Hernán Bermúdez Requena

Hernán Bermúdez Requena (born 30 September 1953) is a Mexican former government official and politician who served as Secretary of Security and Citizen Protection of Tabasco from 2019 to 2024. He is currently detained and facing criminal charges related to alleged leadership of the criminal organization "La Barredora" (The Sweeper), which authorities link to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG).

Bermúdez was arrested in Paraguay on 12 September 2025 and subsequently expelled from that country to Mexico on 17 September 2025. He is currently imprisoned at the Federal Social Readaptation Center No. 1 (Altiplano) maximum security prison in Almoloya de Juárez, State of Mexico, facing charges that could result in a sentence of up to 158 years in prison.

Early life and education

Hernán Bermúdez Requena was born on 30 September 1953 in Mérida, Yucatán. He studied law at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), graduating with his law degree in 1991.

His law thesis, titled La institución del Ministerio Público Federal y su transformación a la dinámica social actual ("The Institution of the Federal Public Ministry and its Transformation to Current Social Dynamics") proposed implementing what he termed sana censura ("healthy censorship") in mass media to protect societal values.

Political and law enforcement career

Early positions

Bermúdez Requena began his career in state government in the early 1990s during the administration of Governor Manuel Gurría Ordóñez. He held various security-related positions throughout his career, including:

Director of Public Security in 1992

Drug trafficking allegations and arrest

Intelligence reports and investigations

According to leaked military intelligence documents, Bermúdez allegedly operated as the leader of "La Barredora", a criminal organization functioning as an operational arm of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel in Tabasco. The organization was allegedly involved in drug trafficking, extortion ("cobro de piso"), fuel theft from Pemex facilities, human trafficking, and retail drug sales.

Intelligence reports indicated that Bermúdez allegedly gave instructions to criminal leaders about when and where to conduct extortion, whom to assassinate or torture, and where to abandon bodies.

Flight from Mexico and international manhunt

On 14 February 2025, a state arrest warrant was issued against Bermúdez for criminal association, extortion, and express kidnapping.

Arrest in Paraguay and return to Mexico

Bermúdez was arrested on 12 September 2025 in the gated community of Surubi'i in Mariano Roque Alonso, near Asunción. After refusing to accept an abbreviated extradition process, Paraguay expelled him on 17 September 2025 due to irregular entry and stay in the country. Party president Luisa María Alcalde stated that Morena had opened the investigation into Bermúdez and emphasized that there would be no impunity for party members involved in criminal activities.