Ex President’s Sinaloa-gate goes to Supreme Court

Santo Domingo.- Ex president Hipolito Mejia will file charges of slander against Peravia province senator Wilton Guerrero in the Supreme Court 10am Thursday, a case which has expanded beyond the realm of politics.

The lawsuit stems from Guerrero’s assertion that Mejia had traveled to Sinaloa, Mexico aboard a plane piloted by the personal pilot of drug trafficker Joaquin "El Chapo” Guzman, to allegedly raise funds for his campaign leading to the May 20 election.

It’s the second slander lawsuit against Guerrero, the first filed by Gen. Hilario Gonzalez, accused by the lawmaker of having links with drug trafficking in the Peravia city Bani, but the Supreme Court declined the case.

Mejia had admitted visiting Sinaloa in February, allegedly invited to a farm fair.

Despite that most news outlets published the allegation, newspaper El Caribe is the only one charged in the suit.

Guerrero also had reported on April 23 this year that members of international drug traffickers linked to Mejia’s campaign (PPH) had plotted to murder the prominent journalist Nuria Piera, in an effort to upend ruling PLD party candidate Danilo Medina’s presidential candidacy.