Former Chihuahua governor César Duarte was detained on December 8, 2025, by the Federal Attorney General's Office for alleged money laundering. This marks his second arrest, following his 2022 extradition for embezzlement and criminal association. The case revives details about his El Saucito ranch, including a papal armchair and water theft accusations.
César Duarte, who governed Chihuahua from 2010 to 2016 for the PRI, now faces federal charges for operations with illicit funds. The Federal Attorney General's Office (FGR) reported his arrest on December 8, 2025, as he left his home in Chihuahua, executing an order issued on May 16, 2024, by a judge in Almoloya de Juárez, Mexico State.
This detention follows his first capture in July 2020 in Miami, Florida, United States, and extradition in June 2022. That was for embezzlement and criminal association, tied to irregularities in subsidies and loans for ranchers, as well as state real estate purchases. Duarte fled after an October 2019 arrest warrant. The state process continues, and the FGR secured U.S. approval on December 4, 2025, to prosecute him for this new offense. He is presumed innocent until a guilty verdict.
The case spotlights properties like El Saucito ranch, spanning 4,300 hectares in Balleza, Chihuahua, used to raise over 1,000 head of cattle. Seized in 2017 and returned in 2021, a 2019 raid uncovered a chapel with religious items, including a white armchair used by Pope Francis during his 2016 visit to Ciudad Juárez. Protected by plastic and bearing the Vatican emblem, the piece was seized. A museum for papal artifacts was planned but never realized.
In May 2025, the National Water Commission (Conagua) accused Duarte of 'water huachicol' at the ranch, with illegal wells and dams equivalent to 700,000 cubic meters of water. Conagua head Efraín Morales noted five dams, one main reservoir, and a clandestine well, ironic given Chihuahua's water shortages for irrigation and farmers.