Eight months ago my 18-year-old son Sergio was driving to a high school soccer game in Mexico with his friend Julio when police stopped him for a routine vehicle search. Due to a mistake by the U.S. government, both Sergio and Julio have been in prison for drug trafficking and even though the US authorities recognized their mistake, Mexico still refuses to set them free.
Our family bought the minivan Julio was driving at an auction in Texas. We had no idea that the van had been seized in 2011 for cocaine trafficking or that U.S. authorities didn’t inspect it thoroughly before selling it in the auction. They missed a cocaine package hidden inside the car's dashboard and that package was found when Sergio and Julio were searched at the check point.
The drugs found in the van were packaged exactly the same as they were when Mexican police seized them in 2011 from the car. Each package had the word "Good" written with a black marker and U.S. officials have acknowledged they might have missed part of the drug. Documents and photos show that the drug seized from our van is identical to that seized in 2011 at the border.
If the US government has already recognized this mistake, we cannot understand why authorities in Mexico insist in keeping them in jail in spite of their proven innocence.
It’s been more than eight months that Sergio and Julio have been in prison. When we have gone to visit them, they tell us they’re depressed, they barely eat and have started to present health problems. They keep telling us “mom, get me out of here...please...I can’t do this anymore...”.
We have done everything within our reach and possibilities. We’re desperate. The media has been telling our story but it hasn’t been enough. We need your help to ask that the U.S. Department of Justice do everything they can to fix the mistake they have made and for the Mexican General Attorney to recognize our children’s innocence so they can return home and can get their freedom and lives back.
No comments:
Post a Comment