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

Friday, December 31, 2021

La Pila, San Luis Potosí: Armed Criminal Cell La Plaza Threatens Gulf And Alemanes Cartel

"Sol Prendido" for Borderland Beat



A new armed criminal cell has surfaced within the Mexican underworld. This unit of gunmen goes by the name of La Plaza. At this time it’s unknown who is leading this crew of enforcers. 

The bodies of two individuals, male and female, were found on Francisco I. Madero street.  Each corpse was bound hand and feet. 

Just as well several narco messages were left at the crime scene with threats of violence against the Gulf Cartel (CDG) and the Alemanes Cartel. 


Narco message reads as follows: 
This was my fate because I was selling drugs for “El Coco” and Luis Aleman. This will also be the fate of everyone who continues alongside them. The plaza already has an owner.

Narco message reads as follows:

This was my fate for selling drugs for “El Coco” We’re coming into the new year with everything we’ve got  Everything that smells in La Pila and it’s surroundings like the Golfos or the Alemanes cartel will be killed the fuck off like these two dumb asses that lie here dead. Sincerely, La Plaza

Vigilante

Policiaca San Luis

Father & Son Found Tied & Executed in Brownsville, Texas Public Park

"Socalj" for Borderland Beat



A passerby discovered the bodies of two men – now identified as Ines Cruz, 49, and his son Manuel Cruz, 24 – Wednesday on Old Port Isabel Road, east of Lomo Alta Lake.


Authorities said both men had gunshot wounds to their heads and that their legs and hands were bound with rope. There was tape over their mouths and black T-shirts over their heads.“They (T-shirts) were tied over their heads. It appears to be execution-style. It appears to be organized criminal activity,” said Mary Esther Sorola, Cameron County justice of the peace Precinct 2, Place 3, who pronounced the men dead. It’s unknown if the men are Mexican nationals or U.S. citizens.

The sheriff’s department received a call at about 1:30 p.m. Wednesday about two men sleeping on the side of the road, Sheriff Eric Garza said. When the deputies arrived at the scene – off of old Port Isabel Road – they found the victims.

Garza said authorities believe the men were killed at another location and that their bodies were dumped at the location. The sheriff said it’s believed the men had not been dead that long since investigators were able to move the fingers of the victims to get fingerprints. “They weren’t there that long. We are thinking they were there a couple of hours,” Garza said.

Sorola said she was called out to the scene at about 3:05 p.m. Upon inspecting the victims, she said one appeared to have suffered two gunshot wounds to the head while the other had been shot once in the head.

“It did seem fresh. It didn’t appear that they had been there that long,” she said.

Garza said anyone with information pertaining to the men’s death to contact the Cameron County Sheriff’s Department Crime Stoppers hotline at (956) 350-5551.

Brownsville is north of the border from Matamoros, Tamaulipas, the birthplace of the Gulf Cartel. The region has a long history of being one of the busiest drug smuggling corridors. While local politicians claim the region is safe using cherry-picked crime stats, there have been numerous cases of cartel-connected cross-border violence in the past.

Earlier this month, as reported by Borderland Beat, federal authorities re-arrested Osiel Cardenas Guillen Jr., the son of the jailed kingpin by the same name who was the supreme leader of the Gulf Cartel. The younger Cardenas was living in Brownsville under supervised release after pulling a gun at a bar and claiming to be a U.S. federal agent in 2018. Since his release from detention, Cardenas was involved in violent assaults at bars and incidents of road rage, where he would allegedly use his family name to threaten motorists.

In August, a group of men shot a 23-year-old man on the 5400 block of Boca Chica Boulevard, causing him to crash his vehicle. The victim died at the scene. Months later, federal authorities were able to apprehend three men tied to the murder, which is linked to drug trafficking and organized crime, local news outlets reported at the time.

In previous years, several Gulf Cartel top lieutenants have been arrested in Cameron County, including Brownsville.


Source 

Sinaloa Cartel's El Aquiles Threatens CAF's El Lobo & Leaves Dead Hitman in Tijuana

"HEARST" and "Itzli" for Borderland Beat



Sinaloa Cartel’s Cabo 27 left a message on a sign threatening Cartel Arellano Félix’s El Lobo, along with the remains of a dead hitmen they say worked under El Lobo, in the city of Tijuana in the state of Baja California. Warning: Graphic photos below this point. 






At approximately 8:20 pm on the night of December 28, 2021, the body of a deceased male and a narcomanta (sign or banner with a narco message) was thrown from inside a moving vehicle onto Eridano Street in Sánchez Taboada neighborhood of Tijuana.

Michoacán: The Interrogation Of Basketball Player Alexis Cervantes

"Sol Prendido" for Borderland Beat



Alexis Cervantes, the Mexican Professional Basketball player that was kidnapped by an armed group on December 21, was released on Wednesday in a rural area of ​​the Western State of Michoacán, along with the taxi driver he had hired to transport him to the state of Jalisco.

Alfredo Ramírez Bedolla, Governor of Michoacán, confirmed that Cervantes, who in 2021 played for the team Libertadores de Querétaro, in the National Basketball League of Mexico (LNBP), was found on this Wednesday with the taxi driver Marcos Sandoval Julián.

The General Prosecutor's Office (FGE), said that the athlete and the taxi driver were left abandoned and tied to a tree, on a dirt road that connects the town of San Pedro with the principle municipal location of Venustiano Carranza, adjacent to the state of Jalisco.

The two presented visible wounds, both were placed in a FGE helicopter and transferred to the capital city of Morelia, to have their health status reviewed and expand official investigations.

Alexis Cervantes was in Michoacán after being hired by amateur basketball teams in the Michoacan municipalities of Tancítaro and Los Reyes, a recurring practice in Mexico when the LNBP is in recess.

The abduction of the basketball athlete happened on December 21, after he had communicated with his family to inform them that he was traveling in a taxi from Los Reyes to Guadalajara, Jalisco, where he would then return to his hometown of Guasave, Sinaloa, in northwestern Mexico.

The investigations of the FGE reveal that Cervantes and the taxi driver were kidnapped on a section of road that joins the municipality of Vista Hermoso near Venustiano Carranza - with the Jaliscian city of La Barca. Family members didn’t make their request for help to locate the basketball player until December 25. 

Alexis Cervantes plays as a pivot and has worn the t-shirts of the Abejas de León, Correcaminos UAT and Libertadores de Querétaro, all of the LNBP, the main Mexican professional tournament.

The basketball player has also played for Frailes de Guasave, Mineros de Caborca and Gigantes de Jalisco, the Basketball Circuit of the Pacific Coast (Cibacopa), one from the Northwest and West of Mexico.

Recently, Alexis Cervantes played for Liebres de Guasave, in the Pacific Basketball Circuit (CIBAPAC), a developing league that uses professional players when the teams from the LNBP, of which the Querétaro Libertadores belongs to, is in recess.

In the bordering area of ​​Michoacán and Jalisco operate the criminal organizations such as the Los Reyes cartel, the Nueva Familia Michoacana, Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) and the Caballeros Templarios cartel who are currently disputing the control of illicit activities.

Video translation is as follows:

My name is Alexis Francisco Cervantes Guerrero. I am originally from Guasave, Sinaloa. I am a professional basketball player. My career spans a total of 14 years. And the reason why I’m here is because some individuals detained us at a checkpoint. 

They found my phone with some very conflicting things in there. Which were pictures, videos with firearms, photos with the Sinaloa mob, pics of Chapito Isidro. There were also photos of my cousin who works, was working with Chapito Isidro. 

He was head of gunmen in a section of Guasave where he patrolled from the downtown area all the way to the coastal pier. My cousin had worked for many years with Chilo and 02 in the town of El Naranjo. He actually lives there in El Naranjo, Sinaloa or Sinaloa de Leyva. I don’t know where exactly because it’s somewhere within their limits. 

He worked for him. Afterwards he started working with El Gato. His boss is El Gato now. Previously for the pictures and videos that I posses for all of this. They wanted my cousin there in Guasave as support. And so he went there to patrol for them. I hadn’t seen him in some time. 

And then one day we spoke to each other, we went out to drink. I enjoyed the party life, I love the party life, I love doing cocaine, that’s the truth. This is the reason why I’m here now. Because of those pictures, those videos, and the sarcastic comments I made about the cartels here in the state of Michoacán. 

I did all this as if I was some heavyweight. When the truth is that I’m just some simple dumb ass basketball player who was showing off and trying to act like something I’m not. I threw out comments where I had said that I’d killed people and couldn’t sleep because of this. 

I said these things like if I really knew who I was. That’s the reason why I’m here. It’s not due to me being a good individual or anything. I am conscious of my actions. I am 100 percent conscious of this. I’ve been held captive here for many days now. I say this sincerely that I accept the punishment and lesson from all of this. I take responsibility for my actions…

Cynthia Arroyo

L. A. Times

Thursday, December 30, 2021

Cerritos, San Luis Potosí: State Police Dismantles A Local Crime Group

"Sol Prendido" for Borderland Beat




Video translation is as follows:

A Special Forces group from the San Luis Potosí State Police dismantled this Thursday afternoon an organized crime gang situated in the municipality of Cerritos.

It was considered by the authorities as a priority objective for being generators of violence in the region. Witnesses stated that the special forces group closed in on a home at the Progreso community.

Its inhabitants opened fire against the police. Which initiated a shootout that led to a chase against armed civilians. Once the culprits realized that they were heavily outnumbered they surrendered to the public safety agents.

After the confrontation, vehicles, weapons, tactical equipment, and drugs were seized. At this moment the actual number of confiscated objects has not been revealed by the Secretariat of Public Safety.

Neither has the official number been released of members apprehended from the criminal gang. This is the second operation performed during this month by the Special Forces group. 

This following the armed confrontation that took place on December the 8th which left a balance of 5 deceased individuals. Among them a special agent from the Sate Police.

B-15 Noticias

2021 Drug Trafficking in Review


"Parro" for Borderland Beat:

Emma Coronel, detained in the United States, towns in Michoacán besieged by crime, politicians from Morelos posing with a criminal leader and the murder of an actress who loved a Beltrán Leyva were some scandals linked to drug trafficking this year.


The Office of the Attorney General of the Republic (FGR) exonerated General Salvador Cienfuegos, Secretary of Defense in the Government of Enrique Peña, of ties with the drug traffickers and archived his case.

In a statement, he reported that the military command never had chat conversations or ties with members of the H-2 Cartel, commanded by Juan Francisco Patron Sánchez, “El H-2,” as the DEA claimed and what led to his arrest in Los Angeles, California on October 15, 2020.


The United States Department of Justice arrested Emma Coronel Aispuro, wife of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, accused of conspiring with her husband for international drug trafficking.

Nine months later, a federal judge sentenced her to three years in prison for aiding the Sinaloa Cartel.



Tomás Yarrington Ruvalcaba, former Governor of Tamaulipas, pleaded guilty to money laundering before the Federal Court of the Southern District in Houston, in an agreement in which the charges for drug trafficking were dropped.

In a private hearing, the PRI member accepted that he received 3.5 million dollars in bribes, which he used to buy properties in the United States.

Residents of the Municipality of Aguililla, Michoacán, live isolated and without basic services after the irruption of organized crime. The Apatzingán-Aguililla highway, in the Tierra Caliente region, was blocked by the United Cartels.

The violence provoked the visit of the Apostolic Nuncio Franco Coppol.


In Michoacán, after drug blockades, fires, attacks and clashes registered in different parts of the State, the candidates for Governor of the PRI-PAN-PRD, Carlos Herrera, and the Solidarity Encounter Party (PES), Hipólito Mora, announced the suspension of some of his proselytizing acts.

The same decision was made by the applicants of the PVEM to the Mayor of Puerto Morelos and to the federal deputation for District 4, Blanca Merari Tziu and Laura Fernández Piña, after the first was attacked in her house with the balance of two wounded bodyguards.


Before being executed and burned, the commander of the State Investigation Agency in Chihuahua, Andrés Lara, led a seizure that included luxury cars, including a Lamborghini, a Porsche and a Shelby, from a ranch in Ojinaga.

The property allegedly belonged to the criminal leader identified as "El Menchaca", so one of the lines of investigation is that it was a revenge.


Federal forces captured Luis Cárdenas Palomino, Genaro García Luna's former right-hand man in Naucalpan, State of Mexico, for the alleged torture of four alleged members of the Los Zodiaco kidnap gang, including two relatives of Israel Vallarta Cisneros, former romantic partner of Florence Cassez.

In addition, the Attorney General's Office (FGR) investigated deposits for 37 million pesos, allegedly received illegally by the former command of the disappeared Federal Police, which could come from bribes from the Sinaloa Cartel and the Beltrán Leyva, with which it is related.

The Opposition grouped in the alliance Going for Mexico submitted a complaint to the Organization of American States (OAS) about the interference of organized crime in the past electoral process, allegedly undercover by the federal government.

With an argument of risk due to the fight against drug trafficking, the Congress of Tamaulipas, with a PAN majority, approved granting security, such as bodyguards and official armored vehicles, to Governor Francisco García Cabeza de Vaca for the next six years after he leaves office in the 2022 and, if required, indefinitely.


Iván Reyes Arzate, who led the Special Investigations Unit of the Federal Police between 2008 and 2016, pleaded guilty to drug trafficking in a court in New York, United States.

The command was a liaison for years between the DEA and the Mexican police. However, the United States accuses him of delivering information to drug cartels such as the Beltrán Leyva.
Rosalinda González Valencia, wife of Nemesio Oseguera, “El Mencho”, leader of the Jalisco Nueva Generación Cartel (CJNG), was arrested in Zapopan, Jalisco, based on a re-apprehension order issued because she stopped going to sign the Measurement Unit Precautionary periodically, an obligation he had in the process that instructed him for the crime of money laundering.


Esther Yadira Huitrón Vázquez, designated as a leader of Guerreros Unidos and detained in Yautepec, Morelos, boasted her friendship with politicians from the Citizen Movement, PRI and Progressive Social Networks (RSP).

Since 2012, the then PGR, headed by Maricela Morales, detained the woman, whom she identified as a lawyer for the Sinaloa Cartel.

Almost a decade later, she became the head of Guerreros Unidos in Morelos.


The United States Government offered a five million dollar reward for the capture of the four children of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán.

Considering them to be high-ranking members of the Sinaloa Cartel, the country's State Department issued a statement informing of this reward for those who collaborate with information that leads to the arrest or conviction of Ovidio Guzmán López, Iván Archivaldo Guzmán Salazar, Jesús Alfredo Guzmán Salazar and Joaquín Guzmán López.


Actress Tania Mendoza, who starred in the movie "La mera mera Reina del Sur" in 2005, was executed in Cuernavaca, Morelos. In her networks, she dedicated words of affection to Arturo Beltrán Leyva, “El Barbas”, killed almost 12 years ago in the capital of Morelos.

Source:https://www.reforma.com/aplicacioneslibre/preacceso/articulo/default.aspx?__rval=1&urlredirect=/los-escandalos-del-ano-ligados-al-narcotrafico/ar2322910?v=2

Puente de Ixtla, Morelos: Comando Felino Leaves Narco Message After Executing Eduardo Peña

"Sol Prendido" for Borderland Beat


In a follow up to a video released by Borderland Beat. News has surfaced pertaining to the discovery of a deceased male found shot to death near the sidewalk at the entrance to the welcoming arch in Puente de Ixtla. 

The city of Puente de Ixtla líes 16 miles east of Amacuzac in the southern end of the Morelos state. Moreover the armed criminal cell "Cat" or Comando Felino left behind a narco message acknowledging their participation in this man's execution. 

Narco message reads as follows:

This is a gift for all the townspeople of Amacuzac and it’s surroundings. This is the scumbag who had all the cattle ranchers rattled with the thefts of cattle and kidnappings. 

This will be the fate of everyone who is charging fees, extortionists,and kidnappers. The same goes for each individual who messes with honest citizens. 

This goes out to you Erick aka “Carretito” and Emmanuel aka “Galleta” or “Chapito”. 

The municipality of Amacuzac is sick and tired of the Mazari family that has for years hurt the townspeople. 

Sincerely, Comando Felino. We are the absolute Morelense Sangre

Central de Noticias

The Most Used Drugs in the World by Country

"Socalj" for Borderland Beat

Mapped: The Most Common Illicit Drugs in the World

Despite strict prohibitory laws around much of the world, many common illicit drugs still see widespread use. Humans have a storied and complicated relationship with drugs. Defined as chemical substances that cause a change in our physiology or psychology, many drugs are taken medicinally or accepted culturally, like caffeine, nicotine, and alcohol.

But many drugs—including medicines and non-medicinal substances taken as drugs—are taken recreationally and can be abused. Each country and people have their own relationship to drugs, with some embracing the use of specific substances while others shun them outright.

What are the most common drugs that are considered generally illicit in different parts of the world? Today’s graphics use data from the UN’s World Drug Report 2021 to highlight the most prevalent drug used in each country.

The World Drug Report looks explicitly at the supply and demand of the international illegal drug market, not including commonly legal substances like caffeine and alcohol. Drugs are grouped by class and type, with six main types of drugs found as the most prevalent drugs worldwide.



Cannabis*: Drugs derived from cannabis, including hemp. This category includes marijuana (dried flowers), hashish (resin), and other for various other parts of the plant or derived oils.



Opioids: Includes opiates that are derived directly from the opium poppy plant, including morphine, codeine, and heroin, as well as synthetic alkaloids.


Cocaine: Drugs derived from the leaves of coca plants. Labeled as either cocaine salts for powder form or crack for cocaine processed with baking soda and water into rock form.



Amphetamine-type Stimulants (ATS): Amphetamine and drugs derived from amphetamine, including meth (also known as speed), MDMA, and ecstasy.



Sedatives and Tranquilizers: Includes other drugs whose main purpose is to reduce energy, excitement, or anxiety, as well as drugs used primarily to initiate or help with sleep (also called hypnotics).

Solvents and Inhalants: Gases or chemicals that can cause intoxication but are not intended to be drugs, including fuels, glues, and other industrial substances.

The report also tracked the prevalence of hallucinogens—psychoactive drugs which strongly affect the mind and cause a “trip”—but no hallucinogens ranked as the most prevalent drug in any one country.

Recreational cannabis is legal in five countries, and some non-federal jurisdictions (i.e. states). However, in the context of this report, it was included because it is still widely illicit in most countries globally.

According to the report, 275 million people used drugs worldwide in 2020. Between the ages of 15–64, around 5.5% of the global population used drugs at least once. Many countries grouped different types of the same drug class together, and a few like Saudi Arabia and North Macedonia had multiple different drug types listed as the most prevalent.

But across the board, cannabis was the most commonly prevalent drug used in 107 listed countries and territories. How prevalent is cannabis worldwide? 72 locations or more than two-thirds of those reporting listed cannabis as the most prevalent drug.

Unsurprisingly these include countries that have legalized recreational cannabis: Canada, Georgia, Mexico, South Africa, and Uruguay. Though the global prevalence of cannabis is unsurprising, especially as it becomes legalized and accepted in more countries, other drugs also have strong footholds.

Opioids (14 locations) were the most prevalent drugs in the Middle-East, South and Central Asia, including in India and Iran. Notably, Afghanistan is the world’s largest producer of opium, supplying more than 90% of illicit heroin globally.

Amphetamine-type drugs (9 locations) were the third-most common drugs overall, mainly in East Asia. Methamphetamine was the reported most prevalent drug in China, South Korea, and Japan, while amphetamine was only the most common drug in Bangladesh.

However, it’s important to note that illicit drug usage is tough to track. Asian countries where cannabis is less frequently found (or reported) might understate its usage. At the same time, the opioid epidemic in the U.S. and Canada reflects high opioid usage in the West.

As some drugs become more widespread and others face a renewed “war,” the landscape is certain to shift over the next few years.

Sources

Tijuana, Baja California: Corpse Found With Threatening Message For Municipal Police

"Sol Prendido" for Borderland Beat

On December 28, the body of a man wrapped in a blanket was located, accompanied by a cardboard containing a written threat, against the head of the Municipal Police of the Cerro Colorado borough in Tijuana along with some of his collaborators.

Narco message reads as follows:

“Roberto Carlos Crespo aka 015 Gral from the Cerro Colorado borough. I need for you to return the 20 kilos of cocaine that you’ve stolen. Just as well I also need the $20,000 that you kept. 

The same goes for your dogs Marco Antonio Vidal Garcia and Hector Dioney Leon Alvarado. You have 2 days to return everything. Otherwise, I’m going to fucking destroy them along with you. 

It does you no good to have them transferred out of this area. We already have each one of you located. Your snitch is lying here dead. This will be the fate of you fucking faggots ass thieves wherever you decide to do dumb shit like extort or steal vehicles”. 

From the Baja California Peace and Security Coordination table, they reported that they are investigating. So far they haven’t found formal or intelligence reports of drug seizures or theft in that area. However, the aforementioned agents have already been denounced by the community for their reckless behavior, the accusations haven’t increased beyond anything serious. 

According to the official report, at 7:15 p.m. on Tuesday they received and attended to the report of an abandoned "suspicious" vehicle on Fourth Street and San Pedro Mártir Street in the Loma Bonita neighborhood, which is located within the Cerro Colorado borough.

Municipal Police officers arrived three minutes later, they confirmed the location of a green 1996 Ford Explorer, with license plate # BFR-65-38 from the state of Baja California, parked on the traffic lane.

As the officers approached, they noticed that the engine was still on, as were the lights. When they looked inside the vehicle they found a cardboard on the floorboard and an inert person in the back seat who was covered with a brown and yellow blanket. 

Officers requested the presence of the Attorney General's Office (FGE). When the blanket was removed confirmation was made that there was a deceased male with traces of violence. 

The murdered victim hasn’t been officially identified. And it’s unknown at this time if he has any links with the Municipal Police.

Two days before the end of 2021, the homicide tally in Tijuana stands at 1,914 victims.

Zeta Tijuana

Gulf Cartel's El Tango Uno Possibly Executed

"HEARST" and "Itzli" for Borderland Beat     


Update 12/31/2021: The covering of the eyes on two graphics has been removed as the woman in question is a public figure. Special thanks to commenter Elver for the tip.

The prominent Gulf Cartel regional leader Odilón Hernández Valdivia, alias “Tango Uno”, is currently rumored to have been executed in the state of Nuevo León, near the city of Monterrey.

Few details about the alleged hit are consistent across the various news and social media versions of events, and even less indicate an alleged motive or organizer of the hit on Tango.

\

Some rumors of his death allege that this was ordered by the leadership of the Gulf Cartel (Cártel del Golfo, CDG). One version of events indicated that Tango Uno had recently ordered a hit on a politically powerful CDG ally and that Tango’s death was the fallout of his miscalculation.






Wednesday, December 29, 2021

Kansas City, Missouri: Mexican National Sentenced to 12 Years for Conspiracy to Distribute More Than 2,600 Kilos of Cocaine

"Sol Prendido" for Borderland Beat

A Mexican national was sentenced in federal court today for his role in a conspiracy that distributed more than 2,600 kilograms of cocaine in the Kansas City metropolitan area.

Jesus Salvador Campoy-Estrada, also known as “Chava” and “Chavita,” 27, of Kansas City, Kansas, was sentenced by U.S. Chief District Judge Beth Phillips to 12 years in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered Campoy-Estrada to forfeit to the government $12,150,000, which represents the proceeds of illegal drug trafficking.

On Dec. 19, 2019, Campoy-Estrada pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute cocaine and one count of money laundering. He is the final defendant among 13 defendants to be sentenced in this case.

When Campoy-Estrada was arrested, law enforcement searched his residence and found $111,995 that he admitted was illicit drug proceeds, marijuana, a drug ledger, and a loaded XD 9mm semi-automatic handgun.

Campoy-Estrada was a primary organizer in a drug-trafficking organization that distributed substantial amounts of cocaine from Mexico in the Kansas City metropolitan area from October 2013 to Nov. 15, 2018. 

Campoy-Estrada admitted that he was personally responsible for the distribution of well in excess of 450 kilograms of cocaine during his involvement with the larger conspiracy. At one point, he distributed approximately 10 to 20 kilograms of cocaine each week.

Campoy-Estrada obtained substantial sums of money from his involvement in the drug-trafficking conspiracy, which he converted to other forms of property, such as real estate, in an effort to conceal the illicit nature of the drug proceeds.

Campoy-Estrada received cocaine from the leader of the conspiracy, co-defendant Jose Luis Armendariz-Rascon, also known as “Uncle” or “Rambo,” 41, of Kansas City, Kan. Campoy-Estrada then sold cocaine to other cocaine dealers, including co-defendant Howard Christopher Walters, also known as “Chris,” 44, of Lee’s Summit, Missouri.

Investigators intercepted several telephone calls in which Campoy-Estrada and Walters discussed the sale of multiple kilograms of cocaine to Walters. Law enforcement also intercepted many other wire and electronic communications between Campoy-Estrada and persons he sold cocaine to during the course of the conspiracy.

Armendariz-Rascon was sentenced on May 21, 2021, to 15 years in federal prison without parole. Walters was sentenced on April 21, 2021, to 25 years in federal prison without parole after pleading guilty to his role in the drug-trafficking conspiracy. The court also ordered Armendariz-Rascon to forfeit to the government more than $56 million, which represents the proceeds of illegal drug trafficking.

Armendariz-Rascon was in charge of coordinating the transportation of loads of cocaine from the El Paso, Texas, area to the Kansas City metropolitan area for distribution. Armendariz-Rascon would then coordinate the collection of bulk cash that was sent back to El Paso as payment for the cocaine.

Otilio Zaragoza-Navarrette, 65, of El Paso, delivered cocaine to Jose Armendariz-Rascon as well as to Campoy-Estrada and Miguel Armendariz-Rascon, 33, a citizen of Mexico residing in Olathe, Kan. Zaragoza-Navarrette and Miguel Armendariz-Rascon have pleaded guilty and been sentenced.

Zaragoza-Navarette also transported illicit drug proceeds from the drug-trafficking organization back to Texas and/or to Mexico. 

Zaragoza-Navarrette hid the cocaine and/or the cash proceeds inside of five-gallon gas cans and anti-freeze jugs on his commercial semi-tractor trailer. In one instance, law enforcement officers seized nearly $500,000 from Zaragoza-Navarrette, who was transferring the illicit drug proceeds in an operation orchestrated by Armendariz-Rascon.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Trey Alford and Robert Smith. It was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the FBI, IRS-Criminal Investigation and the Lee’s Summit, Mo., Police Department.

Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces

This effort is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. 

justice.gov

St. Louis, Missouri: Feds Detail 3-Year-Hunt For Drug-Dealing Fugitive

"Sol Prendido" for Borderland Beat

One spring day in 2016, agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration learned that a major dealer of fentanyl, the potent painkiller being cooked up in Mexican cartel labs, had arrived on a flight to St. Louis.

They scrambled to assemble a team of agents and police to locate the dealer, Gerald Fitzgerald Hunter, and follow him.

After the officers spotted Hunter and two others carrying two duffel bags out of a Florissant storage facility, they pounced.

Handout photo of Gerald Hunter.

Hunter dropped the bags, but hopped the fence, running right out of his black Gucci flip-flops, and disappeared for the next three years.

When agents opened the duffel bags, they discovered nearly 27 kilograms, or 59 pounds, of fentanyl. Officials said it represented 13 million doses. It remains the largest fentanyl bust the St. Louis area.

But federal officials said the case is important for other reasons, and in a rare move volunteered to speak about it before Hunter’s sentencing next month.

Officials spoke both because of the unusual nature of the case — the quantity of drugs involved, the amount of time the main defendant was on the loose and the effort expended to find and arrest him — and the danger of the drug involved.

Fentanyl is now being pressed into pills that resemble prescription medication. But there is no quality control in the Mexican labs where drug cartels are manufacturing it, so no way to know the quantity of fentanyl that’s inside, said Colin Dickey, assistant special agent in charge of the St. Louis office of the DEA.

Dickey said fentanyl has caused a huge uptick in overdose deaths, more than 100,000 from April 2020 to April 2021. Officials seized 15 million pills this year, the same as the number seized in the two prior years combined. Dickey said DEA statistics show 40% of pills contain what could be a lethal dose of fentanyl.

“It’s readily available. It’s being mass-produced and it’s being brought into the United States in record quantities,” Dickey said.

Hunter’s fentanyl dealing and his disappearance would eventually make him a “major case fugitive,” on the short list of most highly sought-after fugitives by the U.S. Marshals, who specialize in seeking them out.

Justin Barlow, Supervisory Deputy U.S. Marshal, said the case is an example of “pure tenacity” by fugitive investigators.

Joseph Hogan, a lawyer who represented one of Hunter’s girlfriends, said, “This could be a made for TV (movie).”

The account of the investigation, arrest and search for Hunter is based on court records, including plea agreements, and interviews with defense lawyers and federal agents.

Hunter’s lawyers did not return calls and messages seeking comment.

The biggest fentanyl bust

The investigation began in late 2016, when St. Louis police Detective Thomas Scanlon heard that Bryan Keith Warren was dealing cocaine.

Investigators would eventually learn that Warren, now 43, was wholesaling heroin for the group. It was actually fentanyl or heroin mixed with fentanyl, which was just then emerging in the area, Dickey said. It was so new that the DEA’s sole source of information about its street value was the confidential informer who was involved in the investigation. 

DEA agents used a confidential informer to buy fentanyl from Warren. Wiretaps revealed that Andon Demarcus Templer, now 49, supplied Warren with drugs and that Hunter supplied Templer.

In late April 2017, agents intercepted a call from Hunter to Templer. Hunter was arriving at the airport from Los Angeles and needed a ride. Agents and officers scrambled to find Templer and Hunter and find out what was going on. Dickey called it “phenomenal work” to have assembled a team so fast. 

After nine agents and task force officers at the Life Storage facility in Florissant moved in, Templer’s girlfriend, who was driving, tried to speed away. Another man, who had unpacked the drugs, tried to run away. Hunter jumped out with the duffel bags, then dropped them and also ran.

Inside the bags were 27 heat-sealed packages containing about 26.5 kilos of fentanyl. They also found furniture with hidden compartments that had been used to ship the drugs from California.

Early the next morning, they raided a series of locations in the St. Louis area, seizing $35,000, drug sales records and Hunter’s Macy’s credit card from the Kirkwood home, three pistols, an AK-47-style rifle and drugs from the tow lot and a gun, 10 pounds of marijuana and two presses used to make bricks of heroin or fentanyl and drug paraphernalia from an apartment in St. Louis.

Drugs were hidden behind a false panel in this piece of furniture, which was then shipped to St. Louis, officials say. Photo courtesy of the U.S. Attorney's office.

They learned that Hunter’s group also bought vehicles in Los Angeles and shipped them to St. Louis with drugs hidden inside. They were shipped back stuffed with cash, some of which was used to buy a $650,000 home in Los Angeles.

Barefoot and on the run

When Hunter fled from agents, he ran right out of his black Gucci flip-flops and left behind his Burberry coat, with cash and an ID inside.

“I still don’t know how that happened,” said Joel Schwartz, the lawyer who represented Webb, about the escape. 

Lawyer Joseph Hogan, who represented a Hunter girlfriend in the case, said, “Barefoot in Florissant and it takes three years to find this guy.”

Although agents had his name, address and date of birth, they had little else to go on. Hunter had popped up at an early stage of the investigation, before agents had gathered much information.

The U.S. Marshals fugitive task force normally performs a “pattern of life analysis,” looking at where someone lives, what they drive and with whom they associate. 

“Our entire job is predictive analytics,” said a fugitive investigator who worked on the case but didn’t want his name used due to Hunter’s connections to Mexican drug cartels. Marshals then surveil or interview the people, addresses and other connections that surface in the pattern analysis.

But Hunter was unusually savvy and experienced. He’d spent 12 years in prison after being convicted of leading a cocaine conspiracy in the 1990s, and was determined not to go back. 

He stayed off social media, and had multiple addresses, connections to multiple states and spent time in multiple social circles, Barlow and the investigator said in an interview.

In the St. Louis office, where they do 200 to 300 fugitive investigations a year, it normally it takes days, weeks or maybe a month to find someone, the investigator said. It’s rare for it to take longer than a year.

Hogan, the lawyer for one of Hunter’s girlfriends, Temne Hardaway, said Hunter must have had a lot of friends to stay hidden for so long.

Hunter was both charming and intelligent, Hogan said. “Anyone who rises to their top of their business world, whether it’s legal or illegal, has to be pretty intelligent or charismatic. And he was both.”

He also wasn’t afraid to take advantage of others, including Hardaway, Hogan said.

“He had a lot of people who believed in him and cared about him because they risked a lot by sheltering him all this time,” the lawyer said. “You don’t stay out on the lam without a lot of friends.”

Investigators in Los Angeles struck out. But in April 2018, DEA agents discovered that Hunter had somehow obtained a real Georgia driver’s license with his picture and someone else’s name. That July they raided a girlfriend’s apartment and found the passport pictures that were used in the ID. Then nothing.

Identification cards used by Gerald Hunter. Photo courtesy of the U.S. Attorney's office.

In January 2019, investigators started over, expanding that pattern of life analysis to Hunter’s associates, including known and suspected girlfriends.

Barlow and the investigator would not detail their methods to avoid teaching fugitives how to counter them. But they said by the spring of 2020, they knew someone was living in a specific apartment building in an upscale complex near the beach in Los Angeles in 2018, and that it merited more investigation. 

An investigator interviewed an apartment manager, who later called back and said an employee recognized Hunter’s picture and had seen him that day.

Investigators then spent a week watching Hunter’s movements and preparing for the arrest. 

He’d been driving a series of vehicles rented for him by a third party. He was also driving a car belonging to a girlfriend’s mother. She had denied knowing where Hunter was.

The arrest team assembled, with Los Angeles police and members of the DEA, Marshals, and Border Patrol. There was air support, a K-9 and members of at least three SWAT teams.

They confronted Hunter has he was opening his apartment door. He ran once again, but this time “into a wall of law enforcement,” the investigator said.

Hunter allowed agents to search his apartment, where they found $220,000 and guns. 

And being Los Angeles, they also found “G-Code,” a screenplay about criminal life.

Facing decades

Officials said investigators spent a total of 10,698 hours working on the whole case. Hunter is the final defendant to be sentenced, as all 10 others who were charged pleaded guilty. Templer got 15 years. 

Warren, below him in the organization, received 10 years, and the others received lesser amounts.

At that hearing next month, Hunter, now 56, could face decades in prison after being convicted at trial in U.S. District Court in St. Louis in October of conspiracy to distribute fentanyl, possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, conspiracy to distribute cocaine and two counts of money laundering.

Dickey said agents are hoping he gets 40 years. 







stltoday

Twin Pedro Flores's wife Pleads Impunity

"Parro" for Borderland Beat,

Wife of Chicago drug dealer tied to El Chapo says U.S. can’t prosecute, citing immunity deal

Vivianna Lopez, the wife of Pedro Flores, points to her husband’s testimony against El Chapo as evidence of a deal to spare her from criminal charges in the case.

The wife of one of Chicago’s most prolific cocaine dealers says federal prosecutors granted her immunity from prosecution during their investigation of Sinaloa cartel leader Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman Loera, so she shouldn’t have to face a pending money-laundering indictment tied to her husband’s drug proceeds.

In a Dec. 24 filing in federal court in Chicago, Vivianna Lopez pointed to an exchange between prosecutors and her husband Pedro Flores, who testified against Guzman at the kingpin’s trial in 2018 in New York.

Prosecutor asked, “Was your wife ever charged with collecting drug debts?” Flores answered, “No, she was given immunity.”

Lopez’s lawyer says prosecutors either gave her immunity or “knowingly elicited her husband’s perjured testimony at the El Chapo trial.”

Lopez is asking a judge to order prosecutors to turn over any documents describing any immunity or “non-prosecution” agreements with her.

Lopez’s husband and his twin brother Margarito Flores surrendered to authorities in 2008 and became informants against Guzman. In exchange, they received relatively light sentences of 14 years in prison, while Guzman was sentenced to life.

Source: https://chicago.suntimes.com/2021/12/27/22856157/wife-chicago-drug-dealer-tied-el-chapo-says-cant-prosecute-her-because-got-immunity-deal

Amacuzac, Morelos: Eduardo Peña aka Cana Interrogated By Comando Felino

"Sol Prendido" for Borderland Beat

A male under a blanket of darkness and duress narrates before the camera the events that lead to him being interrogated for his actions. 

Two men with assault rifles stand on each side of him. While he periodically glances down to read a prepared statement from an electronic device. 

The following video ends before his execution. It is firmly believed at this time he was inevitably killed for his participation in theft by an organization calling itself Comando Felino aka The Armed Criminal Cell "Cat". 

In addition this broadcast has been deemed safe for all to see. 

Video translation is as follows:

Captive: My name is Eduardo Peña, everyone calls me Cana. I specialize in the buying and selling of livestock. I work for Eric. He is originally from Amacuzac.  

The individual known as “La Galleta” can currently be found in the La Paraíso. 

The robberies that I committed consisted of livestock and motorcycles. The livestock that I wrangled belonged to the cattle ranchers out of Amacuzac (Amacuzac, Morelos) and Teocalco (Teocalco, Hidalgo). 

And I would send everything illicit to the town of Tequesquitengo, Morelos. All of this was done under the orders of Erick Mazari aka “El Carretito”. 

I’m about to get my fucking ass killed off here because I was stealing livestock within Amacuzac and it’s surroundings. All of this was done under the orders of Erick Mazari aka “El Carretito” and “La Galleta”. 

Código Rojo

Analysis on US Executive Orders and Bicentennial Understanding Framework

“Socalj” and “HEARST” for Borderland Beat

The Bicentennial Understanding supplants the Merida Initiative between Mexico and the United States.

It has been 13 years since the Merida Initiative came into force, which was based on the assumption of shared responsibility of Mexico and the United States in the face of the threat of drug trafficking. The Foreign Minister of Mexico Marcelo Ebrard indicated that said program was dead and that the Bicentennial Understanding would supplant it.

Unintended consequences from the heavily militarized Kingpin Strategy were among the core arguments for needing to completely reform the Mérida Initiative. The framework of the Bicentennial Understanding promises a shift to address the root causes of violence and the public health problem that is substance abuse. However, many see the new announcements as just the next iteration of the same policies of the past.

“The US government is making a big statement by announcing that the first concrete actions taken within the new Bicentennial Framework are a reaffirmation of the kingpin strategy, and it’s very unfortunate,” said Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera, an expert on US-Mexico relations and organized crime in Mexico.

"This helps a lot to the economic stability of the country because the government is reaffirming its commitment to the United States because companies are always afraid that the President is making half-Bolivarian decisions.” Raúl Benítez Manaut, commented in an interview that the agreement is an update of the Mérida Initiative.

Has the Merida Initiative and its Kingpin Act sister policy accomplished what their authors hoped for? Taking a look at the current state of violence and drug use in North America, one could argue that they have not as both have greatly increased since they were implemented.

Tuesday, December 28, 2021

Jalisco: Houses Of Terror Increase Within The State

"Sol Prendido" for Borderland Beat


Video translation is as follows:

Female Reporter: Located in affluent districts of the Metropolitan Area of ​​Guadalajara. The Houses of Terror or Safe Houses are used by members of criminal cells to kidnap men and women. In order to torture them, dismember them, and bury them in that place.

For the academic and specialist at the Law of the University in Guadalajara, Francisco Jiménez, pointed out that these facts that began in municipalities outside the state have gained greater strength in recent years. To such a degree that they have already settled in the metropolitan area.

Francisco Jimenez Reynoso: This centripetal force that began in the interior of the State was approaching the predominantly urban region of ​​our entity. They started finding houses of terror, multi-purpose houses, where criminal groups hold people that they've kidnapped. 

There in that place at a certain stage, they torture them. And in another stage they murdered them. And in another stage they dismember them. And finally they use these homes as clandestine cemeteries. They buried them right there.

Those houses are sometimes occupied when they are uninhabited. Or they rent them out. Because this centralized force that’s been approaching the States nucleus, the same metropolitan area.

There’s now reports of safe houses in Tlajomulco. Just as well in Tlaquepaque, Tonalá, and Guadalajara.

Female Reporter: On many occasions these farms are renamed and the owners don’t realize the crimes that occurred in the place. In addition, the silence of neighbors feeds impunity. Some come to hear screams or perceive a smell of decomposition, few dare to call the authorities.

Francisco Jimenez Reynoso: Unfortunately, they are already anywhere. In popular neighborhoods or in well off communities, some subdivisions or private estates.

Well, these are their reserves for people who can be there living. And carrying out their daily criminal acts. Just as well high impact crimes. 

Female Reporter: During this 2021 the crime that framed the arrival of these types of houses to the metropolitan area was what happened in the month of April in the Chapalita neighborhood between the limits of Guadalajara and Zapopan.

Where elements of the Tapatia police made a surveillance tour when they were attacked by armed civilians. In this security event, the death of three civilians was recorded. And there was the arrest of more than thirty people.

Although this area has cameras from the C-5 and C-4, of both respectively.  No one had realized that a large number of people entered and exited.

Francisco Jimenez Reynoso: It’s ridiculous that with the resources the state of Jalisco has. The more than one billion pesos supposedly invested in a C-5 technology, and no one sees anything?

And that houses are being rented in emblematic neighborhoods as Chapalita. In addition vehicles of dubious individuals enter and leave. We could say that thirty people have been killed there. By those individuals who operate these types of events.

Moreover, they also have a group of people detained there. Yet the authorities don’t see anything. On this matter we can think of two hypotheses. One is that we definitely have some very clumsy and inefficient authorities. Or two that they are in collusion.

Female Reporter: During the month of October the Chapalita neighborhood once again draws the attention of the authorities. Inside an abandoned casino located on López Mateo Avenue at the intersection of the De las Rosas Avenue two individuals were asking for help.

They found them deprived of their freedom. In this event eight people were arrested and made available to the Public Prosecutor's Office.

Milenio