Nicaragua convicts Mexican drug gang

A Nicaraguan court has jailed for 30 years 18 Mexicans who tried to enter the country with 9.2 million US dollars, posing as Mexican TV journalists.

On Friday, a judge in Managua gave the group the maximum jail sentence a month after being found guilty of money laundering and organizing a drug trafficking link between Mexico and Costa Rica.

The convicted criminals have denied the charges against them.

Police made the arrests on August 20 after finding the cash and traces of cocaine in six vans — imitating the Mexican media giant Televisa — that the Mexicans used to cross the Honduras-Nicaragua border.

Central American authorities, who often encounter Mexican drug gangs in transit, said the gang had impersonated Televisa journalists to transfer money into Nicaragua in return for drugs.

Shortly after the arrests, the world’s biggest Spanish-language TV network denied any link to the group.

However, an investigation continues on the analysis of a letter of accreditation signed by someone possibly linked to the Televisa broadcasting company.