Appeals Court Upholds Second Prison Order for Quintana Roo Labor Leader

Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo — A federal appeals court has upheld a second pretrial detention order against José Isidro Santamaria Casanova, the leader of the Confederation of Mexican Workers (CTM) in Quintana Roo, on human trafficking charges, complicating his potential release as he also faces a murder charge.

The court’s decision, detailed in appeal ruling 113/2025, confirmed the detention measure after Santamaria failed to justify his absences from required periodic court check-ins during 2025. The ruling stated he “failed to comply with this measure by being negligent in presenting himself to sign on the established dates and, decisively, by not justifying his absences despite requests made for that purpose.”

Santamaria had previously avoided prison on the trafficking charge in 2022 after being jailed since 2019 for the same offense. With this latest ruling, he now faces two separate pretrial detention orders.

Federal magistrates in Quintana Roo attached to the Collegiate Appeals Court ratified the second prison measure months before authorities arrested Santamaria in November on suspicion of homicide. According to the court documents, Santamaria missed several required check-ins last year, citing health problems.

The court notification for the double pretrial detention came in November, days after State Prosecutor’s Office officers detained Santamaria outside federal courthouses where he was scheduled to appear. He never made that appearance due to the arrest on the murder allegation.

Santamaria has filed multiple legal appeals seeking to nullify the detention orders, but no federal judge has ruled in his favor, according to court records reviewed in recent days.