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

Sunday, February 28, 2021

Nayarit, Mexico: CJNG Reinforcements Head Toward Zacatecas

 

Sicarios for El Jardinero (Audias Flores Silva) have released a video onto social media. In this broadcast a convoy of trucks full of heavily armed sicarios are descending down a mountain range road listening to narco ballads. These narco corridos are the preferred choice of music for hitmen on their warpath. Their path of travel is said to be Nayarit towards Zacatecas.

Sicario #1: You fucking pigs. Here we come down this mountain range. 

Sicario #2: Long live Nayarit! Absolute 4 letters (CJNG) motherfuckers! We are the absolute mob of El Jardinero!

https://twitter.com/jalisciense1c/status/1366191360064258051?s=21

Hidalgo, Michoacán: Los Correa Crime Family Confronted by Authorities

 

In a confrontation with State Police, Ministerial Police, and soldiers of the National Guard, in which a helicopter gunship was used, 3 individuals were detained. They are alleged members of the cartels Los Correa and Familia Michoacana. In this operation a soldier was wounded.

The events took place around 1:00 p.m. on Thursday, when elements of the Michoacán Police and military personnel carried out patrols in the Los Azufres community, in the municipality of Hidalgo.

When they were passing through a dirt road in the wooded area, the authorities were attacked with gunfire by armed civilians, sparking a confrontation.

Acapulco, Guerrero: Violent Mexican Drug Cartels Documentary

Former Member of CDN

By Buggs for Borderland Beat
Source: Social Media

From the Archives

"I got out of the CDN because they don't pay you, they used to beat you with a 2x4 board (tablean) for anything," a cartel member confesses to the hell he lived while being part of the criminal organization.


A while ago, a video (at the bottom) of an alleged former member of the Cártel del Noreste (CDN) and the Los Zetas Cartel was released on social media networks where he confesses to why he left these drug trafficking groups. This video gives a glimpse of how low level members of these cartels are treated, while risking their lives. The life span of a cartel operative is short lived. This video happened a while back, but is good to be reminded of the reality of what is meant to work for the Mexican cartels, no glory, no wealth or respect involved.


It is very rare to see people that have left a criminal organization in Mexico talk about their experience, which is never good. To talk is to sign your own death warrant, and it can be brutal. The fear of torture, dismemberment and decapitation while alive, will instill fear on anyone who might dare to consider talking about their experience with the cartel.

In the video there is a silhouette of a man with his face hidden and he says the following: “I got out of the Cártel del Noreste because they pay you very little, for anything they would yell profanities at you, they scold you and at the end, they only pay half the amount of money that they are supposed to pay you.”

He takes the opportunity to give advice to those who are thinking of joining the roles in organized crime: “Never mess with Los Zetas or the Cártel del Noreste, they don't keep their promises, they live by stealing, raping, they don't pay you, they don't give you money, food, they just mistreat you.”

 "This is a testimony of an ex-Zeta, this shit goes down in Monterrey, Nuevo León all day, and well, they only bring in people like fuck, they do not pay them, they do not feed them and the truth with these fuckers, nobody here likes Los Zetas and the Cártel del Noreste, nobody likes them,” he confesses in the video of just over 50 seconds.


According to social networks, this man was operating for a criminal boss identified as Héctor Raúl alias “El Tory” Luna Luna, arrested in June of 2010 and known for being behind the attack with grenades in 2008 against the United States Consulate in the municipality of Monterrey, in the state of Nuevo León in Mexico.

Let us remember that the Cártel del Noreste (CDN) is led by Juan Gerardo Treviño Chávez, “El Huevo Treviño” and is considered the most violent criminal organization in the country of Mexico, and has a strong presence in the municipalities of Nuevo Laredo, Ciudad Mier and Nueva Guerrero. CDN pretty much has a presence in most of the state of Tamaulipas as well as in the states of Nuevo León and Coahuila.

Aguaje de la Tuna, Baja California: Cartel de Sinaloa Operatives Set 2 Kids on Fire

 

Video translation is as follows:

2 children ages 3 and 8 were kidnapped, killed, and set on fire as revenge

by drug traffickers who tried to collect a debt that their drug dealing father had. The Baja California Attorney General's Office reported. The Prosecutor's Office detailed in a press conference that they had captured a couple of individuals allegedly responsible for the children’s homicides whose bodies were found in January in the Aguaje de la Tuna neighborhood. 

The main Prosecutor of the state of Baja California, Hiram Sánchez Zamora, said that during the initial hearing an accusation was made and the defendants were linked to the process under the precautionary measure of official preventive prison.

The two criminals arrested in complicity with four other subjects kidnapped and later murdered the children in retaliation for a drug debt of half a million pesos. According to the research, the subjects kidnapped the children in a home located on Diente de León street in the Villegas neighborhood.

Later they took the bodies and set them on fire in Guillermo Prieto street in the neighborhood of Agua de la Tuna, Sánchez Taboada Delegation, and then fled from the crime scene. The Prosecutor's Office explained that the forensic analysis carried out on the children's bodies show that the cause of death is burns in the lower and upper respiratory airways and head contusions.

It was elements of the State Investigation Security Guard who detained the two criminals and later imprisoned them for the crimes of qualified homicide. The State Attorney General's Office continues with the investigation and intelligence work in order to capture the rest of those responsible, who are already fully identified, the authority said after a statement.

It should be noted that local media’s assert that the detainees are members of the Sinaloa Cartel.

https://youtu.be/KvKVf2VFP2g

Emma Coronel Had Her Mexican Bank Accounts Frozen Since 2015; She Has Been Living on Cash

 "MX" for Borderland Beat


Emma Coronel Aispuro, the wife of Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman, does not have access to the Mexican financial system since 2015.


That year, the Financial Intelligence Unit (UIF) blocked her personal bank accounts, of her known relatives, and companies under her name when they detected that they had ties to the Sinaloa Cartel's laundering network. Coronel has been living in cash for over 5 years.


The head of the UIF, Santiago Nieto, confirmed to reporters this week that Coronel has not been permitted in the financial system since then. The UIF clarified that they have not issued any formal charges against her but did confirm that there are investigations underway.


These anti-money laundering actions are part of an initiative from the UIF to combat drug cartel financials. The UIF believes that such actions will disrupt the operations of the Sinaloa Cartel and limit its ability to pay its members and bribe government officials.


In 2019, the UIF froze nearly MXN$1 billion (US$41 million) in assets from various drug cartels in Mexico. At least 330 bank accounts owned or controlled by the Sinaloa Cartel were frozen last year. Many of them were owned by Coronel. 

Sources: Milenio; Borderland Beat archives

Elkin Lopez, Trafficker Linked to Sinaloa Cartel & Failed Venezuelan Coup Attempt to be Extradited to U.S. from Colombia on Drug Charges

The Colombian government on Wednesday approved the extradition to the United States of a drug trafficker who is linked to Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzmán's cartel and who is also accused by the Venezuelan government of playing a role in a plot to overthrown its president.

Elkin López, is known as 'La Silla' and 'Doble Ruedas' - meaning 'The Chair' and 'Double Wheels'. He is paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair as a result of having survived an assassination attempt in 2018. He allegedly conspired to produce cocaine and ship and distribute it to the U.S., according to the Eastern District of Texas. 


Venezuelan officials have also accused López of loaning out his farm on Colombia's Caribbean coast to a group that was attempting to overthrow their president in May 2020. The failed plot - dubbed Operation Gideon - involved Venezuelan military deserters being trained by dissidents and an American security firm, Silvercorp USA, headed by ex-Green Beret Jordan Goudreau. The extradition to the US is on the drugs charges alone, and unrelated to the Venezuelan allegations. 


López turned himself in to Colombian authorities in December 2019 after he showed up at a clinic seeking medical treatment for an ailment in his kidneys. The United States filed a petition for his extradition after he was placed under house arrest in May 2020. Colombian newspaper El Heraldo reported that López maintained close working ties with El Chapo's Sinaloa Cartel. 


Colombia's Ministry of Justice revealed that López shipped drugs to other countries and enriched himself by charging other cartels to use his smuggling routes. In October 2020, authorities seized López's assets, valued at $2.6 million, alleging he obtained the fortune from his criminal activities. A member of a drug trafficking ring that operated out the Caribbean coastal city of Barranquilla and that was busted in February 2020 confessed to authorities that under López's blessing, the organization was able to ship at least 500 kilos of cocaine on a monthly basis to the Sinaloa Cartel. The gang made up to $2 million from each shipment and paid López a commission fee that ranged from 5% to 20%. 



López was also accused by Venezuelan Information Minister Jorge Rodríguez of loaning his farm to a group of mercenaries who were being trained by ex-Green Beret Jordan Goudreau in a failed coup to remove President Nicolás Maduro in May 2020. Rodríguez said that on May 1, two boats set off from a farm owned by López off Colombia's Caribbean coastal department of La Guajira that borders with Venezuela. López is said to be a family member of Marta González, wife of former general Cliver Alcalá, who fled the regime three years ago, and turned himself in to Colombian authorities in March 2020 before he was extradited to the United States.


Alcalá, the Venezuelan government claims, also worked with Goudreau to put together the botched plot. Goudreau, 43, a former U.S. Army paratrooper and head of a private-security company, Silvercorp USA, identified himself last year as the ringleader of the failed  Operation Gideon. Goudreau hatched the plot with a rebellious former Venezuelan Army General, Cliver Alcalá, to secretly train dozens of Venezuelan military deserters in secret camps in Colombia to carry out a swift operation against Maduro. He claims he was hired last year by opposition leader Juan Guaidó, something the U.S.-backed Venezuelan lawmaker has denied.  


The failed military incursion, which aimed to capture socialist leader Maduro, resulted in the detention in Venezuela of two of his former special forces colleagues: Airan Berry, 41, and Luke Denman, 34. Berry allegedly told a Venezuela interrogator on video that the plotters had met with López on several occasions. Eleven Venezuelans were also arrested as President Maduro revealed that they had knowledge of the raid plans after infiltrating the group in Colombia and were waiting to capture them. 


The attack was foiled as the group attempted to enter Venezuela on fishing boats. Locals alerted authorities and they were subsequently arrested. Six men were killed and almost all 47 of the others involved were captured. Goudreau, who was coordinating the operation, was stuck in Florida after a boat he had intended to use to get him to Venezuela broke down and coronavirus travel restrictions left him stranded. In a lengthy interview with Rolling Stone, Goudreau said he believes the plot had a good chance of being successful but blames everyone from double agents to the DEA and the FBI, for scuppering his plans. 


'Had we succeeded, you really think that the Guaidó administration would have said, 'That's not us, we want nothing to do with this'? Do you think that Donald Trump would have said, 'That wasn't us'? Every motherf***** that I talked to would have said, 'That was us! U.S.A., baby!' They would have taken credit for all of it. And if you say it's not true, you're pretty naive.'


Although the Trump administration used sanctions and support for political opponents in an attempt to pressure Maduro to step down, then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said there was no 'direct' U.S. involvement in the attempted coup. 


https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9304763/Colombia-extradite-U-S-drug-trafficker-linked-El-Chapos-cartel.html

Saturday, February 27, 2021

Mexico, a Country of Massacres

 By Buggs for Borderland Beat


Eleven killed and two wounded was the toll of an attack perpetrated by heavily armed individuals in a gathering that took place at the intersections of Avenida Pemex and 5 de Mayo in the La Jauja neighborhood in Tonalá Jalisco.

Recently there has been a large presence of organized crime in the area and elements of the National Guard that arrive after the massacre have been patrolling the region without much success.

The role of the Government of Mexico to combat organized crime has been questioned, because instead of confronting them, they release the plaza bosses.

The political strategy "hugs instead of bullets" has caused an increase of executions to over 600 massacres in 2020. 2021 again began with massacres; the first was registered in León and the second in Celaya, Guanajuato. Mexico experienced an average of one massacre (groups of people killed) per week during 2021.

Later, in Veracruz, 12 bodies were found, in Tamaulipas the bodies of more than ten burned migrants were found.

In Chihuahua, a confrontation between the La Linea Cartel and the Sinaloa Cartel left three beheaded, for a total of five dead.

To add to the stories of terror is the massacre that occurred this afternoon in the La Jauja de Tonalá neighborhood in Jalisco, where an armed group attacked ten people who apparently were engaged in the business of construction and right around  the corner, the body of a child that had been shot.

Police recovered over 70 spent casings, apparently the victims were sitting on the sidewalk drinking some beer after work when two trucks full of armed sicarios arrived and opened fire.

Throughout the country, there have been numerous massacres in the last two months, the National Guard has shown that it has the appropriate equipment to take on organized crime, but they have failed to stop the massacres.

A Sicario of the GN captured in Madera

They captured "El R-3" of "Gente Nueva del Jaguar" in Madera, Chihuahua.
 

As part of the strategic operations deployed in the western area of the state, elements of the State Public Security Secretariat captured R-3 in possession of an AR-15 rifle in the city of Madera.

In the police operation carried out by the authorities, Edgar “N”, alias “El R3”, was arrested, who was driving a 2007 GMC Sierra line, 2007 model and had in his possession a .223 caliber firearm with at least 30 rounds.

R-3 admitted that he belongs to a criminal group that operates in the region and surrounding towns known as "Gente de Encinas" under the control of "La Gente Nueva del Jaguar."

He was turned over to the Public Ministry of the Attorney General's Office.


Miguel Alemán, Tamaulipas: Cártel del Golfo Video Confrontation Aftermath


Video translation is as follows:

On Friday night, a strong shootout was reported between alleged members of the Cartel del Golfo and the Cartel del Noreste in the municipality of Miguel Aleman, Tamaulipas.

The armed attack is said to have occurred in the main streets of the city. But at the moment the balance of the confrontation and the way in which the events occurred is unknown.

However, a video recorded by the hitmen of the Cartel del Golfo is already circulating on social networks. In this broadcast they assert that they made their rivals run away. In addition, they show the vehicles that their enemies left abandoned in their escape.


Video # 1 translation is as follows:

Sicario #1: We are the fucking absolute Cartel del Golfo.

Sicario #2: I see lights over there. 

Sicario #3: Hey! There are lights coming this way. 

Video #2 translation is as follows:

Sicario #1: Come on. Nothings gonna happen. Let’s just take them off their vehicle. For fucks sake I’m already standing on the ground here. 

Sicario #2: You guys get the fuck off and kill these fucks already. 

Sicario #1: Bring me an incendiary grenade, bring me an incendiary grenade to just burn it the fuck up already. 

Sicario #3: We’re just going to burn it the fuck up already. 

Sicario #4: Let’s go, let’s go!

https://youtu.be/RlK4oamViRs

https://twitter.com/lpueblo2/status/1365781775864238081?s=21


DEA Supervisor Sold Semi-Automatic Rifles to Sinaloa Cartel Associates


Agents spying on Sinaloa Cartel associates traced two of their high-powered, semi-automatic assault rifles to a surprising source — a supervisor with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Joseph Michael Gill, tasked with rooting out traffickers amid America’s deadliest drug crisis, likely helped arm them during some of his 645 sales transactions on Gunbroker.com, according to court records. The veteran lawman — previously trusted to lead a team of about a dozen agents — even advertised on Gunbroker and Backpage websites using his government-issued phone number. 

In a rare interview in February, Gill talked to The Courier Journal about the scandal and his ensuing 2018 resignation from the DEA, halting his 15-year career. Gill insists he did nothing wrong and said his case highlights a collision of overzealous regulators and ambiguous gun laws. The prosecutor says Gill knowingly evolved into a prolific gunrunner and his crimes are more indicative of how Americans, driven by greed, help arm dangerous criminals in the U.S. and cartels across the border.

"Cartels need firearms to support their business," said Scott Brown, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Phoenix. "When they find people that are either willing to flagrantly violate the law or skirt the law or not practice due diligence, that is enabling the cartels to be armed and to have a destructive impact both in Mexico and the U.S."

At least 70% of weapons seized in Mexico — including many guns used by cartels in massacres — were made in or came through America, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office. Some officials in Mexico and agents in the U.S. suspect the actual percentage is much higher. But Gill contends his case was "very political and not fair. If I wasn’t a DEA agent, I would never have been targeted the way that I was."


"The 645 items that I bought or sold were mostly firearm parts and accessories, not all firearms," he said of his Gunbroker.com sales that took place from 2000 to 2016. "I was always changing out holsters, sights, optics, tactical gear."

Gill pleaded guilty in federal court in 2018 to one count of dealing in firearms without a license involving the sale of the two assault rifles — guns that originated in Kentucky — to the cartel associates and a third Mexican-bound rifle. He now insists he sold the three guns legally and only pleaded guilty because defending himself at trial could have cost more than $200,000. Phillip N. Smith Jr., who prosecuted Gill, characterized the amount of evidence as strong.

"It wasn't political," said Smith, who is now in private practice. "He broke the law. It's a serious crime. That’s one of the ways bad guys who aren’t supposed to get guns to get a hold of them, by getting them from people who don’t play by the rules — like Mr. Gill." Gill admitted to selling an assault rifle to a young man July 27, 2016, and, the next day, selling the same type of gun to Mauricio Balvastro, who identified himself to Gill as the young man's "associate." Both are alleged drug traffickers and associates of the Sinaloa Cartel, Brown told The Courier Journal. The men bought Colt M4LE rifles, which fire high-velocity rounds that can rip through police officers' protective vests.

It's a type of gun used by many SWAT teams and U.S. soldiers. Gill said he didn't know the men were suspected drug traffickers and he did all that is legally required, checking the buyers' drivers' licenses and verifying they were of legal age and lived in his home state of Arizona.

Both buyers paid $1,000 for guns Gill bought online the month before for $632. That's a 60% markup and a red flag. It's commonly known by police — and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives warn about it on its website — that buyers who are willing to overpay might not be allowed to buy guns or don't want to create a paper trail.

Brown called Gill's crimes "disturbing." Balvastro "was involved in the importation of a significant quantity of narcotics and distribution of those across the border and then to the East Coast, particularly the Philadelphia-Baltimore region." Border agents confiscated one of the assault rifles Gill sold to the alleged drug traffickers in the small border town of Nogales, Arizona, according to court records. It was on its way to the burgeoning city of Nogales in Mexico, territory long controlled by the Sinaloa Cartel.

Smith, then an assistant U.S. attorney, urged a federal judge to send Gill to prison for 18 months for selling "large numbers of firearms to whoever would purchase them — without conducting any background checks and while ignoring red flags," according to a 14-page motion filed in U.S. District Court in Tucson.

In court motions, the prosecutor pointed to several text messages by Gill to potential buyers, whom he sometimes met in mall parking lots, offering to sell assault rifles and more: "If you want another one of the colt m4’s (sic) let me know. I still have one left. I also have some handguns and a Remington 870 police shotgun." Gill's attorney, Jason Lamm, successfully lobbied for leniency, arguing in his motion that Gill committed a regulatory offense, "not an act of moral turpitude." He pointed to his client's accomplishments, including a DEA Exceptional Performance Award for toppling drug rings and pill mills a decade ago in and around Miami.

Lamm argued that Gill, now a convicted felon, is "being labeled a virtual pariah and an outcast from his brethren" in law enforcement, so a sentence of probation "still leaves the defendant with an ostensible Scarlet Letter for the rest of his life."

In 2019, the judge opted for leniency, ordering Gill to remain on home detention for six months, perform 500 hours of community service and remain on probation for five years.

Culiacán, Sinaloa: Military Seizure of Narcotics and Firearms


Video translation is as follows:

During a routine security patrol, a mixed urban operations force, made up of military personnel and State Police, managed to locate and seize an alleged laboratory. In addition to the seizure of a vehicle and 2 rifles in a rural area of ​​Culiacán.

This result came about when elements of the Secretary of National Defense and the State Preventive Police carried out surveillance tours in the vicinity of the towns of La Pitahayita and Aqua Blanca.

Armed civilians aboard a red Dodge Ram sped away and later fled on foot into the bush. Because of this, the soldiers deployed a reconnaissance operation in the area. And it was then that they located said truck and discovered that it was armored.

After inspecting it, they found inside 2 long weapons for the exclusive use of the army. Around 20 magazines, and dozens of boxes with thousands of rounds of ammunition pertaining to different calibers. Also the truck had a report of theft in the state of Sonora.

The inside of the cab had a strong chemical odor. Upon inspection they also found various items and utensils presumably for the manufacture of synthetic drugs, such as oil drums and sacks of chemical substances. Just as well other tools used in laboratories.

All the aforementioned was made available to the Attorney General of the Republic. So, that they can carry out the corresponding investigations as indicated by law. In addition to determining the type and weight of the chemicals found.

https://youtu.be/iVKNJJgrwCA

On the Front Line of Mexico’s Forever War Against the Cartels

"Parro" for Borderland Beat

By Keegan Hamilton from VICE News


“You’ve found the heart of the mafia,” one cartel member in the state of Michoacán told us. “If I were you, I wouldn’t have come here.”

AGUILILLA, Michoacán — The cartel checkpoint doesn’t look like much, just a few logs strewn across the two-lane highway. Two guys in camo and body armor, carrying automatic rifles, step out onto the pavement and gesture for us to stop.


We’ve been expecting this roadblock. The sun is setting, and at night the two groups battling for control of Michoacán’s Tierra Caliente region turn the main thoroughfare that connects the municipal capitals of Aguililla and Apatzingán into a no-man’s land. We didn’t plan to be here, and we’re not sure which cartel is stopping us.


One of the two gunmen walks up to our car. Up close we can see his tattooed forearms, and he starts asking questions. We explain that we’re journalists filming a documentary, and he sounds skeptical as he relays our story to his commander through the walkie-talkie strapped to his bulletproof vest.


“Listen, I have a guy or some guys here — who are you again?”


“Reporters.”


“Some reporters.” There’s a pause, and the radio chirps. We can hear his boss ask: “Are they making a movie?”


“Affirmative, affirmative.”


He steps out of earshot to receive orders. We’re in disputed territory; laying claim on one side is the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, or CJNG for its initials in Spanish. The group has risen to national dominance in Mexico on a wave of bloodshed, with some of the most brutal fighting concentrated here along the western edge of Michoacán. The birthplace of CJNG founder Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, aka El Mencho, is a hamlet just half an hour up the road. 

 

Mencho's forces invaded Michoacán in 2019, ambushing and killing 14 state police officers and leaving a note that accused the cops of serving rival cartels. The CJNG’s enemies are a motley assortment of local gangs that have divvied up the Tierra Caliente into small fiefdoms. After years of internecine feuding, in the last 18 months these groups formed a loose alliance known as the United Cartels, banding together to beat back the Jalisco incursion. The fighting has involved explosive drones, armored “monster” trucks, and ultra-brutal killings on both sides.


We had set out that day planning to meet contacts from CJNG, but they failed to show up at the rendezvous and stopped responding to our messages. We were left flying blind as we traversed the highway back across the front lines. At the checkpoint, we suspect based on our location that we’re talking to the United Cartels. A well-known United Cartels leader had spoken to us earlier on our trip, so we gamble and mention his name to the gunmen.


Please click the hyperlink to view the full story at VICE News.

Mexicali, Baja California: An Armed Criminal Cell Kills 2, Injures Child, and Kidnaps 3 Men

 

A day of extreme violence was lived in the early morning of February 23, between the Colima and Chiapas ejidos, in the Mexicali valley, in two criminal actions, which occurred with a difference of minutes: two men were murdered, a child was shot and three brothers sleeping in a house were kidnapped.

The criminal actions were perpetrated in a period of half an hour, between 01:30 and 02:00 this Tuesday.

In the first crime, they reported that several hooded individuals arrived aboard white pick-up vehicles and broke into the home of the Colima neighborhood where a family was.

The thugs went to the bedroom of 46-year-old José Fidencio Granados García, who was shot with high-powered weapons in the head; three wounds to the face and back of the neck. In the attack, his 7-year-old son was also injured in the chest. Both were transferred to the General Hospital of San Luis Río Colorado, where the father was declared dead.

About half an hour after the first attack, "a group of heavily armed criminals broke into the house located on the Calle Junta de Mejoras in front of the Christian church Bautista Alfa y Omega, in the Chiapas I ejido," and again surprised another sleeping family. Enrique Martínez Camacho, 40 years old, was killed there, he was shot with large caliber weapons.

His other three brothers, identified as Aaron, Alonso and Ángel, 41, 48 and 45 years old, were forced to get into the vehicles and so far their whereabouts are unknown.

As a result of the criminal acts, an intense mobilization was generated by police from all the corporations of Mexicali in search of those responsible, but the authorities presume that the murderers fled to the municipality of San Luis Río Colorado, Sonora.

Both attacks were perpetrated just 12 hours after elements of the State Security and Investigation Guard (GESI) secured an arsenal and captured José Fernando Aguirre Barreras, whom they identified as a criminal operator of José Alexander Sánchez Félix "El Ruso," leader of the Sinaloa Cartel. (He is presumed innocent, until his responsibility is declared by the judicial authority. Article 13, CNPP).

https://zetatijuana.com/2021/02/comando-armado-asesina-a-dos-hiere-a-un-nino-y-levantan-a-tres-en-el-valle-de-mexicali/

Zacatecas, Mexico: Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación vs. Cartel de Sinaloa

 

Video translation is as follows:

The state of Zacatecas became a true war zone. Well, in less than 24 hours, 21 people were killed after a series of confrontations between the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación and the Sinaloa Cartel in the municipalities of Fresnillo and Valparaíso.

It all started at dawn in the community of El Mirador, a part of the municipality of Valparaíso where antagonistic groups of organized crime clashed, leaving 7 people dead, all males.

Government corporations descended onto the scene. However, despite the government operation, no criminals were arrested. Hours later at 8:30 a.m. this time in the municipal seat of Fresnillo an attack was reported on Calle Tamaulipas against the Deputy Director of Urban Development of the City Council.

According to preliminary information, the official was approached by armed men who intended to kidnap him. And when he resisted they shot him. Medical personnel transferred him to the hospital of the Mexican Social Security Institute where, minutes later, he died from the wounds he suffered in the armed attack.

Hours later, the violence reached the community of Estación San José where the inhabitants were alarmed at 4:15 a.m. by gunfire. The armed men fired at 2 houses and also set them on fire.

Resulting in 6 dead people. Located at the crime scene were caps and tactical vests with the initials MZ. Finally, in the community of Plateros, Rio Florido, and Rancho Grande, a total of 5 murders were reported. In addition, a mutilated body was found on the Valparaíso - Fresnillo highway. All this took place just hours after President Andrés Manuel López Obrador visited the state.

https://youtu.be/BpPSBMc8GyI

Judge Banned for 15 Years for Having Ties With Puebla Oil Thieves

 "MX" for Borderland Beat

Carlos Loranca Muñoz was a federal judge since 1992. Local media outlets say that his ascension in legal was also due to his friendship with former Puebla governor Mario Marín Torres, currently imprisoned for torture.

Mexico's Federal Judicial Council (CJF) banned Carlos Loranca Muñoz for 15 years for his ties to an oil theft (Spanish: huachicol) ring headed by Othon Muñoz Bravo ('El Cachetes'). El Cachetes is based in the state of Puebla and is one of the top gang leaders responsible for oil theft in the region.


Investigators say that Loranca Muñoz was involved in several bank irregularities between 2014 and 2016 when he was head of a tribunal court in Puebla. The judge did not report over MXN$6 million (US$288,000), for which he was dismissed without pay for 15 years. Although investigators have not established the motives, it is likely that Loranca Muñoz was bribed in exchange for favorable outcomes in court for those linked to El Cachetes's criminal network.

Friday, February 26, 2021

Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua: La Empresa Suspected in Execution of Teenagers

 

Video translation is as follows:

Edgar: 2 men executed have been identified. This story concerns teenagers. Their family and friends have condemned the events. Joana Meza has the details. Good evening m'am.

Joana Meza: Good evening Edgar. It was through social networks that the identities surfaced of 2 young teenagers who were murdered in the streets of the Héroes de la Revolución neighborhood on Wednesday afternoon.

Although the State Attorney General's Office has not confirmed the names of the deceased. Friends and relatives of the victims indicate that they are 17 year old Ever Briones Manriquez and 15 year old Jonathan Peña Castañedo.

The events occurred at the intersection of Calle Alfonso Castañedo and Calle Zafra where the corpses were left. Authorities have collected 10 shell casings of a 9 mm pistol. Simultaneously, it developed that the minors were already being searched for since 10 in the morning by their relatives. 

Edgar: This is something so unfortunate to have happened. We have seen the photographs that have been released by their loved ones. And these are teenagers. There in the distance we can see a corpse. It has a practically youthful complexion to it. In the picture we can see 2 teenagers, a 17 and 15 year old.

It’s unknown at this time exactly what happened. But there have been many speculative comments on social networks. 

There’s no justification for killing a person. Sometimes the authorities use conjecture and say they were involved in this or that. But from here we condemn any act that goes against the life of a person.

Thank you Joana for your report.

https://youtu.be/sVyQYkWqdRg

"Pueblo Mágico" Tecate, Baja Ca: Another Arsenal Busted w 2 Arrests

The National Guard detained two people and secured weapons in Tecate, Baja California, Mexico.

The violence in this municipality has not stopped. So far in 2021, 60 people have been murdered in the  "Pueblo Magico" of Tecate, BC. 

Tecate, Baja California is east of Tijuana and also an important POE at the Mexico / US Border. 

During the actions to prevent and combat organized crime carried out by the National Guard (GN), in Tecate, Baja California , they detained two people and secured weapons that they had in their possession inside several vehicles.

Two trucks, six long guns, four of them rifle type and two shotgun type, as well as 34 magazines and 876 useful cartridges of various calibers were seized during the operation carried out in the Baja California municipality.

El Chapo’s Wife Emma Coronel Turned Herself In

 "MX" for Borderland Beat

By Keegan Hamilton from VICE News

The ex-cartel leader’s wife expected to be taken into custody, a sign she plans to cooperate with U.S. law enforcement, sources tell VICE News.


U.S. authorities trumpeted the recent “arrest” of Emma Coronel Aispuro, the 31-year-old wife of former Sinaloa cartel leader Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán Loera, but sources familiar with the situation tell VICE News she actually turned
 herself in and was prepared to face federal charges when she landed Monday at Dulles International Airport near Washington, D.C.


Sources who spoke to VICE News on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the information say Coronel’s surrender signals the existence of a cooperation agreement, where she could provide information or testimony in exchange for leniency in her own case.


Coronel made her initial court appearance Tuesday, with her attorneys agreeing to keep her jailed indefinitely as her case proceeds. She stands accused of conspiring to smuggle illicit drugs into the U.S., and helping her husband tunnel out of a maximum-security prison in Mexico. She has not yet entered a plea in response to the charges.


Coronel’s lawyer, Jeffrey Lichtman, who also served as Chapo’s lead trial counsel, accused federal authorities of leaking when asked about the surrender. VICE News does not disclose the identities of confidential sources, unless authorized to do so by the sources themselves.


“I’m stunned that the feds would do this,” Lichtman said. “There’s zero chance it’s anyone else. And it’s sickening. She’s got kids. I’m happy to respond to this allegation if you tell me who leaked it. But I’ll be damned if I’m going to respond to a cowardly anonymous leaker with a pointed on the record rejoinder.”


The Department of Justice declined to comment, as did a spokesperson for the FBI, which is handling Coronel’s case. 


Please use this hyperlink to view the full story at VICE News