SAN DIEGO (Border Report) — Baja California Attorney General Ricardo Iván Carpio Sánchez has resigned from his post on Thursday, a move that stunned many in the state.
Carpio Sánchez was known for his no-holds-barred news conferences to discuss anything from serial killers to mutilated bodies to drug cartel violence.
His resignation seems to have shocked those familiar with his work or him as a person.
On Thursday evening, his office put out a statement informing the media he was stepping down as Baja’s Attorney General due to “personal motives.”
There was no hint about his resignation just a day earlier when held a news conference and fielded questions about the extradition proceedings for Brayan Rivera, a suspect in the serial killings of four Tijuana “sex workers.”
He also discussed the discovery of eight decapitated bodies in and around Tijuana in recent days.
But no one suspected he was thinking of quitting his post.
While popular with the media and the public, the outgoing attorney general was not without controversy or criticism.
In separate incidents in June and July, agents who worked for his office were arrested north of the border for allegedly transporting drugs.
Earlier this year, Tijuana’s Mayor Montserrat Caballero blamed him for not doing enough about the assassination attempt on one of her bodyguards moments before she was scheduled to arrive for an appointment.
Members of the PAN, a political party in Mexico, along with Baja California’s Bar Association and other citizens groups had asked that he be dismissed due to the ongoing violence and the high crime rate in the state.
This is a move Gov. Marina del Pilar Ávila Olmeda has said publicly she never “seriously considered.”
She will now have to nominate a new attorney general who will be approved by Baja California’s Congress.
In the meantime, Rafael Orozco Vargas will take over as interim AG.
“Attorney Orozco will head the development and institutional work of the office while Baja California’s Congress designates a new person to head the office,” said the statement issued by the attorney general’s office.
