In 2021, local deputy and former municipal president of Huixquilucan, Enrique Vargas del Villar, acquired a ranch in Huixquilucan. The ranch is referred to by some media outlets as Rancho Vargas 2.0, as it is the second luxury ranch he owns. The husband of the current municipal president of Huixquilucan does not hide his wealth, which is why his ranches are well-known, but he has managed to conceal the irregularities behind the massive walls of his properties.
Acording to press reports, Rancho Vargas 2.0 was shut down by the Federal Attorney for Environmental Protection (PROFEPA) and the National Guard in 2021. When it was closed, construction work was halted on the grounds that Deputy Vargas had illegally cut down trees for its construction. To make matters worse, he was also accused of dispossessing ejidatarios of their land.
Through a request for access to information submitted to PROFEPA, a copy of the closure file for the property was obtained, and the findings are revealing.
Another suspicious acquisition added to the record
Rancho Vargas 2.0 is located along the Huixquilucan-La Marquesa Highway in the State of Mexico. Estimates based on cartographic websites calculate a built-up area of approximately 12,000 square meters (approximately 129,167 square feet). In his asset declaration, Vargas stated that the ranch had a total area of 49,000 square meters (approximately 527,432 square feet) and that he acquired it for $1,500,000 pesos (around $71,942 dollars) in January 2021.
As part of this journalistic investigation, a search was conducted in the Institute for Registration Functions of the State of Mexico (IFREM); however, no record was found. It is presumed that no transaction record was found in IFREM because, in the same declaration, Vargas stated that the acquisition value of the property was based on a contract rather than a public deed. In other words, Vargas may not have formalized the purchase.
If the information provided in the declaration is correct, it would mean that Vargas paid an average of 30 pesos per square meter (approximately 0.14 dollars per square foot).
According to press reports, Rancho Vargas 2.0 was shut down by the Federal Attorney for Environmental Protection (PROFEPA) and the National Guard in 2021. When it was closed, construction work was halted on the grounds that Deputy Vargas had illegally cut down trees for its construction. To make matters worse, he was also accused of dispossessing ejidatarios of their land.
Through a request for access to information submitted to PROFEPA, a copy of the closure file for the property was obtained, and the findings are revealing.
After its acquisition, the ranch was remodeled: the facade and exterior walls were painted, and the construction of interior wall extensions began. Additionally, satellite views show that in 2021, construction work took place inside the property after demolishing the previous structure.
The Luxury Renovation
According to press reports, on August 13, 2021—the year the property was acquired—the Federal Attorney for Environmental Protection (PROFEPA) and the National Guard shut it down and halted construction work, allegedly due to the illegal felling of trees for its development, as well as for dispossessing ejidatarios of their land.
Through a request for access to information submitted to PROFEPA, a copy of the property’s closure file was obtained. It includes testimonies from the Attorney General’s inspectors, who stated that construction work was being carried out inside.
According to authorities, Vargas built a 1,050-square-meter (approximately 11,302 square feet) terrace, eight stables, various dirt roads, and water collection ditches. According to the exclusive access file, such works involved the removal of natural vegetation, including aguacatillo trees, aile, oyamel, oak trees, and native vegetation roots. To make matters worse, the file states that the ranch owner failed to provide proof of a land-use change permit for forested land, which must be issued by the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources.
