Former PRI Collaborator Denied Appeal in Human Trafficking Case

A federal judge has denied an appeal filed by Sandra Esther Vaca Cortés, a former associate of Cuauhtémoc Gutiérrez de la Torre, the ex-leader of Mexico's Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) in Mexico City. Vaca Cortés faces charges of attempted human trafficking, specifically aggravated sexual exploitation, linked to a network allegedly led by Gutiérrez de la Torre. Gutiérrez de la Torre himself is currently imprisoned for human trafficking offenses. The denial of Vaca Cortés's appeal means the arrest warrant against her remains in effect. The judge rejected her request for protection against the order, which was issued in April 2025 by a Mexico City criminal court. Prosecutors accuse Vaca Cortés of participating in a scheme to recruit young women to serve Gutiérrez de la Torre. The arrest warrant stems from an investigation initiated in April 2014. This is not the first legal challenge in the case; in August 2022, a different judge had granted Vaca Cortés an appeal, nullifying an earlier arrest warrant and ordering a new, more substantiated order to be issued.

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La Justicia de la Unión NO AMPARA NI PROTEGE a *(Sandra Esther Vaca Cortés) contra el acto que reclamó consistente en la orden de aprehensión de veinticuatro de abril de dos mil veinticinco, en la causa penal*, por su probable responsabilidad en la comisión de dos diversos delitos de tentativa de trata de personas, en su modalidad de explotación sexual agravada, reclamada al Juez Interino Décimo Séptimo Penal de la Ciudad de México…