Blog dedicated to reporting on Mexican drug cartels
on the border line between the US and Mexico
.

Sunday, May 31, 2020

The Death of El Moreno

By Buggs for Borderland Beat


On March 30, 2020 Edgar Guzman Lopez El Moreno would be celebrating his 34th birthday. El Moreno was born from the marriage of Griselda Lopez Perez and the famous El Chapo Guzman. Edgar Guzman Lopez was known as the son of El Chapo in Culiacan as well as Ivan Archivaldo Guzman Salazar, who were part of a Culiacan group known as narcojuniors, sons and heirs of a drug trafficking dynasty in Sinaloa.

Edgar Guzman became involved in the criminal activities of his father. He was born in the ranch of Jesus Maria where he started with a group of sicarios under the command of his father, Joaquin Guzman. He was known for his humility and his calm demeanor. It was normal to see him personally at meetings of the cartel in Culiacan, Sinaloa.

Saturday, May 30, 2020

Video Added: 10 Missing Colima Police Officers, plus two Last seen in La Huerta, Jalisco

Yaqui for Borderland Beat from: Informador / Infobae / msm
Ten policemen disappeared in Jalisco: the trucks they were traveling in are the only trace there is of them. The agents who were assigned to a commission, traveled in four official units, but they were without labels when they stopped having communication with their superiors, yesterday morning. 

Elements of the Jalisco and Colima Police search for 10 investigating agents belonging to the  Colima entity, reported as missing. Given the situation, Colima asked Jalisco to support and broaden the search.

The Colima Public Security Secretariat (SSP) confirmed that 12 people disappeared in Jalisco. They are 10 police officers and two civilians who accompanied a group of national investors to the municipality of La Huerta, located on the South Coast of the State. Video Next Page:

Q.Roo: Burned Out Light Plane Found in the Jungle

Yaqui for Borderland Beat from: Excelsior / dqr / ElSolQR
A burned out light aircraft found in Quintana Roo:

It is presumed that the aircraft was allegedly used for the transport of drugs; elements of the Army and GN are deployed in the Othón P. Blanco Municipality.

A burned-out light plane was secured by the Mexican Army, near the Morocoy community, in the Othón P. Blanco municipality, State of Quintana Roo.

The aircraft, which residents reported yesterday in a jungle area was burned, especially the cabin 
of the white twin engine jet, which had been destroyed by fire almost entirely. Around the place the recent clearing of the sides of the gap was observed. According to data from the National Guard, it could be a plane from Colombia loaded with drugs.

Veracruz: Francisco Navarrete, alleged leader of the CJNG and 6 others, are assassinated

Chivis Martinez Borderland Beat E-Veracruz.Mx


                          Hears a shot...reaches for his weapon...runs off stage


Xalapa, Ver.- In an attack during a private party, Francisco Navarrete Serna, the alleged leader of the Jalisco Nueva Generación Cartel (CJNG), was killed.  He is  linked to the forced disappearance of five young people from Playa Vicente in 2016.


The official number of dead is six people and two with serious injuries, who were transferred to the Tierra Blanca hospital. The attack occurred while Navarrete and more people were broadcasting a live concert in the YemanYa room, in the Segundo Verde neighborhood.

Among the people killed are members of the musical group La Calle.

The concert was advertised on social networks of the newspaper El Sol de Tierra Blanca, which Francisco Navarrete owned. On October 7, 2019, this media was inaugurated by deacon Miguel Ángel Ochoa Cruz, a former candidate for Morena for mayor of that municipality.

Michoacán: CJNG says report of truce with Carteles Unidos is a lie, shares image of El Abuelo Farías in a hospital

Chivis Martinez Borderland Beat



In the past couple of days messages have been circulating on social media regarding the ongoing war between CJNG and “Carteles Unidos”.

An image of Juan José Farías alias “El Abuelo”, the leader of Carteles Unidos, a Tepalcatepec based Cartel, depicting him convalescing in a hospital setting.

Previous to the image, a narco message circulated announcing a truce between CJNG and C.U.  

However, when the image of Abuelo was released, allegedly by CJNG, it was made clear there is no truce.

Michoacán governor Silviano Aureoles, has made Abuelo a “priority” security objective, yet he has for years, operated with impunity  in the state.

Friday, May 29, 2020

Special Ops Tamps: High Powered Arsenal and "Monster" Vehicles Secured

Yaqui for Borderland Beat from: Excelsior /msm / quintopod
In a series of operations carried out in five municipalities north of Tamaulipas , the elements of the Special Operations Group of the Secretary of Public Security secured an arsenal that includes high-powered weapons and armored vehicles, the so-called "monsters" that organized crime groups often use.

The agency detailed that the police actions were carried out in Valle Hermoso, San Fernando, Cruillas, Matamoros and Nuevo Laredo, the first four are influenced by the current leader of the Gulf Cartel , Evaristo Cruz Sánchez "El Vaquero" or "Señor 46" .

In Valle Hermoso, a neighboring town of Matamoros and considered as the bastion of this criminal group, three confiscations were made.

740 Kilos Of Meth Found among Corn Bags in Chihuahua

Yaqui for Borderland Beat from: Excelsior
740 kilos of drugs hidden among corn bags

The events took place on the El Sueco-Janos highway, in the Vado Santa María-Janos section, in the municipality of Nuevo Casas Grandes, Chihuahua

A shipment of 740 kilos of the drug identified as glass was detected among bags of corn, during an operation carried out by the National Guard on a highway in the state of Chihuahua.

The spokesperson for the federal corporation detailed that the operator of a cargo vehicle, from Culiacán, Sinaloa, was detained on the El Sueco-Janos highway, in the Vado Santa María-Janos section, in the municipality of Nuevo Casas Grandes.  Video at bottom.

American Who Laundered Money for a Colombian Drug Cartel Seeks Reduction of His 660-Year Sentence

"MX" for Borderland Beat; Providence Journal
Saccocia and his wife Donna, both convicted

Rhode Island coin dealer Stephen Saccoccia is serving 660 years for laundering millions of dollars for a Colombian drug cartel in the 1990s. Now, at age 62, after serving 28 years behind bars, he is again trying to cut that sentence short. He is seeking clemency from President Donald Trump.

And even more recently, he is arguing that he should be released on time served due to the risks posed by the coronavirus pandemic and his disproportionately long sentence for committing a “non-violent” financial crimes.

Saccoccia is asking U.S. District Judge William E. Smith to free him based on the “emergency conditions” created by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has now claimed the lives of 55 federal inmates. Saccoccia cites his hypertension and high cholesterol as making him at high risk for complications should he contract the virus.

Mexican Cartels Have Taken Over the Crystal Meth Production in the Netherlands

"MX" for Borderland Beat; de Volkskrant, de TelegraafNRC Handelsblad
Dutch authorities bust a meth lab earlier this month and arrest a Colombian, Mexican and U.S. citizen
In February 2019, the Dutch police found 850 kgs (1,874 lbs) of crystal meth in a commercial building in Wateringen. Its street value was approximately 80 million euros. Authorities said that the crystal meth was made by "professionals" and in a "well-equipped laboratory" ran by a Mexican drug cartel.

The police arrested three people who were working inside the lab. The detainees said they were victims of human trafficking and had been forced to work there. But Dutch authorities did not believe them. "The suspects were working in the drug lab without any supervision, they had the key to the apartment they were staying in and one of them had a telephone with encryption," court records said.

Dutch authorities are concerned about the increase in the number of meth labs in the Netherlands. Seven laboratories were dismantled in 2018, compared to nine last year. The Dutch police found five meth labs in the first five months of this year. The police suspect that some of the Dutch drug producers want to switch from ecstasy to meth with the help of Mexican drug cartels.

Rafael Caro Quintero Wants to Delay Extradition Hearing; Claims He Is Poor and That Judge Is Plotting Against Him

"MX" for Borderland Beat
Rafael Caro Quintero
Rafael Caro Quintero, the former leader of the Guadalajara Cartel, asked a Mexican federal court to postpone his U.S. extradition hearing earlier this week. He also asked the judge to declare him unable to participate in the deliberation of the case.

Despite the fact that the U.S. and Mexican government suspect him of laundering millions of dollars through businesses across Mexico, Caro Quintero told the court that he lived in poverty. He also said he was too old to work and did not have a pension. 

Caro Quintero also wants to replace Juan José Olvera López, the presiding judge on his extradition case. He claims that the judge is plotting against him and has already told his colleagues that he will deny his legal motions. Caro Quintero is upset that his hearing was made public because he asked the court to not release any details. 

Texan Man Kidnapped in Possible Mexican Cartel Debt

"MX" for Borderland Beat; KRGV and BB archives
Four suspects were arrested by the local police

PROGRESO, TX - The Progreso Police Department arrested four people Monday after they kidnapped a man who owed money to a "Mexican cartel commander," according to court documents. At 12:01 a.m. on Monday, a woman flagged down a patrolman on the 700 block of Arroyo Street, according to Progreso Municipal Court records. Three men had just kidnapped her husband.

Progreso, Texas, is directly across the border from Nuevo Progreso, Tamaulipas. This town is in the Rio Bravo Municipality and is controlled by the Gulf Cartel. Last month, cartel members murdered 7 warehouse employees in Rio Bravo. Rumors stated that the attackers were likely part of the faction headed by Comandante Maistrin, who heads the Rio Bravo plaza.

Warehouse With Thousands of Precursor Chemicals Owned by the Sinaloa Cartel Was Seized in Ensenada

"MX" for Borderland Beat; Semanario Zeta
Steel drums containing the precursor chemicals seized in Ensenada

ENSENADA.- After searching a warehouse located on Reforma Avenue, in Valle Dorado neighborhood, authorities seized 12,800 liters (3,381 gallons) of precursor chemicals and 22 vehicles presumably owned by the Sinaloa Cartel, Baja California state authorities confirmed.

The warehouse was cordoned since Monday, May 25. Dozens of agents from the Baja California State Police, Secretary of the Navy (SEMAR) and the National Guard were deployed and closed the street for several hours.

According to the Baja California Attorney General's Office, 64 steel drums containing chemical precursors were found inside the warehouse. They contained acetone, hydrochloric acid and benzyl alcohol. These chemical products are essential for the production and manufacture of synthetic drugs.

Thursday, May 28, 2020

After Being Deported 6 Times, Mexican Man Is Sentenced to 16 Years for Meth Conspiracy in Missouri

"MX" for Borderland Beat; USDOJ

Meth was distributed in Kansas City and Springfield
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A Mexican national who has illegally entered the United States at least seven times was sentenced in federal court today for his role in a conspiracy to distribute large amounts of methamphetamine in the Kansas City, Missouri, area and in the Springfield, Missouri, area.

Armando Quintana-Galaz, 37, a citizen of Mexico residing in Springfield, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Greg Kays to 16 years and eight months in federal prison without parole.

On Sept. 12, 2019, Quintana-Galaz pleaded guilty to participating in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. He also pleaded guilty to possessing firearms in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime and to illegally reentering the United States after having been deported. Quintana-Galaz had been deported from the United States six times before being arrested on Nov. 2, 2017, in Springfield.

Mexican Drug Farmer Pleads Guilty to $10 Million Marijuana Grow Operation in Missouri

"MX" for Borderland Beat; DEA
DEA emblem for Missouri agents

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A Mexican national pled guilty in federal court today to his role in a Daviess County, Missouri, marijuana-growing operation where law enforcement officers seized nearly $10 million worth of plants.

Miguel Pulido-Maldonado, also known as “Mona,” 28, pled guilty before U.S. District Judge Greg Kays to one count of conspiracy to manufacture and possess with the intent to distribute 1,000 or more marijuana plants, and one count of illegally reentering the United States.

The Drug Enforcement Administration St. Louis Division investigated the case with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Northwest Missouri Drug Task Force, the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the Daviess County, Missouri Sheriff’s Department, the Grundy County Missouri Sheriff’s Department, the Buchanan County, Missouri Sheriff’s Department, the Livingston County, Missouri Sheriff’s Department, and the Department of Homeland Security.

Update in the case of Jessica Oseguera, daughter of El Mencho, trial set for December

Chivis Martinez Borderland Beat
Jessica Johanna Oseguera González, alias "La Negra", is charged with five crimes for involvement in transactions or deals related to property of a foreign person designated by the Treasury Department's blacklist.

Dockets reveal her scheduled trial date is December 14th.

She had fought for release citing Covid 19, was denied and she appealed, she lost on appeal.

She attempted to gain freedom on bail.  (see docket below) In the filing the property of a relative, Azucena Oseguera, at 644 Primrose Pl, Perris, CA 92571 was to be used as collateral.  The conditions and agreement of bail was revoked the same day.