- The co-defendants, whose case is sealed in US federal court, are nephews of Meade’s maternal uncle.
- Foreign Ministry canceled their extradition after Meade became Secretary of State
Mexico City, April 18, 2018.– Documents revealed by ChedrauiLeaks today show the family ties between presidential candidate Jose Antonio Meade and two men released from prison while they awaited extradition to the United States on narcotrafficking charges when the PRI candidate was Secretary of State.
Eduardo Goeters Arbide and Alejandro Goeters Arbide, who are the sons of Meade’s uncle’s sister-in-law, were each accused by US prosecutors of three counts of conspiring and attempting to broker the importation of chemicals for manufacturing methamphetamines:
Charge 1: criminal association to arrange an international transaction involving pseudoephedrine and for manufacturing for the purpose of importing 500 grams or more of methamphetamine, in violation of Section 2 of Title 18 and sections 969 (a), 960 (d) (2) and 963 of Title 21 of the Code of the United States of America
Charge 2: attempt to arrange an international transaction involving pseudoephedrine, in violation of sections 960 (d) (2) and 963 of Title 21 of the US Code
Charge 3: attempt to arrange an international transaction involving pseudoephedrine knowing that the chemical will be used to manufacture methamphetamine, in violation of sections 960 (d) (4) and 963 of Title 21 of the Code of the United States of America.
The Goeters Arbide brothers were arrested in Mexico on November 3, 2012 during the final weeks of the Calderón administration, on the request of the United States. Meade became Secretary of State at the start of the Peña Nieto administration (December 1, 2012) and the Goeters Arbide brothers were freed in June 2013 when the Foreign Ministry stopped their extradition.
The Foreign Ministry stated the US had not satisfied the requirement that it provide evidence that would have justified the brothers’ arrests if the crime was committed in Mexico. Earlier (in January 2013) a Judge for the 13th District Court for the Protection of Rights in the Federal District ruled the US had met its obligations.
The US federal criminal case against them was sealed in the United States District Court Eastern District of Virginia. The case number is 1:10-CR-316.
Eduardo and Alejandro Goeters Arbide are first cousins of Meade’s close relatives who co-founded the company Kubre SA de CV with Juana Cuevas two months before she and Jose Antonio Meade were married. Along with Juana Cuevas, the co-founders of Kubre were Meade’s maternal uncle Jose Kuri Breña Orvañanos, his sons Jose Antonio Kuribreña Arbide and Santiago Kuribreña Arbide, and Pedro Meade Kuribreña – a brother of Jose Antonio Meade.
Jose Kuri Breña Orvañanos is the maternal uncle of Eduardo and Alejandro Goeters Arbide. Kuri Breña Orvañanos’s wife is Dolores Arbide Cuevas. Her sister is Carlota Arbide Cuevas. Carlota Arbide Cuevas and Michael Goeters are the parents of Eduardo and Alejandro Goeters Arbide.
The two families (Kuribreña-Arbide and Goeters-Arbide) shared the same plot of land, registered as Alpes 120 in Lomas de Chapultepec in Mexico City, beginning as early as 1993. A publicly available contract shows Jose Kuri Breña Orvañanos used the address “Alpes 120-A” that year. Carlota and Michael Goeters declared “Alpes 120” as their home, according to a Deed of Trust in Texas the same year. The Mexico City property register shows a single plot of land corresponding to the Alpes 120 in Lomas de Chapultepec.
ChedrauiLeaks has no evidence that Jose Antonio Meade had any involvement in stopping the extradition of the Goeters Arbide brothers, or in their release from prison.
ChedrauiLeaks.org has made the documents available on its website at: http://chedrauileaks.org/meade/
About ChedrauiLeaks.org
ChedrauiLeaks.org is a project of the United Food and Commercial Workers, to investigate the connections between the Chedraui family and other Mexican elites as well as their links to business and property in the United States, the business and political activities of Mexican elites generally, and provide information about the struggle of El Super workers for a better life. ChedrauiLeaks is not stating that any members of the Chedraui family or its businesses had any involvement with the events referenced in this press release.
##