A border judge in Texas appears to have set a $5,000 bond for a Mexican woman facing money laundering charges. Authorities stopped the woman trying to cross the border to Mexico with $250,000 and two pistols.
Court records filed in Weber County show that authorities sent Yeishi Moriya Villasenor, 28, to the local jail on Aug. 23. At the time, Moriya went to see local county sheriff Leticia Martinez, who formally charged her with one count of money laundering and set her bond at $5,000. Records also show Moriya was released on Aug. 25 after a local bail bond was posted.
The case began on Monday at the Juarez-Lincoln Bridge in the border city of Laredo, Texas, when a woman driving a 2022 Volkswagen Jetta approached into Mexico, from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) revealed.
A CBP officer took the woman for a second check, and authorities brought a police dog, which led them to bundles of cash, a 45-caliber pistol and a 9mm pistol. According to CBP, the Webb County Sheriff’s Office filed state charges against Moriya, and the Homeland Security Bureau of Investigation is also investigating the case. It is unclear whether federal authorities will bring charges against Moriya in the future.according to Laredo Morning NewsMoriya will receive $3,000 to transfer the money from Dallas to her home state of Michoacan.
The case has sparked controversy in Mexico because Moriya is the daughter of Artemio Moriya, the mayor of Tacambaro, Michoacán, and a member of the country’s ruling party, MORENA. Yeishi Moriya’s numerous Facebook posts show her promoting her father’s political career.
The MORENA party was founded by Mexican President Andres Manuel López Obrador (AMLO), who was previously quoted as saying the war on drugs was over. The Mexican president’s promotion of a non-violent approach to drug cartels has led to the saying “abrazos no balazos or hugs, not bullets”. This practice has led to many criticisms of AMLO and MORENA, and accusations that the party favors certain criminal organizations.
On Friday night, a few days after Yeishi’s arrest, Artemio Moriya issued a video statement confirming his daughter’s arrest. The politician claimed that Ye Shi was with her husband and two children at the time of her arrest. After his daughter is released from prison, the family intends to go back with the politician’s wife, but he has lost contact with them and has not heard from them. The politician has made no statement about the cash and weapons confiscated by U.S. authorities from his daughter.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning reporter for Breitbart Texas. He co-founded the Cartel Chronicles project in Breitbart Texas with Brandon Darby and Breitbart senior management.you can follow him Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted Iortiz@breitbart.com.
Brandon Darby is the Managing Director and Editor-in-Chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded the Cartel Chronicles project in Breitbart Texas with Ildefonso Ortiz and Breitbart senior management.follow him Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted bdarby@breitbart.com.
