Legal Limbo: 67% of Quintana Roo Inmates Await Sentencing

According to the Quintana Roo Citizen Security Secretariat, 67.14% of the prison population in Quintana Roo, Mexico, are still awaiting sentencing. This information was disclosed via the National Transparency Portal, which reports a total of 3,765 inmates across the state's four prisons. Notably, 2,528 of these inmates have not yet been sentenced, leaving them uncertain about the duration of their imprisonment.

One such inmate is Salvador, often referred to as "The Pirate of the Caribbean". Salvador has been incarcerated for 23 years at the Cancún Social Reintegration Center, following his involvement in a robbery that netted over three million pesos. Despite the passage of over two decades, Salvador, like many others, remains in legal limbo.

Salvador's case began in 1999 when he was charged with qualified homicide, attempted homicide, attacks on general communication roads, and theft. His crimes were committed during a ferry robbery between Cozumel and Playa del Carmen. Salvador's story was later featured on Siaska Niño de Rivera's podcast, Penitenciaen.

Salvador's plan to rob the ferry was initially devised to aid his financially struggling friends. A security officer proposed the idea, suggesting they could carry out the robbery with the assistance of onboard officers. The plan involved renting a boat from Playa del Carmen, which would then be used to escape with the stolen money. The onboard officers were to be thrown overboard with life jackets to avoid raising suspicion. However, the plan went awry when one of the officers was replaced unexpectedly. Salvador suggests that this unforeseen change may have led to the loss of life during the operation.

Salvador was eventually captured on August 17, 2001, in his hometown of Campeche, over two years after the robbery. He was initially held at the San Francisco Kobén jail in Campeche, then transferred to Villaldama, Veracruz, before finally being moved to Cancún on June 15, 2015. Despite his lengthy incarceration, Salvador's case remains unresolved.

Salvador's daughter, whose identity has been withheld at his request, shared in an interview…