Jenni Rivera Crash: Owner of Plane Denies Drug Ties, Details
The man that's in charge of the company that owns the luxury plane Latin music superstar Jenni Rivera crashed in is stating that he's never been linked to any drug trafficking. He also states that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has been on his tail for over two decades without ever finding him connected to anything narcotics-related.
Fox News stated that the federal government is also backing up the DEA, claiming that they believe Christian Esquino is associated with Tijuana's notorious Arellano Feliz cartel.
"The DEA has been investigating me my whole life. They can investigate me all they want and they can investigate Starwood all they want, but they're not going to find anything," Esquino told the AP via phone interview.
Lisa Webb Johnson, spokeswoman of the DEA, stated that the two planes owned by Esquino's Las Vegas-based Starwood Management were seized by the federal agency in both Texas and Arizona this year.
Corporate records had listed the 50-year-old's sister-in-law as being its only officer. However, insurance companies that cover some of Starwood's' airplanes claimed that the woman is a front while Esquino is still remains in charge.
The DEA also subpoenaed all of the company's records, which included any correspondence they had with a former Tijuana mayor who has been suspected by U.S. law enforcement as having ties with organized crime.
Rivera died on early Sunday morning when the plane she was on nose-dived into the ground while flying from Monterrey to Toluca in Mexico. Six others were tragically killed in the crash as well.
The 43-year-old was arguably the most successful musician in grupero, a male-dominated Mexico regional style. Known as the "Diva de la Banda," she sold over 15 million records and was well received in both Mexico and the U.S. Rivera had also ventured into acting and reality television.
