Omar Pardo was a Mexican journalist who worked for Diario El Popular during the 2000s. In 2012, he attended a press conference held by Secretary of Public Security Conrado Higuera Sol following a governmental raid on the Sinaloa Cartel, where he badgered Higuera with questions about why El Chapo was still a fugitive, despite the downfalls of several other cartel bosses. He then asked Higuera about the rumors that he had given El Chapo protection several times, and Higuera denied the allegations and promptly left the press conference. He ordered his aides to prevent Pardo from attending any more of his press conferences, but, meanwhile, Pardo began working on several articles which promoted the allegations. His article motivated Governor of Hidalgo Felix Olivares to contact PRI presidential candidate Enrique Pena Nieto about setting up a Senate investigation of Higuera Sol's corruption in order to prevent his campaign from being affected by the rumors.