Blog dedicated to reporting on Mexican drug cartels
on the border line between the US and Mexico
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Thursday, May 21, 2020

Nogales or La Nogalera

By Buggs for Borderland Beat

Some people had been asking me about Nogales, who is in charge, why so calm, is the conflict in the state of Sonora trying to reach Nogales. Who are the players?

Let's talk Nogales.


Nogales, Sonora is considered one of the greatest doors in the border for the shipment of illicit drugs to the United States. Nogales was also considered in it's time as the "city of tunnels" for the large number of tunnel seizures used to cross dope to the united states. The Sinaloa cartel was responsible for funding, directing and building these tunnels in the Sonora border.

The city has been linked to some of  the biggest drug traffickers in the Mexican narco history, mainly from the Sinaloa cartel, specially during the great heyday of the 1980s and 1990s of the famous Guadalajara cartel that was led by Miguel Ángel Felix Gallardo, Rafael Caro Quintero and Ernesto Fonseca Carrillo. After the distribution of plazas made by the Guadalajara cartel, Emilio Quintero Payan was sent to the city of Nogales as head of the plaza for the Guadalajara cartel.


Emilio Quintero Payan was brother of the famous Lamberto Quintero Payan who was uncle of Rafael Caro Quintero and father of Emilio Quintero Navidad "El Cadete." After the arrests of Felix Gallardo, Ernesto Fonseca and Rafael Caro Quintero, the Guadalajara cartel, the leadership fell to Emilio Quintero Payan who protected the people of El Chapo Guzman and El Güero Palma as well as his lieutenants the Beltran Leyva brothers who were helping Sinaloa and Jalisco.

The Guadalajara cartel was divided into smaller cartels located in different plazas, that gave birth to the cartel we now now such as, Sinaloa, Juarez and Tijuana cartels, etc. . .

Emilio Quintero ran the city of Nogales until his death in 1993 in the state of Mexico. He was shot to death in a confused confrontation with police, Payan's death was a hard blow to the drug trafficking business.

After Emilio's death came the arrest of El Chapo Guzman in Guatemala, as he was hiding there, after the confrontation against his people from the Arellanos Felix. They attempted to execute El Chapo at the Guadalajara airport, but they managed to execute the Cardinal Juan Jesús Posadas Ocampo by mistake.

The Beltran Leyva brothers continued to be active within the organization of Amado Carrillo Fuentes and along with Mayo Zambada, they financed the legal defense of El Chapo Guzman. Things remained like this until the escape of El Chapo from Puente Grande in 2001. The Sinaloa cartel then resumed power with great force and they position themselves as the largest cartel in Mexico that trafficking drugs.

El Mayo Zambada transported shipments of drugs inside train cars, they originated from Sinaloa, using the extensive railway lines that pass through Nogales, Sonora, that eventually would end up in cities of Arizona, like Tucson and Phoenix.

During 2004 and 2005 the Beltran Leyva brothers were sent to Sonora to expand the Sinaloa organization. Arturo Beltran Leyva "El Barbas" and Alfredo Beltran Leyva "El Mochomo" formed relationships in the cities of Nogales, Agua Prieta, city Obregón, Navojoa and Hermosillo for the trafficking of drugs, as well as forming groups of sicarios to keep rivals out of the cartel's operations.

The groups under the Beltran Leyva brothers, who themselves were lieutenants of El Chapo Guzman, consisted of Los Numeros or the Enriquez Parra group, Los Jabalís, Los Salazars, Los Paredes and some others. These groups spread all over the Sonoran territory.

During the next few years the Sonoran state experienced a wave of drug-related violence, the groups were at war for territories all associated with the Sinaloa cartel. The direction of these groups within the state changed dramatically after the arrest of Alfredo Beltran Leyva El Mochomo. In January 2008, this created the war between the Beltran Leyva brothers against their cousin El Chapo Guzman, all that have been associates to the Sinaloa cartel.

Alfredo Beltran Leyva El Mochomo
The war reached the city of Nogales, where strong confrontations took place, the cells of sicarios belonging to the Beltran Leyva brothers arrived in the city and called themselves "La Mochomera" led by Jesus Eleazar Castro Castro "El 11."

The city plunged into a wave of violence, registering 116 war-related murders of the Sinaloa cartel vs. Beltran Leyva brothers in 2008, the year of Alfredo's arrest.

An incident that was significant in the conflict was the execution of Commander Juan Manuel Pavon Felix, head of the State Security Police. The commander was arriving at his base of operations located in the Marques Hotel when he was caught by sicarios who fired gunfire with high caliber weapons and launched grenades, causing the commander's death.

The reason for the execution was motivated from the commander's coordinating the operations in the city that led to the arrest of a convoy belonging to the Beltran Leyva brothers, as well as seizures of drugs belonging to the organization. It is also said that in 2007 the commander had repelled an attack from a convoy full of sicarios who had attacked the city of Cananea led by a lieutenant of the Beltran Leyva supported by the Zetas of Tamaulipas.

That same year and months later, Jesus Elezar Castro Castro El 11 was arrested after an intense shootout in the Kennedy neighborhood of Nogales. El 11 had been responsible for the death of Commander Pavon Felix. It was said that the intensity of the shootout was so great that it caused officers to run out of ammunition. They were resupplied after being supported by military forces.

In 2009, after a confrontation, they detained a cell leader from the Beltran Leyva along with 8 other sicarios, Cesar Alberto Escarrega Rodriguez in the Colonia Unit 2 in Nogales.

During the arrest and interrogation statement of Jose Paulino Vasquez Villagrana, leader of Los Jabalís in Sonora, he confessed on how in November 2009 in the city of Obregón, Sonora, the leaders of the region were called to a meeting. The objective was to coordinate operations to remove the people of the Beltran Leyva in the city of Nogales that was led by Arnoldo del Cid Buelna "El M4" or "Gilo" and people of "El Tigre." The meeting was called by Alfredo Salazar "El Justiciero" or "El Alfa" and was attended by Jabalí of Magdalena, El Negro Sabori of Caborca, El Paletero of Caborca, Edgar Resendiz Holguin El Navajas of Nogales, Ernesto Bernal El Caras of Nogales and Marcos Paredes of Agua Prieta, all that formed part of Gente Nueva.

They all decided that the person in charge of cleaning the people of the Beltran Leyva in Agua Prieta, Nogales, Santa Ana, Tubutama was to be El Jabalí by orders of Alfredo Salazar.

A protected witness of the extinct PGR gave testimony how in December 16 or 20, 2009 they left Santa Ana in a convoy of around 20 trucks, carrying 5 to 6 sicarios in each truck headed to Nogales. In this operation they were led by El Jabalí and El Negro Sabori supported by El Gigio, was under the command Mayo Zambada. "We went to go bust several houses belonging to the people of Los Zetas and the Beltran clan. While arriving in Nogales, the trucks dispersed, there were several clashes in several places, that resulted in the death of several Zetas and the abduction of several others that were later executed. We had returned to Santa Ana but we returned to Nogales at night fall. Again there were more clashes and more deaths of the Zetas and Beltranes. There were three days of intense fighting but at the end, the plaza was finally retaken."

This coupled with the death of Arturo Beltran Leyva "El Barbas" at the hands of the Mexican Marines in an operation in Cuernavaca, Morelos, the Sinaloa Cartel retook control of the city of Nogales and put an end to the hold of the Beltrans in the city.

Shootout in Tubatama Sonora

The group of La Gente Nueva received a hard blow after the death of Navajas in 2010 in Tubutama after a confrontation against the forces of El Gilo del Cid. Later they arrested El Caras in Agua Prieta who was responsible for the plaza in Nogales for El Chapo Guzmán.

In 2011, Manuel de Jesus Palma Morquecho "El Macario" is arrested in Agua Prieta by the military. He was presented as leader of the Sinaloa cartel in the cities of Agua Prieta and Nogales for El Chapo Guzman.

in 2012 Arnoldo del Cid Buelna "El Gilo" or "M4" was executed in Saric, ending the last support of the Beltran Leyva in Nogales. After the expulsion of the Beltran Leyva, El Gilo ended up in the city of Tubutama, from where he directed attacks against La Gente Nueva of the sinaloa cartel.

During the following years, the trafficking of drugs, settling of scores and the building of tunnels marked the activities of crime in Nogales.

The city saw an upturn in seizures of the drug called crystal in the border port, this caused the plaza to heat up due to the sale of these drugs that were prohibited by the cartel, the settling of scores was swift. In the light of day the abductions of people were found tortured or simply disappeared.

In of May 2013, the United States Department of the Treasury designated Felipe de Jesus Sosa Canizales "El Gigio" in charge of the plaza in Nogales for Mayo Zambada and was added to the list of drug traffickers in which they warn American citizens to refrain from conducting business with him under threats of sanctions.

In November 2013, Serafin Zambada Ortiz, son of Mayo Zambada, was arrested. Zambada Ortiz was detained trying to cross into Nogales, Arizona by DEA agents. Serafin was born in the United States and had been crossing several times a year until he was listed as a collaborator of the Sinaloa cartel. He entered from Nogales and Naco in to the United States.

In 2014 Edgar Omar Amaya Ruiz "El 7" was executed, he was a representative of El Chapo in Nogales. He sent to the city of Mexicali by El Chapo Guzman to settle accounts after the fight between Manuel Torres Felix and Gonzalo Inzunza Inzunza "El Macho Prieto," to answer for the death of Paulo Osorio Payan in Puerto Peñasco.

El Macho Prieto supervised Felipe de Jesus Sosa Canizales El Gigio in the drug trafficking business to the United States in Nogales.

The city of Nogales is divided into two, one part of the city are the people of El Chapo Guzman, now Los Chapitos/his sons, and on the other side of the city are the people of Mayo Zambada.

The group of Los Demonios, with their leaders "El J3" and "El Chango" who have been already arrested, were part of the Mayo group, one member is still active known as "El 50." Also the death of "El Camello" part the group of "20" died at the hands of the municipal police. All of them were led by Felipe de Jesus Sosa Canizales "El Gigio" or "El del Sombrero."

On the side of El Chapo or Chapitos is a drug trafficker nicknamed "El 5" associated with the Salazar de Navojoa.

"El JJ" collaborator of El Gigio was found executed in front of the chapel of "la santa muerte' in Nogales, next to the body of "Chapo 13" with a narco-message that said "the cleansing of rats/JJ has began." The death was attributed to "El 5" collaborator of the Salazars in Nogales.

Today the city is in a relative calm after the violent events that occurred around it, the fracture and the war between the factions of the Chapitos against the Mayo Zambada has not not touched Nogales yet, although the boss of the plaza is embroiled in the confrontations.

El Gigio or El del Sombrero together with his brother El 20 maintains an intense fight against the "El Cazador" or "Noveno" in attempts to maintain a new order within control of the plaza of Sonora.


49 comments:

  1. not to contradict your info, however el chapo 13 as well as jj used to work for el 5. chapo 13 was arrested along with some of his crew on el periferico after almost running over a student. now el chapo 13 was head of sicarios for el 5 however he was becoming very erratic. so when the call was made to let him go or detain him, he was put in cuffs and sent to el d.f. during this time crispin a relative of el justiciero is in charge. word comes down for 5 to help out in obregon. so el jj is left in charge of the other half of nogalitos. i can attest to this and more. either way nogales has a good structure to work and a lot of fight in it.

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    1. Wasn't El JJ executed? I remember that Los Chapitos sent people up north to avenge his death...

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  2. I remember back in the day going on day trips to Nogales for lunch and cocktails. It was so chill.

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  3. El jj era gente del 5 igual que el chapo 13. La semana en la que el 5 se fue a hermosillo a encargarse de esa plaza por la muerte del napo fue cuando mataron al jj y chapo 13 ( por ordenes del 5) cada rato se agarraban de pleito en los radios de frecuencia. Ahi muchas historias en nogales. Cuando andaban el cadete y el estudiante de encargados hicieron un cochinero. Cuando anduvo el 11 con el tito, el tigre y el m4 se puso peor. Los que limpiaron la plaza en aquel tiempo fueron los gigios con su gente (20 6-5 arabe camello por mencionar unos) y vienen cosas peores. Esto no es mas que el comienzo. Ahorita dicen que gn va ganando en sonora pero el caro es muy poderoso( pienso uo pero no se nada) y siempre tiene al gobiern de su lado. Ahorita los pedos que ahi es que el mayo y el caro se quieren repartir la plaza y no quiere nadien con bandera salazar por que le mataron a allegados y familia mientras el estaba en el bote el caro y los quiere borrar del mapa diria el chavez en tv azteca ahi tiro ahi tiroooo.

    UA mi nogalitooooos

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    1. Que saquen a los Salazar alv de sonora

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    2. que gn va ganado sonora? a lo que oido ya estan con un pie afuera que no? ya no traen nada alcontrario son los que mas van perdiendo

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    3. I could give a fuck who owns the plaza, all I know is we are starving up here , donde estan mis cuadros por 16 , dejan de pendejadas y manda algo ya wey

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    4. 4:06 no way u gettin a whole chicken for 16 in 2020 not even in Mx

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  4. I still cross there on occasion and it's chill. Keep your head down and mind your own business and no one gives you any problems.

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  5. Fun fact. M4 was killed by Rene Villagrana (literally). He sat for days in the hills waiting for him. When he finally saw him, he was traveling in a 4 wheeler along with bodyguards. He was trying to feed his cattle. He shot him in the stomach, killed his bodyguards then took him and tortured him all night long. After he was killed, his body was dragged all over magdalena. The a couple of years later Rene killed his brother Adrian.

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  6. El miguelito es el bueno en nogales orita del lado dela gente nueva...

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    1. Yo creo que me estan limpiando la plaza a Miguel Caro quintero. Ay viene de vuelta "el baron del despierto". Ay viene Javier Torres tambien. Pero tambien viene Arturo Villarreal El jefe de tijuana.

      -el chicali

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  7. There are a couple factual mistakes, in regard to dates and times in this article. But for the most part this is a very good Narrative of the people involved. I'm impressed. At least it gives you an idea of what happened during that time. Like I said, some of it is wrong, but most of it is factual in regard to the people involved. Kudos to you.


    ABK

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  8. Is this chronicled in the Borderland beat book?

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  9. Hahaha ni el J3 nel chango están o estaban cercas de ser los patrones de los demonios

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  10. El Mayo Zambada is so old, why would he be fighting for Sonora turf?
    Could it be the lowly plebes fighting while momnies are not present?
    Don Manlio Fabio Beltrones should know what is going on, it was all his turf since he was with gutierrez barrios at the DFS, the only governor that went to BC to "investigate" and cover up for salinas the murder Luis Donaldo Colossio.
    --The wrongful death of Cardinal Juan Jose Posadas Ocampo attributed to a mistake by the AFO while trying to kill El Chapo, (that was incarcerated for the attempt on his life) Federal Police Commander rodolfo leon aragon "el chino Leon" has been accused of being the real killer with help of his federal police death squad, orders of his PGR director Jorge Carpizo Mc Gregor acting for his presidente salinas...by the way, carpizo also promoted Mario Ruiz Massieu's career until he was assigned to investigate the assassination of his brother Francisco Ruiz Massieu ordered by Raul Salinas "his brother in law" for being gay lover of carlos salinas and married to their sister.
    Dr Carpizo was also the example of: "hombre soltero y maduro, joto seguro..."

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    1. You are the one that's right out of all these commentators. Yet nobody ever pays attention to you they rather post dumb comments

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    2. 11:20 thanks for the praises, blame chivis for the encouragement.
      And most of all, let commenters do their best until they get better.

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  11. Q todos se maten! mas coraje me da hacer 3 horas de puta fila para cruzara usa teniendo 8 carriles y 40 cbp disponibles y solo habren dos. Todo pa ir al ross por unas tommy jeans

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    1. 11:34 que, no hay fayuca en el lado mexica?
      Far as i know all the pirated goods get sold all over mexico first, including, i read years ago, brand new 100 dollar bills of better quality than America's made in North Korea.

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  12. Whose the real plaza boss of Nogales????

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    1. El Gigio for mayo runs half of Nogales and el 5 for los Chapitos runs the other half

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  13. Nogales 1985 you could dine at the McDonald's on the USA side and watch people from Mexico coming and going through the border fence full of holes. Mostly maids and mothers going over to shop, not necessarily people migrating. It allowed the to and fro of every day business in a border town.
    The cartels killed border congeniality with their efforts to import cheap drugs that kill.

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  14. A few weeks ago before all this Magdalena-nogales-altar shit started going, there was an armored Jeep and several other cars that got shot up real bad near Cibuta (this happened on midnight) I wonder who got shot on that armored Jeep

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  15. Do not drive the road from Santa Ana to Caborca at night.

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  16. Ese video es de los Reyes Michoacan, es la gente del (20) Alfonso Fernández Magallon apodado el 20 y también Poncho la Quiringua.
    El que grita es Mascarita, jefe de sicarios del (R5) Luis Barragán Chavez, conocido como Güicho el de los Reyes o el R5
    Van a Buenavista Tomatlan a pelear con el Maguey Santiago Quintero Magallon líder de la plaza de Buenavista para el CJNG
    El 20 y Maguey son primos hermanos los dos son de la familia(Magallon) al igual que Miguel Valencia jefe de plaza de Cotija para los Jaliscos
    fueron los que descargaron la a avioneta de coca del CJNG que se calló en el 25 cercas de Buenavista,y se perdió la cf arga... por esa avioneta es el pleito del CJNG con el Abuelo Farias de Tepalcatepec por que no devolvieron la carga y mataron al Morisqueto
    Ese video va dirigido a Maguey
    Se escuchan los gritos de Mascarita donde dice TAMBIÉN TRAEMOS MATRACA MAGUEY HIJO DE TU PERRA MADRE, TAMBIÉN TRAEMOS MATRACA PERRO,
    El 20 se hace llamar GDC gente del Chaparrito
    Ellos son el brazo armado del Abuelo de Tepeque, parece que ya limaron sus asperezas con los Jaliscos.

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  17. esta mal la nota, lamberto quintero no era payan ,era quintero paez, primo de emilio, y el de la foto no es emilio, es un actor, en los 80s el que dominaba nogales era jaime figueroa soto junto con somoza frasquillo, luego salieron de pleito, en los 90s fue encargado de la plaza por ordenes de carrillo fuentes, cesar jaime castro medina alias el jaimillo

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    1. wtf that’s my little sisters tio 😂😂 her dads brother I didn’t kno he was really big back than small world.
      -CDS nutthugger

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  18. In the mid/late 1970s and 80s Tucson became a huge weed transfer shipment center, an hour north by highway from Nogales. Many-ton loads were coming up all the time from Rancho Bufalo and the Sinaloa/Durango/Chihuahua triangle. In Tucson they would be sold to regional distributors who carried them to the upper northeast and midwest, south, California, as far as Canada. Some of it stayed in Arizona though, and that was to my GREAT benefit for a while.

    I bought keys from my Mexican contact who one time took me to where he scored, out of a tractor trailer truck with Arizona plates parked in a nondescript lot on the far east side of Tucson. There must have been a few hundred thousand pounds in that trailer, most of it was pressed into bricks but there were a few sacks of puras colas so distributors and dealers could sample, and lucky me, it was primo and I got a few pounds of it. I don't remember the exact price I paid but I do remember thinking it was one hell of a good deal!

    Phoenix evolved into a major distribution center during the boom 1980s because all the trucks coming in full of building materials for suburbs and strip malls and groceries for grocery stores would go out empty. Many of the contraband distribution networks that are now well established began in that era, the Reagan "Just Say No" years.

    Nogales used to be a lot of fun on a weekend trip and I have passed through there many times on my way south. Have not been there since early 2000's, seems like things have really heated up a lot recently.

    The Mexicans I worked with didn't really say they were part of a cartel or gang or anything, just "motero independiente" - the word "narco" carried a lot less ugliness than now - and they looked like cowboys and ranchers, not hippies or druggies. They were always honest too, I never got ripped off (I spoke pretty good Spanish though) and I can never remember any weapons beyond the usual pistol in the belt.

    The dope game has changed a lot but some of it is still the same - there's a lot of ways to go north, but north is where it's going.

    The song "Last Days of May" by Blue Oyster Cult from their first album in the early 70s is based on a true story about some guys from the east coast who traveled to Tucson to buy quantity. It didn't end well. I was probably luckier than most and never got greedy, so all I have is good memories.

    Buggs, Chivis, and everyone - Thanks for doing this blog; the truth shall set us free.

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    1. Ya, 1976, I’d fly into Tucson and rent a car- then drive the load back for my hefe in Colorado. I was chill and square, never once stopped by the law. I did this for 22 months, once a month, 1 month 2 trips so, in all 23 loads and I got $10000 per load. Ratholed every dime and bought a nice casa after I got out of the military. I was a dum shit 22 year old at the time not scared of much. Now?!? I look back and I was very foolish. I got my start though...

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    2. Thank you for the descriptive story, especially for some of us who weren't around back then. I'll listen to that song right now. Take care amigo

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    3. E S of tucson "NACO" IS STILL wide Open gates open and tunnels Everywhere
      Americans work very close with Mexicans to keep it that way, many lil childrens cross thru NACO


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    4. Last Days of May Am sure you have some interesting stories. Light up your keyboard or look me up.

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  19. El quemado was always mentioned back in the 90's as well. Anyone have any further info on him?

    Great info here. Thanks.

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    1. al quemado somoza lo mataron en uruapan michoacan

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    2. in the 2000s rigoberto gaxiola medina aka don rigo, runs nogales

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    3. Great story... but what is el verdad??? Greed kills or drug dealers kill or drug addicts kill them selves.....
      No sarcasm intended....

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  20. Thanks @ 5:33 ref El quemado. Do you know what year more or less and the circumstances? Gracias!!!

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    1. en el 2014, tenia dos años de salir de la carcel, estuvo preso desde el 89

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  21. I'm surprised that Figueroa-Soto hasn't been talked about much as far as the history not the Sonora corridor. I believe the was caught in the PHX area in a hidden room/compartment when one of houses was raided. His photo in the news was one of the craziest pictures I had seen at the time.

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    1. I know Jaime Figueroa Soto. They busted a house in Tucson of his with 20 tons of pot in it and like 88 or 87. But he was hiding out in Phoenix because he was hiding from Chapo Chapo was going to kill him. That's the only reason he was caught. But Jaime with big-time


      ABK

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  22. I recall seeing a sicario called "el broncas" at the trocadero in nogaleabnogales in very early 90's. People there were talking about him and pointing him out. I was told he was shot and killed there in the parking lot too some weeks later.

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  23. El quemado y el jaimillo eran de los buenos

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  24. Hay un tipo en Peñasco k se llama Joe Gelardi, aka "El Pepe". Esta moviendo mucha merka a todas partes del mundo. Hasta ahora estaba andando en las sombras.

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