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Tuesday, August 16, 2022

So, Why Did The CJNG Burn Baja Over the Weekend? And Who Are Los Erres?

"HEARST" for Borderland Beat 



Over the weekend, a number of narco blockades in the border cities of Tijuana and Mexicali appeared in the state of Baja California, as covered previously by Ivan in posts on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Then we heard that a man with the alias “El Puma” was allegedly being named as the organizer of these narco blockades. 


What you may not realize is that this “El Puma” has played an important role in the Tijuana cartel world since all the way back in 2006, starting as a trusted direct report and protégé of Teodoro Garcia Simental, alias "El Teo", when he was still with the Cartel Arellano Felix (CAF).




Who Organized the Blockades in Baja? 

The Tijuana based weekly magazine Zeta alleged the organizer of blockades was Javier Adrián Beltrán Cabrera, an established cartel leadership figure in Tijuana who currently leads the group Los Erres.



They wrote the following in an article released on Saturday, August 13: 

“Javier Adrián Beltrán Cabrera, is the first suspect of having organized and ordered the narco-blockades in Baja California on Friday, August 12, according to the indications received by the intelligence areas of the corporations integrated to the Coordination Table for Peace and Security.


Beltran Cabrera ‘El Javi’, ‘El Pedrito’, ‘El Pit’ and/or ‘El Puma’, was imprisoned in 2011 for gun possession and was released. He is listed as the ringleader of the criminal cell identified as Los Erres who have served as hitmen for the CAF, from Sinaloa this 2022 allied with the CJNG.


El Puma was already being investigated as the mastermind of the multiple homicides committed in July and August in the eastern zone of Tijuana, the murder of FGE agent Hermes García Santoyo, the threats through narcomantas against Governor Marina Ávila and prosecutor Ricardo Carpio in March, and the videos published on CJNG social networks. There is currently no arrest warrant against him.”

Zeta choosing to call Javier Adrián Beltrán Cabrera by the alias “El Puma” (instead of picking any of his other aliases) created a bit of confusion because he’s got a half brother, who also works for the CJNG in Tijuana, named Isaac Alhiu Chávez Cabrera, whose primary alias is “El Puma”. 



Javier Adrián Beltrán Cabrera and Isaac Alhiu Chávez Cabrera are half brothers, related through their mother. Both have El Puma as one of their aliases however its Isaac who is primarily called “El Puma” whereas Javier is more often known as “El Pedrito”.


For the sake of clarity, Javier Adrián Beltrán Cabrera will be referred to only as El Pedrito for the rest of this story.



Zeta goes on to explore the potential motive behind the attack, writing:  

“In regard to the fires and blockades, ZETA was informed that the official stance of the authorities on the Security Round Table was that this violence is not exclusive or particular to the conditions of Baja California, because these same acts were also carried out on August 11 in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, and on August 9 in the states of Baja California and the state of Mexico, and on August 9 in the states of Jalisco and Guanajuato. 


They occurred when Roberto Ruiz Velazco ‘El Doble R’ and Gerardo González Ramírez ‘El Apá’, capos of the Jalisco Cartel - New Generation (CJNG), escaped from an operation led by elements of the Secretary of National Defense (SEDENA), to arrest them, in Guadalajara.”


Zeta seems to be saying that the official stance of authorities is that the road blockades in Baja California were not due to any local incident but instead were ordered from CJNG higher-ups at a National level. However, the wording is a bit unclear, leaving open the possibility that the authorities were merely trying to underplay the violence seen in Baja by comparing it to the violence in other states.





What do we know about El Pedrito & Los Erres? 


El Pedrito was reportedly born in the state of Sinaloa in approximately 1994, making him 28 years old during the writing of this story. Pedrito is two years younger than his half brother, El Puma, who was born in approximately 1992. 


In the 2000s, El Pedrito’s other brother, José Antonio Beltrán Cabrera, alias “El R4”, moved to Tijuana and began working under Teodoro Garcia Simental, alias "El Teo", who worked for the Cartel Arellano Felix. 



In 2006, Teo asked R4 to form a group of hitmen that would manage the drug sales and human smugglers within his CAF territories in the Zona Norte region of the city.  


El R4 subsequently founded the group Los Erres which he went on to lead for many years and his brother Pedrito became his right hand man, with El Puma also helping to manage the group. At various points within Los Erres history, Pedrito was actually the one named in articles as the leader of Los Erres, not El R4, which may suggest the brothers shared power equally, although sources are unclear on this point. 



The group was named Los Erres, which translates as The Rs, due to the double Rs within their last name Cabrera. 


In 2008, Eduardo Arellano Felix was arrested and El Tio entered into a violent power struggle against Luis Fernando Arellano over who would take over leading the CAF. Eventually, El Teo split from CAF, taking Los Erres along with him, and he started his own group which was supported by the Sinaloa Cartel. 



In 2010, El Teo was arrested and eventually Los Erres switched to working under one of El Teo’s lieutenants: José Antonio Soto Gastélum, alias “El Tigre ''. 


El Tigre utilized Los Erres as an armed wing in his war against Alfonso Lira Sotelo, alias “El Atlante”, who should have in theory been their ally since he was also under the Sinaloa Cartel however CDS was going through a period of infighting. 



During this period, Los Erres and El Tigre were allies of Alfonso Arzate García, alias "El Aquiles", and his brother Rene Arzate Garcia, alias “La Rana”, all united by their mutual fight against El Atlante. 


At one point in 2010, there was a large arrest of Los Erres members and in 2011, Pedrito was arrested for firearms possession and sent to a prison for a short sentence. This caused the group to reshuffle. El Tigre moved to Mexicali, whereas the Cabrera brothers - El R4, El Pedrito and El Puma - temporarily moved to San Diego, remotely giving out orders to Erres members in Mexicali. 



On May 11, 2013, El R4 was killed while entering a safe house located in the Residencial Sevilla de Mexicali subdivision. It is largely presumed he was killed by an associate of El Atlante, making him a casualty of the larger war in Tijuana. However there are rumors online that in the last few years, El R4 had become badly drug addicted and paranoid. When he called some of his direct reports for a meeting, they feared he was planning on having them executed so they preemptively killed him - before he got the chance to do the same to them. 



Following his brother’s death, El Pedrito became the new leader of Los Erres and he temporarily assumed the alias “El R4”, the former mantle of his brother, but over time that alias gave way to the more commonly used “El Pedrito”. Pedrito’s half brother El Puma allegedly continued to be involved in leading Los Erres. Around the year 2014, Los Erres left Mexicali and returned to Tijuana, still working under El Tigre. 


In 2015, El Puma was arrested for firearm possession, he served time in El Hongo prison and was later released. 



In 2018, Los Erres were still identified by Zeta magazine as working under the Sinaloa Cartel, under El Tigre but by around 2020 to 2021, they allegedly began working under the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación instead.



So who do Los Erres report under within the CJNG?


On August 15, 2022, Zeta released a new article in which they described Sinaloa Cartel group’s main opponent in a certain region of Tijuana as: 

“Los Cabos of the Jalisco Cartel: Rodolfo López Arellano ‘Cabo 30’ and Ricardo Antonio Álvarez Olivas ‘Cabo 39’. Who are currently backed by Los Erres: Isaac Alhiu Chávez Cabrera ‘El Puma’ and/or ‘El de los Tenis’; and Javier Adrián Beltrán Cabrera ‘El Javi’, ‘El Pedrito’, ‘El Pit’ and/or ‘El Puma’.” 



To read the full criminal history of Cabo 30, please see this previous story









Sources:  August 13 Zeta Article, August 15 Zeta Article, March 2022 Zeta Article, May 2022 Zeta Article, July 2022 Zeta Article, August 2014 Zeta Article 


61 comments:

  1. Los erres del Teo we’re at one point very dangerous. It all started going down hill with the teo/inge war

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    Replies
    1. It feels like everything that happens in Tijuana nowadays can somehow be traced back to El Teo.

      The six degrees of Tres Letras. 🐙

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    2. El R4 was famously known in Tj for being a effective sicario.

      Both cabrera brother have better smiles/teeth than solprendido!


      Saludos Hearst

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  2. Off topic: whatever happened to el Mayito to gordo? Seems to me that his people pay the news outlet so they don’t talk about him anymore, that wasn’t the case when chino ántrax did the same thing. I find out weird how things work when it comes to narcos like mayito who have money.

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    1. It is weird now that you put it that way, word was that his brother in law chavo Felix was the one that picked him up or send ppl to pick him up from TJ don’t know if he’s in Mexicali or back in Culiacán. But seemed to me there trying to keep it under the radar u never know maybe paying the news.

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    2. Off topic...I tried to turn on my car and it would not start? What siI do?

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    3. He's in witness protection with his brother in the US

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    4. I will cover any narco you want to see covered, regardless of their money or power. I'm only limited by what sources are available.

      So the latest news about Mayito Gordo comes from Riodoce in an article published 6 days ago.

      Apparently the rumors that Mayito wanted to stay in the US were true. He found out that there was an active arrest warrant for him in Mexico (which would likely be executed at the border crossing) so he did not request to be repatriated to Mexico, in what they describe as a last minute decision.

      But his legal team already filed an amparo suit (against potential arrest) in Mexico before he made this decision to stay. Which really screwed him over because a part of the legal process requires that Mayito be located and informed about the amparo so that he can either approve or not approve the suit filed on his behalf.

      Which led to a judge ordering the FGR to disclose Mayito Gordo's location. No further news has been released on what the FGR's response to this order was.

      Regardless, Riodoce says Mayito is going to live within southern California for the time being and he has to abide by all the standard parole rules. Like, working a job that's supervised by the probation department for at least 30 hours each week, pass two drug tests, and live near his signed federal area.

      https://riodoce.mx/2022/08/09/el-mayito-gordo-se-queda-en-eu/

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    5. At 8;03
      Off topic
      Me took shower and no warm water, only cold I think water heater is busted.

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    6. http://www.borderlandbeat.com/2022/08/mayito-gordo-is-staying-in-united.html

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    7. @HEARST who is “el meño “ grupo arriesgado has brought out some bangers that are hitting right now like el fugitivo apparently sombreros people.

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    8. 11:56 if he is from sinaloa and has a corrido, than he is just another fake sicario who over exagerates in his fake corrido and 100% sure when he gets caught he will snitch on everybody, that's el meño for you, by the way his name is manuel

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    9. 8:17:
      Try turning the key to the right. If that doesn't work, push it to Tijuana and collect the insurance money.

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    10. 817 Use Sirs cell phone that he keisters. Triple A will jump your car.

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    11. Where is cheyo Antrax….where is Carmen San Diego

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  3. Y el muletas apa ?

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    Replies
    1. Works under CJNG from my understanding. "Vatos contra Vatos"

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    2. Muletas is retired he currently has a couple different franchises in the US. One is Sephora. SARGY says Muletas is his compadre

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    3. 8:07 por ahi sigue de caliente mamando la riata...
      pero ya es voluntario.

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  4. It was burned down cause they don't have the balls to attack the government knowing civilians aren't gonna shoot back

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    1. It's not meant as a question about the method, it's about the motive.

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    2. They burned down things related to citizens. It's the citizens that are being affected, not the government, they should be burning government blgs and government cars and obradors home.

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    3. 9:54 exactly n the reason they are aren't burning government buildings is cause they know what coming right after...pretty coward to flex their muscle on regular people

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    4. Burning businesses it not the way to go. It does not accomplish thier goal, now like someone said burn down Lopez Obrador palace, city halls that will accomplish a point. Who's going to pay for the burnt down gas stations, cars, vans , buses? Soon the towns are going to look like a 3 world country, no rebuilding, just everything burnt down.

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    5. I'll repeat.... The title is not questioning why that particular method was used.

      It's about what made them want to cause chaos on that one particular day as opposed to any other day.

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    6. Hearst:
      The article was well done. I don't believe some people are reading the whole article or are trying to read it too quickly to let the main points sink in. Most news stories only touch on the highlights. The idea of in depth journalism is to bring everything into context so they have a better understanding of the story.
      Most news stories are usually skimmed over by the consumer. The idea behind in-depth journalism is to give everyone a greater understanding of the context and how the actors in the story fit into the larger picture. This isn't an article to just skim over while drinking your morning coffee. This article compels readers to think and actually participate in the story by responding and giving their own view of the events.
      The problems with readers is that many take news stories as gospel. Due to the nature of this business, many news stories contain significant inaccuracies. The idea behind the comments section is to give readers the opportunity to point out inaccuracies or what they perceive to be inaccuracies. This input helps future stories to be more accurate.
      Readers here have to keep in mind that they are participating in a conversation. The writer is only laying out the facts as s/he understands them. The comments section gives the reader the opportunity to participate in the conversation.
      Good article as always.

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    7. 12:47 man fuck u,ain't nobody misreading anything I know exactly what the article is all about n that point leads us to the beginning so we just go in circles

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    8. @detroit. Long but good point. It is nice to read comments from people like yourself, Hearst and others who write coherently and can express an interesting point of view.
      Yea offense intended 12:47 😂🤣

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    9. Civilian targets are softer targets than government buildings, and certainly softer than Los Pinos. I believe these were orchestrated by CJNG. Traditionally this would have been about the worst business decision a criminal organization could make, but with AMLO who seems not to mind letting crime run its natural course unimpeded; I am not so sure this will increase the pressure the government applies to whomever is now Mencho’s successor.

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    10. I wonder what insurance is like in Mexico. Cuz what if they burnt shit they could collect ins on? That would be a great double lick huh

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    11. 9:26 It depends on the company and service you got, some of them will cover that. And they still cheaper than american insurance companies.

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  5. Are these Cabreras maybe somewhat blood related to the Cabreras from Durango?

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    Replies
    1. No idea. If anybody knows, don't be shy. Let us know.

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    2. But but but I am shy, me is 12 years old. I have not reached poverty yet.

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    3. "Pedrito" was born in Sinaloa, both Beltrán and Cabrera are common last names in those two states so yes you can assume that his roots are from that region.

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    4. beltran can be either from the palma side of sinaloa o the tamazula side of durango, just like cabrera

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    5. Y’all funny,
      Beltran cause of the Beltran Leyva from la plama.
      There’s Beltran in Culiacán Beltran everywhere . Sheeesh

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  6. Cartels look like Street gangs now.

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    1. HEARST do you know the order of birth of these brothers? Some days ago on here was a story that El Puma Isaac had been arrested but it got taken down. Did he not get arrested or why was that story removed??

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    2. Isaac was arrested in 2015, and being that both have nicknames of "Puma" it was mistaken as applied to this guy.

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    3. Puma is two years older then Pedrito. And I'm not sure about R4's age but based on all that R4 did by the year 2006, I believe R4 was the oldest.

      So its likely (from oldest to youngest): R4, Puma, Pedrito.

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  7. How the fuck can someone be caf the cds then a jalisca. Fucking chapulines.

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    Replies
    1. What do you expect. Those 3 cartels that you've mentioned are the biggest pieces of shit lol.

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    2. In Chapulijuana everything is possible

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    3. The kill each other Family members to only be friends later In Trafficking

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    4. then they ask why cjng got big in such short time.!! all these chapulines. asi como michoacán, tijuana tiene como 10 carteles que operan

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    5. As long as theyre effective killers and valuable sources of information given that they jump around alot they will continue to operate regardless of their flag

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    6. 9:23 never thought about that but you're right. Cjng grew throughout mexico because of all these turncoats not because they trained and developed pistoleros from the ground up

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  8. According to "rumor" Hermes Garcia Santoyo was killed for stealing 145+/- kilos from Chapo Isidro since he didn't pay piso to move them through TJ. This theft would have been sanctioned by Flaquito. How the state suspects Pedrito murdered him is dubious work unless he's a freelancer but then that doesn't square with the claim of him working for Cabo 30 and the order to burn properties because of what happened in Jalisco and Guanajuato. Zeta Tijuana has noticeably decreased in journalism quality, they tend to conflate events and thus their reporting.
    Escriben mucho y dicen poco

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    1. Speaking of Isidro, he’s been as quiet as El Azul since Azul retired…I mean died. This is historically uncharacteristic for a powerful and tremendously wealthy Sinaloan mobster.

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    2. Is Cabo 30 & Cabo 50 with La Rana now ????

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    3. 8:34 that's what I mean by ZTJ causing confusion. Not too long ago they had a story about Cabo 30 being aligned with Aquiles. They have to keep the lights on $omehow right?

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    4. 8:28 Chapo Isidro has been relatively quiet but still operating in Guasave

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    5. Can you recommend any other sources for Tijuana news?

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    6. 4:17 Tijuano the former contributor🤯

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  9. Pues yo lo miro a el y su fam bien quitados de la pena a lo mejor ni fueron ellos y solo es una cortina de humo

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  10. Could be a test run leading up to their REAL target

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  11. What happen to the avengers that protected Isidro was that a urban legend?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Isidro is still doing his thing.

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  12. Someone is heating up the plaza in pico rivera

    ReplyDelete

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