Monterrey regarding a murder in the parking lot of the famed restaurant, El Rey Del Cabrito. According to the complaint, the cartel leader shot and killed Armando Marquez Hernandez over a 50-kilogram cocaine debt. A state judge sentenced El Sonrics to a 30-year prison sentence on the murder conviction. It remains unclear what the terms were for the early release.

ANOTHER ARREST

A decade after his first collar, the Mexican Army kicked off a large operation in the Chipinque neighborhood of a San Pedro suburb, where they arrested Abrego and 12 of his men. Authorities seized multiple fake uniforms from Mexico’s Federal Investigation Agency, various assault rifles, ammunition magazines, ammunition, and drugs.

It remains unclear how but El Sonrics was able to obtain his release on bond and went back to work. He was not arrested in connection with the raid until 2011 when he was formally charged with drug trafficking, crimes against public safety, and impersonating law enforcement.



Editor’s Note: Breitbart Texas traveled to the Mexican States of Tamaulipas, Coahuila, and Nuevo León to recruit citizen journalists willing to risk their lives and expose the cartels silencing their communities. The writers would face certain death at the hands of the various cartels that operate in those areas including the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas if a pseudonym were not used. Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles are published in both English and in their original Spanish. This article was written by Tony Aranda from Nuevo León.