Sheinbaum: We can't forget the setup by Loret de Mola and García Luna in the Israel Vallarta case.

MEXICO CITY (apro).- After confirming the acquittal of Israel Vallarta Cisneros after nearly 20 years in prison for alleged kidnapping, President Claudia Sheinbaum recalled the television montage of the arrest of "Los Zodiaco," hosted by Carlos Loret de Mola on Televisa and orchestrated by Genaro García Luna, then head of the Federal Investigation Agency (AFI).

"We can't forget how the arrest and the television set-up conducted by (Carlos) Loret de Mola unfolded. It was later recognized as a set-up. And who did the set-up? Well, (Genaro) García Luna, currently imprisoned in the United States for drug trafficking," he said.

When speaking about García Luna, the president referred to former President Felipe Calderón, who appointed the now imprisoned president as his Secretary of Public Security during his six-year term.

The “telemontage”

On the morning of December 9, 2005, Televisa's Primero Noticias newscast, hosted by journalist Carlos Loret de Mola, presented a live broadcast of an operation at the "Las Chinitas" ranch, located on the Mexico-Cuernavaca freeway, to show the arrest of "Los Zodiaco," a gang of alleged kidnappers.

That day – the news of which was also covered by TV Azteca – Israel Vallarta and Frenchwoman Florence Cassez – already exonerated and released in 2013 – were arrested.

It was finally confirmed that the operation was carried out on December 8, 2005, one day before what television stations reported as a "live" incident. The incident was described as a "television montage."

Those in charge of that operation were the then director of the Federal Investigation Agency (AFI), Genaro García Luna—now sentenced to 38 years in prison in the United States—and his close collaborator, Luis Cárdenas Palomino, who even appears in the broadcast.

Loret and Alatorre

After the "telemontage" was shown, the two star hosts of Televisa and TV Azteca explained what happened.

"I didn't realize this setup, I didn't realize this trap," Loret de Mola said.

“The case was a shock for all of us at Primero Noticias. We had to report on her arrest, and then we learned it was a setup. The French citizen had been arrested the day before, and the authorities faked and simulated an operation as if it were happening live,” added Loret de Mola.

Without making his trademark jokes, the host also apologized and compared himself to a soccer referee: "In retrospect, with a more careful analysis of all the images, I think I may have exposed the deception. In the heat of the news, like a soccer referee who doesn't have access to replays and has to make a quick decision, I didn't do it. And I regret it."

TV Azteca was also present at the December 9 broadcast and also washed its hands of the situation.

"It's important to emphasize that the first to be deceived were the media outlets who responded to the invitation from Genaro García Luna's then-Federal Investigation Agency (AFI). In order to publicize his arrests, he lied to the media and to society. But in the end, as always happens, the truth came out," said Javier Alatorre, host of Hechos on Channel 13.