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MEXICO CITY (AP) — A judge in Mexico ordered the release of the alleged second-in-command of Mexico's most violent drug cartel, judicial officials said Wednesday.
But prosecutors quickly said they would appeal the ruling, and detained Ruben Oseguera Gonzalez for questioning in another case involving two people who went missing in the western state of Michoacan.
It would have been the second time the cartel leader's son has been released.
Oseguera Gonzalez and another man were arrested on June 23 on various charges, including weapons possession and organized crime.
But on Wednesday, the Federal Judiciary Council said a judge found insufficient evidence to hold Oseguera Gonzalez for trial.
The judge also ruled federal police had entered his house without a warrant, and the suspects were not immediately taken before a judge or given access to a lawyer.
The federal Attorney General's Office said it disagreed with the ruling, saying the judge hadn't given proper consideration to the evidence.
The office noted that Oseguera Gonzalez had both a lawyer and U.S. consular assistance.
Oseguera Gonzalez was born in California and holds dual U.S.-Mexican citizenship.
He arrested and held for almost a year on similar charges in 2014. A court ordered him released in January 2015, but it was not clear why.
Oseguera Gonzalez bears the nickname "el Menchito," the diminutive of his father's nickname. His father, Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, is the alleged leader of the Jalisco New Generation cartel and is nicknamed "Mencho," a phonetic derivation of his first name.
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