Mexico seeks answers after Los Chapitos lieutenant ‘El Ponchis’ escapes from prison

The breakout took place on the night of Sunday, May 4. Saúl Francisco Hernández’s absence from the Hermosillo Social Reintegration Center (Cereso) 1, where he was being held, was noticed the following day during roll call, according to the Sonora Prosecutor’s Office. However, it wasn’t reported until the night of Tuesday, May 6, that “El Ponchis,” leader of the Mexican cartel Los Salazar and the “main generator of violence” in Sonora state, had escaped from the prison, just 39 days after his capture.

His arrest on March 25 was loudly announced by Sonora Governor Alfonso Durazo, who boasted of “a decisive blow against organized crime.” He shared the news through a press release on his administration’s website, his own account on the social network X, and the governor’s official Facebook page. Even the Secretariat of Citizen Security, headed by Omar García Harfuch, who referred to Ponchis as “one of the United States’ 10 most-wanted targets,” retweeted the achievement. Today, the link redirecting to the statement is unavailable, nor is there any trace of the tweet and the posts that praised “an important achievement for security” in Sonora.

It was the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) that broke the news to Telemundo two days ago, according to local media outlets in Hermosillo, which were unable to obtain a statement or confirmation from the Sonora governor’s office regarding Pochis’ escape until Tuesday night, via a brief announcement by the then-secretary of public security in Sonora, Víctor Hugo Enríquez.

Hernández’s escape highlights the irregularities within Hermosillo’s Cereso 1 prison, which has been ranked among the top 10 penitentiary centers in the country, with a rating of 7.46 in the 2019 National Penitentiary Supervision Assessment. According to the Prosecutor’s Office, Hernández received three visitors on the night of May 4.

“He was having a night out and guests arrived,” says journalist Héctor Mauleón, according to a line of investigation by authorities. It has not been determined whether he managed to escape the prison hidden among his “guests” or aboard an ambulance, but four people left the prison. The Public Ministry has issued arrest warrants against Hernández for the murder of Chief Prosecutor José Saúl Martínez, which occurred in 2021, as well as for the crimes of criminal association and drug trafficking.

The Ponchis escape comes amid the resignation of Enríquez, who stood down weeks before the incident. However, according to local media, the former official’s departure is due to his tense relationship with prosecutor Gustavo Salas and Secretary of State Security Adolfo Salazar Razo, who did not facilitate Enríquez’s security work.

“At the same time, the internal affairs unit of this ministry has opened an investigation to determine the responsibilities of the personnel involved. If irregularities are found, those involved will be brought before the Board of Honor and Justice, and the corresponding administrative and criminal sanctions will be imposed,” Enríquez said in his final statement as head of State Security.

In the first phase of the investigation, four guards have been arrested, allegedly for aiding Ponchis’ escape. They are charged with aggravated prison evasion, aggravated criminal conspiracy, abuse of authority, and breach of legal duty. They are now in the custody of a judge. The Rewards Committee, part of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, has doubled the bounty for El Ponchis that was in place prior to his arrest. They are now offering one million pesos (around $51,000) to anyone who provides useful, effective, and truthful information that leads to his recapture.

Jorge Morales, a Sonora-based journalist for Radio Fórmula, announced that the whereabouts of the prison system coordinator, Gerardo Chavero Bernal, who had been in the position for just under a year, are unknown. According to sources from the Ministry of Security, he has not been located and has not reported to work. There is still no evidence that he was involved in the Ponchis escape.

Who is El Ponchis?

Saúl Francisco Hernández, alias “El Ponchis” or “El Fantasma” (The Ghost), has been identified as one of the highest-ranking members of Los Salazar — a criminal organization affiliated with the Los Chapitos faction of the Sinaloa Cartel — which operates in the municipalities of Sáric, Santa Anta, Altar, and Magadalena in Sonora. According to Morales, he was not a priority target for the United States, but he did have a pending arrest warrant for an assault against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in the Sásabe region a few months ago.

El Ponchis operated a network that trafficked immigrants, or “exotics” as they are known in the region — people from countries like China and Saudi Arabia — as well as methamphetamine, primarily.

He was captured on March 25 in Hermosillo during an operation involving several security agencies. The DEA has classified him as one of the Sinaloa Cartel’s main operatives north of the Arizona-Sonora border, where violence has been on the rise for several years. “He’s a bloody figure and responsible for many deaths in Mexico. He’s a lieutenant of Los Chapitos,” Mike Vigil, former head of international operations for the DEA, told Telemundo.

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