Alonso Ancira Detained in Spain
Mexican steelmaker Altos Hornos de Mexico (AHMSA) of Monclova, Coahuila, Mexico reported to Reuters that its Chairman Alonso Ancira was detained in Mallorca, Spain on Tuesday, May 28, 2019, upon his arrival at that city’s international airport in AHMSA’s company jet by Spanish police. AHMSA noted it did not know why Ancira was detained in Spain.
The Mexican Finance Ministry’s Financial Intelligence Unit froze AHMSA’s bank accounts on Monday, May 27, 2019. AHMSA stated that the freezing of its bank and financial accounts is “unprecedented, arbitrary,” and “violated its rights.”
Ancira is to appear before a Spanish Court on Wednesday, May 29, 2019, to learn about the reasons why the Mexican Attorney General’s Office or a Mexican Judge issued a warrant or order of detention for his person.
A Mexican Judge has also ordered the detention of former Petroleos de Mexico (PEMEX) General Manager Emilio Lozoya. Lozoya has not been detained as of press time. The Mexican Finance Ministry’s Financial Intelligence Unit also froze the financial and bank accounts of Lozoya.
Warrants of detention were issued for both Ancira and Lozoya and others concerning the sale of a Mexican fertilizer plant by AHMSA to PEMEX allegedly highly inflated in its sale price.
AHMSA is Mexico’s largest steelmaker and is affiliated indirectly or directly with Dos Republicas Coal Partnership in Eagle Pass, Texas, which operates an open surface coal mine known as “Eagle Pass Mine” in northern Maverick County, Texas permitted by both the Railroad Commission of Texas and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality in Austin, Texas.
Dos Republicas Coal Partnership is currently seeking renewal of its open surface coal mining permit from the Railroad Commission of Texas under a contested case administrative hearing. Maverick County, the City of Eagle Pass, Texas, the Maverick County Environmental and Public Health Association, and local farmers and ranchers are contesting the granting of a renewal permit by the Railroad Commission of Texas to Dos Republicas Coal Partnership to operate the controversial open surface coal mine in Eagle Pass, Texas, alleging that the mine’s operations pollute the air and the community’s only source of potable water, the Rio Grande River, due to its discharge of coal mining water waste into Elm Creek and other water tributaries that discharge into the Rio Grande.
It is unknown how the Mexican Finance Ministry’s Financial Intelligence Unit investigation may affect, if any, the current proceedings before the Railroad Commission of Texas and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality proceedings concerning the controversial open surface coal mine known as “Eagle Pass Mine.”
