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Saturday, October 10, 2020

Key cartel witness found dead before drug agents could fly him to U.S.

 Chivis Martinez Borderland Beat  Source

Weapons seized during capture of El Chicken link to BB post here

Carlos Almada Castrillo, of Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación could have been a key witness for U.S. prosecutors as they work to topple the global drug empire.  (allegedly, El Chicken worked directly for El Sapo or 090 top lieutenant of Mencho)

But he was found hanging in a Mexican jail.

Investigators and experts tracking drug cartel developments say the 27-year-old's death is likely a murder disguised as a suicide to prevent him from testifying in the U.S., both a senior official with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and a Mexican political analyst told the Courier Journal.

Almada, known as "El Pollo" or "El Chicken" for his small neck and larger head, is one of high-ranking members of CJNG — a top U.S. target — to die under suspicious circumstances before officials could secure their extraditions to the U.S.

That's three dead witnesses, which illustrate the difficulty in bringing down CJNG, which along with the infamous Sinaloa Cartel, export the bulk of illegal drugs to the U.S. — including a synthetic opioid that is now America's No. 1 killer, fentanyl. Underscoring the urgency to weaken the cartels, U.S. health officials expect overdose deaths to top 70,000 amid the deadliest drug epidemic in American history.

Last fall, federal police and members of the SEDENA, Mexico's national defense, teamed to arrest Almada and three alleged accomplices on September 26, 2019 in Zapopan, a city in the Mexican state of Jalisco, headquarters for CJNG.

At the time of Almada's arrest, the country's National Defense Ministry issued a public statement detailing their seizure of a cache of weapons, including 22 assault rifles and 2,600 cartridges as well as grenades and grenade launchers capable of downing aircraft. They tagged Almada as the head of CJNG's operations in the metropolitan region of Guadalajara and reported finding several packages of cocaine, methamphetamine and tactical gear.

A senior DEA official, who spoke only on background because Almada's death is being investigated by Mexican law enforcement — not U.S. officials — said some of the cache of seized weapons, including military-grade assault rifles,were traced back to U.S. The bulk of illicit drugs fueling America's deadliest drug crisis is coming from Mexico, but Mexican leaders say cartels are largely armed with American weapons due to lax U.S. gun laws.

Experts said it's likely Almada would have known a lot of cartel secrets. That's because he grew up with the cartel leader's son, Rubén Oseguera González, known as "Menchito" or  "Lil' Mencho" and remained part of his inner circle, according to a retired DEA supervisor who once participated in the hunt for El Mencho. Menchito stood to inherit control of the cartel but was arrested in Mexico in 2017.

Five months after Almada's arrest, Menchito was extradited to the U.S. despite three years of court battles to keep him in Mexico. Menchito's attorney in Mexico, Victor Francisco Beltrán García, told The Courier Journal that Menchito's extradition was abrupt and illegal and banned by a Mexican judge.

However, Alfonso Durazo, Mexico's security minister, told reporters the extradition had been in the works for eight months.

Menchito now sits in a U.S. jail cell awaiting trial in federal court in Washington, D.C. on drug trafficking charges.

Eager to bring Almada to Washington, D.C., to garner information against Menchito, U.S. officials obtained a provisional arrest warrant, which labeled Almada a flight risk and asked Mexican authorities to detain him while both countries worked to secure his extradition.

But Almada's body was found at 11 a.m. March 5 in his small jail cell next to a toilet in Puente Grande federal prison in the state of Jalisco. He died of mechanical asphyxia by hanging, according to a copy of the death certificate. But it didn't specify if the death was suicide or homicide.

27 comments:

  1. El chicken didnt kill himself

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We know that part, as it says it was disgiesed to look like a suicide. Baby killer cartel has the jail system on it's currupted payroll.

      Delete
    2. Al estilo, sinaloa. Killing they're own. Clasicó.
      How many babies has the cartel killed anyways?

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    3. March 5 is a long time ago, even if it is of 2020.
      Anyways, what do you expect?
      No prisoners, no problemo.
      Puente Grande is closed anyway,
      But i'd like to know what happened to the instigators of the riot in El Topo Chico Prison kn Monterrey, who are they and where are they now?

      Delete
    4. Neither did jeff Epstein lol

      Delete
    5. “Al estilo Sinaloa”

      🤣 hahaha this guy!

      The article doesn’t say he snitched on himself or anyone else baboso!

      Delete
    6. Finally, El pollo got extradited the officers were just waitimg for the green light

      Delete
  2. Maybe the strain of being a snitch was to much for the chicken to bear.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Never send a chicken to do a man's job.

    ReplyDelete
  4. They got rid El Pollo because he was the person responsible for heating up Guadalajara at the peak of the war with NP. Some people speculated he switched bandos but that was never the case. He was relatively close to Menchito and his father. he did bring a level of violence that was not seen in Guadalajara since El-85. This man didn’t even have tienditas in the city like many of the other bosses, he was there to lead the war period. Many of his local drug sales were to “upscale” clientele in the city. He did have extensive knowledge of the trafficking network which is why the DEA wanted him bad. With his capture there was rumors that el mencho was or possible is planning an attack on the governor of Jalisco for the betrayals in recent years.

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    Replies
    1. Damn u know alot Bro, u must be in Mexico lmaoo

      Delete
    2. What happened to el tiburon from jalisco?

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    3. My family and I have parcelas around the state so I’m back and forth from Mexico and the US. I sometimes post here what they tell me is going around the state, basically the chismes.

      Delete
    4. 212
      Thanks for the post mano appreciate it

      Delete
    5. @ 6:25
      El tiburón is way up there in the cartel but not much is said about him to be honest. You don’t hear much rumors about him, he’s one of those guys that have a lot of power but work in the shadows. Some people say he’s the head of sicarios for menchos escolta and other say he’s retired but no one knows for sure. The last time I heads his name being mentioned in the state was 2019 when NP was trying to expand into Cd Guzman but it was quickly taken care of.

      Delete
    6. 10:12 Al tiburón se lo va a clavar una sirena por detrás,
      y a ti también.

      Delete
  5. El JP/Piolin too, last year. Hanged in his cell, awaiting extradition.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Heleno Madrigal Virrueta "El 20" CJNG lieutenant had the same fate, also in Puente Grande.

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  6. CJNG the cartel of rats established 2018, just wannabes. No one takes them seriously and lil Mencho is having a train ran on him daily.

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    Replies
    1. You sound ridiculous! Go back to school and do some research about mencho before you talk about him!

      Delete
    2. 634 Well they were CDS so...

      Delete
  7. Siempre pasa lo mismo. Lo que tienen que entender que la DEA no t va cuidar aunque t lo digan mejor calla todo lo que sabes y guardalo dentro de ti porque la decisión de cagarla la tomaste desde que empezaste a trabajar. Ahora aguantese ni pedo. Acepte lo que venga.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Why did El chicken cross the road? To hang himself

    ReplyDelete
  9. Antes muerto que snitching disen los de jalisco!! A pero los de sinaloa olvidate les dan una chansita y nomas les preguntas como se llaman y te dan asta la fecha de nacimiento de todos sus familiares

    ReplyDelete
  10. I think the cops killed him, sorrry

    ReplyDelete
  11. Que esperabas mijo? Tú sabías claramente los riegos! Dios te perdone.

    ReplyDelete

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