President Claudia Sheinbaum’s office has agreed to investigate why Morena state deputy Juan Manuel Molina has used three publicly funded police escorts since 2009. Lawyer Elías Flores Gallegos, representing the State Bar Association of Baja California, filed a formal complaint on March 19 challenging the practice as lacking transparency and legal justification.
Three Officers, Two Agencies, No Public Explanation
Molina’s security detail includes two officers from the FGE (Baja California’s state attorney general’s office) and one from the Mexicali Municipal Police. All three have been assigned to the deputy at taxpayer expense for roughly 17 years. Flores Gallegos argues the officers lack specialized close-protection training, raising questions about whether the arrangement serves any genuine security purpose.
The president’s office confirmed on March 23 that Flores Gallegos’s request had been forwarded to relevant federal agencies for review. Officials committed to providing a formal response, though no timeline was specified.
Bar Association Prepares Corruption Complaint
Flores Gallegos contends that if credible threats against Molina exist, they must be documented and justified through official channels. Without such documentation, he argues, the deputy should hire private security at his own expense rather than divert public officers from their duties.
The bar association is also preparing a separate corruption complaint against Molina. That filing will go to Baja California’s state anti-corruption prosecutor and will question the legality of assigning public security personnel as personal bodyguards for a state legislator.
The case feeds into broader scrutiny of government spending in Baja California. Sheinbaum herself has previously singled out the state’s legislature as one of the most expensive in Mexico. Baja California’s state congress has 25 deputies, yet its operating costs have drawn repeated criticism from federal officials and watchdog groups.
Mexicali, the state capital and seat of Baja California’s congress, sits directly on the U.S. border across from Calexico, California. The city is home to a significant cross-border community and serves as the administrative center for a state with roughly 3.8 million residents.
The anti-corruption prosecutor’s office has not publicly commented on the pending complaint. Flores Gallegos told reporters he expects both federal and state reviews to move forward in the coming weeks, according to Punto Norte.