MEXICO/FILE: Tijuana ex-mayor Jorge Hank Rhon arrested on weapons arsenal charges following a home raid

Record ID: 303487

  • Title: MEXICO/FILE: Tijuana ex-mayor Jorge Hank Rhon arrested on weapons arsenal charges following a home raid
  • Date: 5th June 2011
  • Summary: TIJUANA, MEXICO (FILE 2006) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF RHON AT PRI POLITICAL PARTY EVENT
  • Embargoed: 20th June 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Mexico
  • Country: Mexico
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA37FFXEZYVB5WFIZ3CI3OFLSZL
  • Story Text: Mexican gambling tycoon Jorge Hank Rhon, an eccentric former mayor of Tijuana who collected exotic animals, was arrested on Saturday (June 4) after the army found a large weapons cache in his home.
    The millionaire businessman, who owns a successful chain of casinos, a soccer team and racetrack, was arrested during a raid in an upscale Tijuana neighbourhood, the army and federal prosecutors said in a statement.
    Soldiers launched the sweep after receiving an anonymous tip, surprising Hank Rhon and 10 other people with 40 rifles, 48 pistols and a gas grenade, the statement said.
    Hank Rhon belongs to a prominent political family linked to the opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). He lost a bid for governor of Baja California in 2006 but was mayor of border-city Tijuana, a busy drug trafficking corridor, from 2004 to 2007.
    With a long checkered past Hank Rhon has been accused over the years of having links to drug gangs, money laundering, and animal smuggling rings. Security guards employed by the ex-mayor were also found guilty of the gunning down of a Tijuana journalist and critic in 1998.
    "We have been waiting since 10 a.m. to speak to detainees, amongst whom is Jorge Hank Rhon. We are looking to document the incidents of this morning and if they prove relevant, we will refer them to the National Human Rights Commission," said the ombudsman for the Human Rights Commission of Tijuana, Heriberto Garcia.
    Rhon is still popular in parts of Tijuana. Dozens of his supporters surrounded the local attorney general's office upon news of his arrest to block his transfer to Mexico City for further investigations.
    Rhon is popularly known for wearing red crocodile-skin vests and for bringing a famous killer whale that starred in "Free Willy" films to a marine park in Mexico.
  • Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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