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Friday, July 3, 2020

Authorities Freeze 127 Bank Accounts Linked to Suspects in Mexico City's Police Chief Attack

"MX" for Borderland Beat; TY to "Chava"
UIF chief Santiago Nieto Castillo
Mexico’s Financial Intelligence Unit (UIF) confirmed yesterday that they froze 127 bank accounts owned by people linked to the assassination attempt against Mexico City police chief Omar Garcia Harfuch carried out last week.

30 of them were owned by the would-be assassins; the remaining 97 were owned by family members or people who worked closely with them. The total monetary amount frozen was not publicly released to the press but the UIF said they were working together with the banks to determine the exact amount.

The UIF confirmed that they carried out this measure after Jose Armando Briseno (El Vaca), the suspect mastermind of the attack, told investigators that he paid each sicario MXN$100,000 to participate in Garcia Harfuch’s hit.

The UIF traced El Vaca’s bank accounts and froze his accounts and all accounts he deposited money to. UIF chief Santiago Nieto Castillo told reporters that they froze the accounts so that the family members are unable to use the money the attackers were paid.

Assassination attempt
Borderland Beat reported last week that heavily armed gunmen attacked and wounded Mexico City police chief Omar Garcia Harfuch while he was heading to a meeting with mayor Claudia Sheinbaum. Three trucks blocked Garcia Harfuch's SUV and opened fire in what authorities described as an "unprecedented" incident in Mexico City.

Two people from Garcia Harfuch's security detail were killed. The third was a women who happened to be driving by when the gunmen opened fire. On his way to the hospital, Garcia Harfuch tweeted that the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) was responsible for the attack.

"This morning we were attacked in a cowardly way by the CJNG. Two colleagues and friends of mine lost their lives. Our country must continue to confront organized crime groups," he said.

Over the course of a week, Mexican authorities carried out a large manhunt to arrest those responsible for the crime. Within a few hours, they arrested 21 people who directly and indirectly participated in the attack. This latest measure by the UIF is part of crackdowns by security forces to weakened the CJNG.

Background
The UIF was formed in 2004 to combat money laundering and illegal financial activities in Mexico. Its role in Mexico’s ongoing drug war has increased drastically under Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO).

In 2019, the UIF froze four times the number of accounts that were frozen the year before. Some of the investigations conducted by the UIF have uncovered important money laundering operations owned by Mexico’s major drug gangs, including the CJNG.

However, many cases also deal with political and business corruption and not with drug cartel activity. Some critics have said that the UIF is not politically independent and its powers may be abused if the government does not figure out a way to create a checks and balances system within it.

Financial measures against the CJNG
Last month, Borderland Beat reported that the UIF froze nearly 2,000 bank accounts owned by the CJNG. They did not disclose the amount in these frozen accounts, but officials said they noticed suspicious transactions totaling US$1 billion.

Several high-ranking CJNG members had their accounts frozen. One of them was Juan Manuel Abouzaid ("El Bayeh" AKA "El Escorpion"), who Borderland Beat identified last week as a close associate of cartel leader Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes ("El Mencho"). Another important individual was Ana Paulina Barajas Sahd, who operated several businesses on behalf of her husband Ulises Gonzalez Valencia, a member of Los Cuinis.

The accounts owned by the brothers Carlos Alberto and Genaro Cedano Filippini were also frozen. Mexican authorities say they head group called the Tabasco Cartel (Spanish: Cartel de Tabasco), which has close ties to the CJNG.

In addition, Mexican officials froze the bank accounts owned by Telesforo Baltazar Tirado Escamilla, founder of a business known as Farmaceutica Collins. In 2009, U.S. authorities identified him as a high-ranking member of the Colima Cartel (also known as the Amezcua Contreras Organization).

Mexican authorities say that this man is one of the main precursor drug suppliers for the CJNG. They are also investigating the following individuals: María Teresa Díaz Castro, Rolando Tirado Díaz, Liliana Guadalupe Tirado Díaz, Baltazar Tirado Díaz, Luis Alfonso Tirado Díaz and María Teresa Tirado Díaz, all linked to the CJNG.

Sources: Proceso; La Razon; Milenio

10 comments:

  1. This is how you get em...

    ReplyDelete
  2. One thing I don’t understand is why the guy in charge ratted out the guys doing the hit for him. Even if the government caught him, isn’t he signing his own death warrant in the jails or once he’s released?

    I understand that there are corrupt cops and/or officials that would torture him to confess (just like a cartel would) but was that the case here?

    In many of the videos of cartel murders, the victims seems to be resolved to their fate and take it with some level of dignity (and they have to be assured they are going to die) but what could have the government done to him to get that information so readily that he would rat without fear of reprisal from the cartel?

    ReplyDelete
  3. CJNG are the ISIS of Mexico

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    Replies

    1. 8:47 no mames pinchi mochacabezas,
      at least ISIS got dame and did not negotiate a semi-public contract with the US, england and israel like blackwater and Co.

      Delete
  4. CJNG are everywhere, poor CHAPITOS only have two PLAZAS in SINALOA and SONORA 😆

    ReplyDelete
  5. Follow the money!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Mencho bit the hand. Punk is going down.

    ReplyDelete
  7. 10:17 Omar Garcia Harfush "declined to state his financial affairs when he came to serve as a public official" declaring there could be or appear to be conflict of interest between his work as a public "servant" and private business affairs.
    As chief of the federal police in Guerrero State when the Ayotzinapos were disappeared he declared he knew nothing and lied when he said he wasn't even in the state, like grampa like grandson, his grampa el Carnicero de tlatelolco also knew nothimg and wasn't there when his army murdered thousands in Plaza de Tlatelolco...
    No wondEd r, you can see general marcelino garcia barragan dancing with general maximinio avila camacho, a murderer and brother of former presidente manuel avila camacho who begat president gustavo diaz ordaz who formed the mexican death squads, brigada blanca and batallon olimpico miliyar that assisted the army and federal police in Tlatelolco...
    i womder who is confiscating or investigating omar garcia harfush banks and properties, his brother javier garcia morales was asessinated in Guadalajara years ago too, perhaps to eliminate some heirs to the narco-fortune of the Garcia family, famously made from DRUG TRAFFICKING...
    Omar's father ran the DFS too, javier garcia paniagua, boss of DFS agents: •miguel nazar haro,
    •julian slim helu,
    •rafael aguilar guajardo
    •amado carrillo fuentes and many others famius for their corruption.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. DFS COMMANDANTE Julián Slim Helu was the partner agente of Miguel nazar Haro torturing murderer in chief of the son of Rosario Ibarra de Piedra for the kidnapping/ assassination of Don Eugenio Garza Sada in Monterrey that left emilio azcarraga sr the only owner of the Estadio Azteca, a very convenient business movie for the televisa owner...(alonge with former president Miguel Alemàn, azcarraga's secret partner)
      Blaming members of the Comunist League 23 de Septiembre was nothing new for DFS KIDNAPPING/TORTURING MURDERING DRUG TRAFFICKING DFS COMMANDERS' DEATH SQUADS.
      miguel nazar haro was ordered released from prisión in California by the CIA, he had been arrestado for Car Theft and trafficking to México...
      Hubcap stealing could get others killed, DFS AGENTS GOT FREEDOM.

      Delete
  8. Tobasco Cartel?? Do tell.

    ReplyDelete

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