Mexico Judge Gives ‘El Jabón’ 293-Year Term for 2011 Sicilia Murder

A federal judge in Tamaulipas has sentenced José Luis Luquín Delgado, known as “El Jabón,” to 293 years in prison and fined him 2.53 million pesos for the 2011 kidnapping and murder of seven people in Jiutepec, Morelos, including 24-year-old Juan Francisco Sicilia Ortega, son of poet and activist Javier Sicilia. The ruling follows a nearly 15-year investigation led by the Fiscalía General de la República through its regional control unit FECOR. Prosecutors proved that Luquín, an alleged member of the Cártel del Pacífico Sur, participated in abducting the victims on 28 March 2011, killing them the same day and abandoning their bodies in nearby Temixco. He was convicted of kidnapping, organised-crime involvement, homicide and possession of military-grade firearms. The case became emblematic of Mexico’s struggle against drug-related violence after Javier Sicilia launched the Movimiento por la Paz con Justicia y Dignidad in response to his son’s death. The latest verdict adds to a series of lengthy sentences—each exceeding 290 years—handed down since 2024 against other members of the same criminal cell, marking incremental progress in bringing the perpetrators to justice.