'El Pita', the Zetas founder who married his kidnapping victim

By MX for Borderland Beat  

“MX” Note: This post includes excerpts from the Wikipedia article of Omar Lorméndez Pitalúa ("El Pita"), which I published on 21 January 2020.

The stunning incidents occurring in Mexico's drug war sometimes seem right out of a movie script. The plot is often centered in violence-ridden towns or cities, where Mexican drug cartel bosses rule as regional warlords. The main players include police officers, politicians, cartel leaders and their lovers. It is a plot still being played out in the life of Omar Lorméndez Pitalúa ("El Pita"), a fugitive and founding member of Los Zetas.

Kidnapping and marriage

Lorméndez Pitalúa fell in love and married his kidnapping victim Angélica Lagunas Jaramillo after the Gulf Cartel ordered him to abduct her. The two first met on 16 August 2001, when Lorméndez Pitalúa and other Zetas members abducted Lagunas Jaramillo and her daughter Ana Bertha González Lagunas for running a contraband business in Matamoros without the cartel's authorization. The Gulf Cartel required independent smugglers to pay a taxation (commonly referred to as derecho de piso in Mexico) for smuggling drugs and other illegal merchandise in their corridor. However, Lagunas Jaramillo was running a contraband business of alcohol, perfumes, cocaine and marijuana without paying fees to the cartel. She had a restaurant from where she operated. According to the testimony of Agustín Hernández Martínez, a former Gulf Cartel operator and protected witness under the code name "Rafael", the cartel summoned about eighteen Zetas gunmen to abduct Lagunas Jaramillo and her daugther from their home in Matamoros.

Missing mother and sons safely "recovered"

Chivis Martinez Borderland Beat  TY GUS  KGNS

On Friday, the Federal Bureau of Investigation San Antonio Division, Laredo Resident Agency Office, was seeking information from the public about a missing mother and her two children.

Esmeralda Vielma Cisneros, 39, Alexander Vielma, 15, and Naum Zaid Ramos, 11, were last seen on January 19, 2020, driving a dark grey SUV (2019 Renault Duster) near the Lincoln/Juarez International Bridge in Nuevo Laredo

It was believed they had been going to visit a family member for the three-day weekend.

In a statement sent by special agent Michelle Lee, Public Affairs Officer, San Antonio FBI they say the following:

"We have some great news to share, the mom and her two boys were safely recovered. Additional details are not available at this time while the investigation continues. Assistance from media and public played an important role in their safe recovery and we are grateful for your help."

Guaymas Sonora: Banners with narco-messages hung targeting governor and police not "complying with agreement"

Chivis Martinez Borderland Beat TY Neal in Nevada!  From VXT

The city of Guaymas Sonora dawned with narcomantas placed in various parts of the city, they accused  the governor and Secretary Durazo for not complying, it is also mentioned in the narcomanta of two patrols.

In these banners the message is for Governor Claudia Pavlovich, Alfonso Durazo, in addition to a signal to the state police that are in units 15084 and 15090.

El Chapo's right hand man Mario Hidalgo Arguello, aka "Nariz", extradited to San Diego

Chivis Martinez  Borderland Beat   TY J  SanDiegoTribune

Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán had several private secretaries, who changed their shifts to ensure that there was always someone to attend the alleged leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, but above all, to take care of their safety, he revealed information from federal prosecutors and witnesses such as Alex Cifuentes.

However, there was a special confidant in the circle near the native of Qualiacán, Sinaloa, [as reported in court documents] who faces trial in a federal court in Brooklyn. This is "Nariz", which Cifuentes described as a man who reviewed everything that came "at the hands" of Guzmán Loera. He was the final filter, according to the Colombian, who was one of the close collaborators of the Mexican.

In several moments of the trial the name of “Nariz” has come to light, but it was during the testimony of Mexican-American Víctor Vásquez, agent of the DEA, when the character became relevant, since it was he who guided the Navy personnel in operational of five houses in search of Guzmán Loera, in addition to telephone conversations confirmed the type of relationship he had with the "Manager", as he came to refer to his boss.  Tribune article below

FBI ALERT: Searching for missing mother and children who vanished near International Bridge in Nuevo Laredo

Chivis Martinez   Borderland Beat

US REPORT Fox7Austin 

LAREDO, Texas - The FBI is asking for the public's help in finding a missing mother and her two children.

Esmeralda Vielma Cisneros, 39, Alexander Vielma, 15, and Naum Zaid Ramos, 11, were last seen on Jan. 19, driving a dark grey SUV, a 2019 Renault Duster with the license plate SCH472A Nuevo Leon near the Lincoln/Juarez International Bridge (Pedestrian Bridge) in Nuevo Laredo.

The FBI says in a release that it is believed they had been going to visit a family member for the three-day weekend. Neither they nor the SUV have been seen since and at this time, the FBI does not have confirmed information that any of them ever crossed the bridge.

Cisneros is a Mexican citizen but the two boys are U.S. citizens. Alexander attends school in Laredo and takes medication for a medical condition but he does not have the needed medication.

"El Hitler" of CAF" found hanging only 19 days after arrest

Chivis Martinez Borderland Beat Reynosa Codigo and ONLINE ABC

Rito Quintero Hernández, the Hitler, who was a guard for  Ramón Arellano Félix, was found hanging in building five,  of the El Castillo Penitentiary Center, located south of the port of Mazatlán.

The 62-year-old Hitler is identified as responsible for malicious killings in Sinaloa against police officers, who entered this prison on January 6, 2020.

Tulare County California; Traffic Stop Turns into Drug Bust linked to Mexican Cartel

Chivis Martinez Borderland Beat   TY GUS  Source

On January 23, Sheriff Mike Boudreaux participated in a news conference alongside U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott to announce that a federal grand jury returned a three-count indictment against Saul Giovanni Solis Ontiveros, 24, of Pixley, and Eduardo Garcia, 20, of McFarland. They are charged with conspiring to distribute more than 160 pounds of methamphetamine and approximately 300 fentanyl pills.

Scott said that the drug bust was linked to Mexican cartels. The seizure shows, he said, how Mexican-based cartels are no longer manufacturing the drugs in Mexico and smuggling the bulky packages to the United States but are shipping the drugs in liquid form to evade border searches. It’s then processed in conversion labs in rural Tulare County.

Cuernavaca, Morelos: Los Mayas Criminal Cell Behind La Chelería Bar Attack

Video translation is as follows:

Let's take a look at these images that spread online today. It’s an attack against a beer and wings business in Cuernavaca. This happened early Wednesday morning.

4 men with weapons, long weapons. They arrive in a car, the red car seen there, they arrive at the entrance of the place. And they start shooting and then they leave. Fortunately, the bar was closed so there were no injuries.

Hours later the business known as La Chelería published on social network a statement that said the attack was in retaliation for not paying up on an extortion.

Reynosa, Tamaulipas: Kidnapping and Execution of Ministerial Policeman Oscar Rene Cervantes de La Rosa

Warning sounds of torture and agony are heard on video

Video translation is as follows:

Reporter: A Ministerial Policeman that had been missing since Tuesday morning was found executed in a vacant lot in Reynosa. The body's finding occurred during the early hours of Wednesday after an anonymous complaint was made to C4 in which a body was discovered in Colonia El Campanario.

The execution of the Ministerial Agent identified as Oscar René Cervantes comes after at least 4 State Police officers have been killed in Ciudad Victoria amid a wave of violence in that city.

Local media’s broadcast that it was reported that the agent went out to dinner somewhere around midnight on Monday. And that he didn’t come return. On top of his body the Ministerial Agent had a manta with a threatening message against all the Tamaulipas policemen. Of which the message was attributed to El Vaquero.

Nine people gunned down in Parador de Villagrán, Guanajuato

Chivis Martinez Borderland Beat  Proceso

At least nine people were killed Friday night in the restaurant of a hostel located on the Villagrán-Celaya road.

The massacre occurred at a site called “Parador San Fernando”, located at kilometer 075 + 000 of said road, on the boundaries between Villagrán and Salamanca.

Around 9 p.m., through 911, people who arrived at the site found the victims and requested the presence of police and paramedics. It is one of the most deadly massacres so far in January, with homicidal attacks practically every day in different municipalities of the state.

The first to arrive were municipal police from Villagrán, who discovered three bodies in the parking lot.

Paramedics confirmed the death of the nine people.

There are allegedly two survivors, although this information has not been confirmed by the authorities.

Feds: U.S. Marine veteran built cocaine pipeline as Mexican drug kingpin

Chivis Martinez Borderland Beat  La Opinion and San Diego Tribune

Ángel Domínguez Ramírez Jr., "El Zeta 39", conducted  "business" with the Jalisco Nueva Generación, Sinaloa, del Golfo, Los Zetas and Los Beltrán Leyva cartels. He founded “El Seguimiento 39”, The US Attorney's Office accused Ángel Domínguez Ramírez Jr. of using his military training as an ex-marine to work as a member of the Los Zetas paramilitary cartel …

Mexican Navy officers stand guard next to a helicopter loaded with seized bags of cocaine in this 2018 file photo. A Marine Corps veteran with dual citizenship in the U.S. and Mexico has been accused of running a massive cocaine smuggling operation

The following is from an article posted 11 months ago, which gives the backstory of Dominguez, the Zeta and founder of “El Seguimiento 39” related to my  previous post.

A U.S. Marine veteran who rose to power as a reputed Mexican drug kingpin has been named in a massive cocaine trafficking indictment in San Diego.

The investigation into Angel Dominguez Ramirez Jr.’s organization revealed “an unprecedented level of corruption within the Mexican government, local police departments, federal police agencies and military,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a recent court filing.

More than 41 people have been charged in the case, which has yielded 5,000 kilograms of seized cocaine and more than $9 million in drug proceeds.

The command of Mx Federal Police faces new charges in U.S. for protecting a little known cartel, which works with multiple groups

Chivis Martinez  Borderland Beat  Reforma

The most important command of the Sensitive Affairs Unit (UAS) of the Federal Police collaborated with a criminal organization so far little known, called “El Seguimiento 39”.

According to the United States Department of Justice, “39” was a kind of "cartel’s cartel" that worked with multiple criminal groups.

The above, according to the indictment filed yesterday by a federal grand jury in Brooklyn against Iván Reyes Arzate, the former PF command that next Monday was to be released and deported to Mexico, after partially purging a 40-month jail sentence for filter information to the Beltrán Leyva cartel.

The Prosecutor of the Eastern District of New York requested the permanent detention of Reyes Arzate to avoid his return to Mexico, while being prosecuted for the new charges, which focus on the period from September to November 2016.

Unicef ​​urges actions for the safety armed children recruited by cartels

Chivis Martinez Borderland Beat   Reforma

Read Sol's post for backstory

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) urged the Mexican State to take all necessary actions to ensure the safety and integrity of all populations and that no child, adolescent or adolescent is recruited by armed groups.

He also indicated that it is essential that conditions of development are generated in these communities so that girls, boys and adolescents can exercise their rights in equal opportunities and develop their full potential.

"Children and adolescents in Mexico must be protected against this unacceptable practice, since it is an obligation of the Mexican State derived from International Human Rights Law and International Humanitarian Law," said Christian Skoog - representative of Unicef ​​in Mexico.

Mexico Issues Arrest Warrant for "Mini Lic" in the Killing of Journalist Javier Valdéz

Chivis Martinez  Borderland Beat  diariolibre

The Mexican Attorney General's Office issued an arrest warrant for the alleged drug trafficker Dámaso López Serrano, for the murder of journalist Javier Valdez in 2017, federal authorities reported.

Lopez, best known by his nickname "Mini Lic", surrendered to the US authorities in California on the US border with Mexico. He walked across the U.S. border at California’s Calexico Port of Entry on July 27, 2017 and promptly surrendered himself to customs officers.

He is the son of the imprisoned Dámaso López Núñez who once belonged to the Sinaloa cartel.

Feds, Chicago police investigated Juarez Cartel links to 2016 Gage Park murders, lawyers say

Chivis Martinez  Borderland Beat  TY GUS  Chicago Sun Times

The attorneys for a Chicago man accused in the killings of six relatives want information about an informant and the three cartel hit-men the informant says were responsible for the murders.

Two weeks after the Chicago police found six bodies scattered around the blood-stained interior of a Gage Park bungalow, a former federal informant in Mexico told detectives drug cartel members carried out the slaughter over a multimillion-dollar debt, lawyers for a man charged in the 2016 murders said.

Months before Diego Uribe Cruz and his girlfriend Jafeth Ramos were charged with killing his relatives over money, police and federal Drug Enforcement Administration agents spent weeks investigating a tip from the informant who had been deported to Mexico, according to Uribe Cruz’s team of assistant Cook County public defenders.

The informant allegedly told police that a week before the bodies were discovered, a Juarez Cartel boss had dispatched three of his enforcers to Chicago after Uribe Cruz’s uncle — also one of the victim’s estranged husband — made off with a $3.5 million drug shipment.

When her cousin becomes Veracruz prosecutor, “La Jefa” of Los Zetas is released

Chivis Martinez Borderland Beat  TY GUS Source

 

Left to tight; Veronica, Guadalupe, El Comandante 

Veracruz attorney general, Verónica Hernández was admitted to the Local Congress and happens to be the first cousin of Guadalupe Hernández, better known as “La Jefa”, who is the operator of the criminal group “Los Zetas ” and close to the boss Hernán Martínez Zavaleta , known as “ El Comandante ”.

Now, according to a journalistic investigation by the journalist Gabriel Rasgado, it is pointed out that “La Jefa”, who had been apprehended since 2017, was released only two weeks after Verónica Hernández arrived at the FGE. (state attorneys office)

San Luis Potosí, Mexico: CJNG Releases a Video Message

Video translation is as follows:

This release is for the entire population of the state of San Luis Potosí. We are the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación. And we want to inform you with the latest news within the state. Initiated by a confrontation in the municipality of Villa de Arriaga last Monday, January 13 against the ministerial police cartel led by José Guadalupe Castillo Celestino.

In this act you murdered a woman. And your detainees from that confrontation are nothing more than strangers from Villa de Arriaga that we had. The woman was only accompanying the driver of the car. Of which your Ministerial Police were assaulting with gunfire to stop.

That caused the Ford Explorer truck to roll over and have the woman ejected from the vehicle. We were informed that armed people were attacking a vehicle.

Raul Ortega Villa aka "El R", Former Sicario for Beltrán Leyva Cartel Granted Bail

They released 'El R' again, alleged hitman of the Beltrán Leyva

A federal judge granted the release, on bail, to Raúl Villa Ortega, who is linked to the massacre of 24 people in Huixquilucan, State of Mexico

'El R', was arrested last Tuesday in Polanco.

For the second time, a federal judge granted the release, on bail, to Raúl Villa Ortega El R, alleged hitman of the Beltrán Leyva and who is linked to the massacre of 24 people in Huixquilucan, State of Mexico, whose bodies were located in La Marquise.

Just last Tuesday he was arrested in Polanco by elements of the Secretariat of Citizen Security (SSC) while driving on Horacio Street, in Polanco. In the middle of the seats of the Suburban in which he was traveling there was found a .9 mm caliber pistol, a magazine with 14 rounds.

Cuernavaca, Morelos: Armed Men Open Fire on La Chelería Bar

Armed subjects traveling in a red vehicle shot at the facade of the "La Chelería" bar, located on Avenida 10 de Abril, in the Granjas neighborhood in Cuernavaca, placing a narco manta with threats between cartels operating in the state.

In social networks a video has been disseminated in which 4 subjects who descend from a car open fire against a bar in Cuernavaca, during the early morning hours.

According to the video, the events occurred around 1:19 am on Wednesday.

Juárez, Chihuahua: The Second Corpse Wrapped In a Blanket is Dumped Today

Organized crime moves freely without anyone bothering them, while Governor Javier Corral has breakfast with police chiefs every day.

Another corpse wrapped in a blanket was found this morning in the streets of Colonia Miguel Enríquez Guzmán.

The executed wrapped in a blanket was left at the entrance of a house under construction.

Neighbors reported the discovery at the intersection of the streets 5 de Privada Abril and Batalla de Celaya.

Guerrero's Child Soldiers: A New Sign of The Decomposition of Violence in Mexico

A group of minors, between 6 and 15 years old, armed march to repudiate the killing of ten people at the hands of drug trafficking

A minor carrying a rifle in Chilapa, Guerrero. On video, minors marching.

On Wednesday, 19 minors between the ages of six and fifteen headed a column of armed self-defense groups in Guerrero, a state in southwest Mexico.

The image could go unnoticed in a country submerged for several years in a violent conflict, but the photograph reproduced by local media is a new sign of the decomposition caused by insecurity.

The young men loaded old and rusty rifles to repudiate the murder of ten Nahua Indians in the region this weekend.

The children marched along with some 2,000 people with their faces covered by handkerchiefs and wearing the uniform of the community police, an armed body formed 25 years ago by residents of 16 municipalities in the southeast of Guerrero and members of the Regional Coordinator of Community Authorities and Peoples Founders (CRAC).

76 prisoners escape through a tunnel of a prison in Paraguay: at least 40 were members of the same Brazilian cartel

Chivis Martinez Borderland Beat   TY GUS  Univision

Clothes are seen in a tunnel entrance at Pedro Juan Caballero city jail in Paraguay, Sunday, Jan. 19, 2020. Dozens of inmates escaped from this prison early morning, mostly of Brazil's criminal group PCC, "Capital First Command." 

Some 76 prisoners from a prison in the Paraguayan city of Pedro Juan Caballero, bordering Brazil, escaped this Sunday through a tunnel they dug for weeks, police said Sunday. These are 40 Brazilians and 36 Paraguayans, mostly from the same criminal group dedicated to drug trafficking.

"The escape occurred early Sunday through a tunnel built" by the inmates that started in one of the internal toilets, said police spokeswoman, Commissioner Elena Andrada. "Our best men moved to the border to try to recapture the escapees."

"There are only 25 meters between the tunnel and the nearest gatehouse (of guards)," he said , assuring that only one inmate was unable to escape and that hundreds of bags of soil were found during the first review of the site.

San Luis Potosí, S.L.P.: Politician Related to Pegasus Spyware Found Dismembered

FGE CONFIRMS FINDING OF HUMAN REMAINS INSIDE A MINICOPPER IN SLP

• It has the victim's identification, who was missing since yesterday

SLP - The Attorney General of the State of San Luis Potosí (FGESLP) reports that, after the processing of a mini-cooper type vehicle, by specialized personnel from the Expert Services area, three bags were found inside with human remains.

These remains correspond to a male person who had a research folder for his search, he was missing since January 21, 2020.

Zihuatanejo, Guerrero: The Majesty and Decay of “El Negro” Durazo

Video translation is as follows:

Reporter: Of this size is the opulence of power in Mexico. To the south of the country there is a property that could summarize the degradation of Mexican politics.

We are in Zihuatanejo, we are heading to the mansion of "El Negro Durazo", known as El Partenón to see how this property is after years of abandonment.

Arturo Durazo Moreno, better known as “El Negro” Durazo, was the police chief of Mexico City during the López Portillo administration, between 1976 and 1982.

Upon leaving his post, he became the number one enemy of the country because of the chain of abuses he committed. He is accused of murder, torture, drug trafficking, weapons collection, fraud and bribery, as well as extortion, against police officers who worked for him.