A B.C. man missing and feared kidnapped in Mexico is facing drug charges in Victoria Supreme Court.
Diego Hernandez, 22, was arrested by Saanich police in September 2010 and charged with possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking and possession of a stolen TV.
According to court documents, Hernandez was released without a bail hearing, on a promise to appear in court. In October 2012, after a preliminary inquiry, Hernandez was committed to stand trial in B.C. Supreme Court. The judge-alone trial is scheduled to begin Sept. 9.
Hernandez was living in Langford a the time of his arrest, said Saanich Sgt. Steve Eassie. Although he was allegedly found with a “substantial amount” of cocaine, Hernandez was released on a promise to appear because he did not have a criminal record.
Hernandez trained and competed in mixed martial arts and ran a gym in Puerto Vallarta. He and his friend Craig Silva from Phoenix, Ariz., disappeared May 8, three days after organizing a mixed martial arts fighting event.
Victoria lawyer Ryan Drury, who has been representing Hernandez since the fall of 2010, last saw his client in September when he visited Puerto Vallarta.
“He was competing and training down there. He appeared to have things in order with his mixed martial arts,” Drury said Tuesday. “He’s just a young guy. It’s all really sad.”
The families of Hernandez and Silva are frantically searching for information on what they believe is a kidnapping. The pair was last seen in Silva’s truck, which has since been recovered by Mexican authorities.
Reached in Puerto Vallarta, Hernandez’s mother, Melissa Canez, said her son and Silva had been planning to withdraw money from Silva’s account to pay for some of the event’s expenses. Soon after they obtained the money, they dropped off Silva’s girlfriend at a local university, she said.
Canez said she suspected the two men were kidnapped when she was told that they did not return to pick up Silva’s girlfriend.
The online newspaper Noticias Puerto Vallarta says Puerto Vallarta’s director of public safety, Silvestre Chavez, didn’t learn of the men’s disappearance until five days later and has launched an investigation.
Canez said her son’s girlfriend filed a missing persons report within 48 hours.
Hernandez’s girlfriend also received a call from someone who claimed he saw the two men being arrested by municipal police the same day they went missing, Canez said.
She said she has seen surveillance footage of an unknown man withdrawing money at a bank using Silva’s card. There is also apparently another surveillance video that shows Hernandez withdrawing cash at an ATM while flanked by two masked people, she said. One of the men’s bank card was also used at a convenience store, she added.
Hernandez lived in Coquitlam before moving two years ago to live with his mother in Puerto Vallarta, where she operates an orphanage for girls.
The mixed martial arts event that he put on earlier this month was in collaboration with another business partner who was mostly in charge of the finances.
According to Canez, Hernandez was approached a few days before the event by somebody who wanted a percentage of the earnings. Her son refused, she said.
“I was terrified,” she said. “I said to him, ‘You can’t say no to those people … I think you should leave, like get on the plane right now.’ ”
Canez said Hernandez and his partner were having trouble paying some expenses for the event. As a result, Silva, whom Hernandez has known for more than a year, became a partner.
All of those events have led Canez to suspect that someone close to Hernandez and Silva was involved with their disappearance.
“I think that somebody tipped these people off that Diego and Craig were going to have a substantial amount of cash on them that day,” she said.
Puerto Vallarta police said no information would be given on the case at this time.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson from Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada confirmed that consular officials are providing services to the family of a Canadian citizen reported missing in Mexico, and that they are in contact with local authorities.
