A DEA Protected Witness Upends the 27-Year-Old Investigation Into the Murder of Paco Stanley
Twenty-seven years after Paco Stanley was gunned down outside a Mexico City restaurant, a protected witness for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has stepped forward with a new version of events. Speaking at a press conference in Mexico City on August 20, 2026, Jorge Godoy López identified Carlos Acevedo, known as “El Pato,” as the alleged trigger man behind the June 7, 1999 assassination. According to Godoy, the homicide was tied to a four-million-dollar money laundering operation that did not conclude as planned.
Stanley, who was 56 at the time of his death, met his end outside the El Charco de las Ranas restaurant. The ensuing investigation became one of the most mediatic cases in Mexico, dragging in figures like Mario Bezares and Paola Durante, both of whom were eventually freed and Durante was absolved. Yet, despite decades of public fascination and judicial proceedings, the identity of the executioner remained shrouded in ambiguity—until now.
Inside the Testimony of Jorge Godoy López
The new allegations surface as part of a newly released documentary titled “Testigos: la verdad tiene voz. Caso Paco Stanley”, produced by Juan Carlos Uribe and distributed via the Rellee TV platform.
According to Godoy’s account, Carlos Acevedo, or “El Pato,” was given direct orders to execute Stanley. The alleged motive centered on financial retribution. “Se le dio la orden a Carlos Acevedo porque se le había prestado un dinero para que lo lavara. Era una cantidad de 4 millones de dólares para que se los lavaran y se los entregaran,” Godoy stated during his public presentation, as reported by e-Magazine.
For decades, the former agent kept silent, citing death threats from both elements of the Mexican government at the time and organized crime syndicates.
The Road to a Public Confession and Legal Next Steps
The passage of time and shifts in the political landscape ultimately created an opening for Godoy to tell his story. Criminal defense attorney Estefanía Ávila noted during the documentary presentation that Godoy’s long-standing silence was a result of his protected status under the United States government, stemming from his involvement as a witness in the case of Enrique “Kiki” Camarena.
“We know perfectly well that for a case to take 27 years without being resolved, it is because the evidentiary means did not exist or the adequate information did not exist to be able to reach the resolution of the same,” Ávila stated regarding the decades-long stagnation of the Stanley investigation. With the political climate shifted and his safety assurances holding, Godoy’s appearance aims to breathe new life into an unclosed chapter of Mexican pop culture and crime history.
Following his press appearance in the capital, Godoy announced his intention to present himself directly to the Fiscalía to formally deliver his testimony regarding the homicide. While these revelations carry weight through Juan Carlos Uribe’s production—which explicitly seeks to offer clarity and closure to the Stanley family and exonerate past suspects—legal experts emphasize that these declarations do not constitute an official judicial conclusion by Mexican authorities.
As the documentary circulates and judicial bodies evaluate whether to reopen formal lines of inquiry based on the former agent’s disclosures, the memory of Paco Stanley remains a fixture in the collective consciousness of television viewers across Mexico. Whether this late-breaking federal testimony finally bridges the gap between decades of rumor and judicial reality remains for prosecutors to decide.
