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Saturday, November 5, 2022

El Chueco Slips Away From Being Arrested - El Cuervo, One of Chueco's Men, Is Arrested in Guazapares, Chihuahua

"HEARST" for Borderland Beat 

The state Attorney General’s Office received intelligence which indicated that José Noriel Portillo Gil, alias “El Chueco”, was hiding out in the small town of Témoris (shown on the map below), which is located in Guazapares municipality, in the state of Chihuahua.


A raid was planned and personnel from the FGE and the Army (SEDENA) moved in to capture Chueco on the morning of Wednesday, November 2, 2022. After sweeping through the small town, the authorities did not find Chueco. They did however find Fernando F.C., alias “El Cuervo” or The Raven, a man alleged to work under El Chueco.



El Cuervo was found to be in possession of an illegal firearm; a radio and a vehicle were also seized by authorities. El Cuervo was alleged to be involved in the cartel murder of an activist named Cruz Soto Caraveo, who which took place back in 2019 near Témoris.





Cartel Group’s Typical Method When Killing Activists

Mexico is considered to be one of the most dangerous countries for activists, in general, and just last month Mexico made headlines for being named the deadliest country for environmental activists, according to the watchdog group Global Witness. The 2019 murder of Cruz Soto Caraveo stands as a prototypical example of why and how cartel groups go about killing activists in Mexico. 



Cruz Soto Caraveo was part of the activist group called the Collective of Displaced Families of the Sierra Tarahumara. The group aims to highlight how in 2014 more than 20 families were forced out of their homes in the Sierra Tarahumara mountains (where towns Témoris are located) by members of organized crime. Since then, over 400 people have been forced out of their homes in this region.




These cartel groups took these families' land, either to plant drug fields (both marijuana and poppy) or to log the forests for wood. The remote and difficult-to-navigate terrain made their land ideal for either purpose. 



Based on the activism of this group, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights requested that the Mexican government take a number of steps to guarantee these families could return to their homes and remain safe from future attempts to steal their land. The commission believes that the government has not adequately taken these steps and their legal battle continues to this day. 





Cruz Soto Caraveo was one of the prominent men from the group - he was outspoken about the illegal logging and drug farms that cartel groups created, making him a target for cartel groups in the area. In 2018, a relative of Cruz Soto Caraveo’s was killed just one day after he convinced the state government to provide state police protection to a family trying to return to their land. A note was placed on the victim’s body with a death threat directed at Cruz. 



On October 12, 2019, Cruz Soto Caraveo left Chihuahua city, where he had been living, and traveled to Témoris to meet with personnel from the federal government’s Agriculture and Rural Development department. Together they discussed ways that they could work towards getting the displaced families back to their homes. 


The next day, on October 13, the Municipal Police director for the area, Paulino M.R., ordered his police officer subordinates to search for Cruz Soto Caraveo’s current location. They found that he was still in town but he was about to travel to the nearby town of Los Llanos, accompanied by another activist from his group. 



Police director Paulino M.R. passed on this information about Cruz Soto Caraveo to a group of cartel hitmen. These hitmen were allegedly from the Sinaloa Cartel and affiliated with El Chueco. 


As Cruz Soto Caraveo and his colleague traveled towards Los Llanos, in Bahuichivo, they were ambushed by cartel hitmen. They kidnapped Cruz Soto and according to El Puntero, “kept him hidden for several days and later killed him. On October 20, Cruz Soto’s dead body was discovered. 


In August 2021, police director Paulino M.R. and Samuel Alejandro B.G., one of the hitmen, were convicted for their roles in the murder of Cruz Soto.



They were sentenced to serve just 16 years in prison. In November 2021, another hitman named Ismael Q.A. was arrested for his participation in the murder. 



Now, in 2022, El Cuervo has been arrested. He is alleged to have been involved in the murder of Cruz Soto but the exact manner in which authorities believe he was involved has not been released as of the writing of this story.




El Cuervo Sources: FGE Press Release, Diario de Juarez, Informador, Animal Político, Excelsior, Omnia, Radio Formula, El Universal  


Murder of Cruz Soto Sources: Net Noticias, El Puntero, Contralinea, HDR Memorial



Update 11/10/2022: A photo alleged to show Cuerva without his eyes covered has been posted by Sonora Informativo








Catch Up on Any El Chueco Stories You Missed

June 27 Article - The Manhunt for Priest Killer El Chueco

July 1 Article - 11 Men Close to El Chueco Arrested

July 12 Article - Chueco, Baseball, & The Brothers: What We Now Know About His Rampage



August 1 Article - Another Cousin of El Chueco Arrested


39 comments:

  1. Very complete report and analysis Hearst. Putting something like this together (including the entire series you have going on) is high level work. With this level of reporting you could easily work for a major outlet as an investigatory reporter. Gracias por todo.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Major outlet wouldnt be interested, a common fate for journalists.

      Delete
    2. 10:28 - well yeah. Thats true too. Major outlets are not interested in this topic, let alone quality. At this point what they want is views. Engagement. People like Hearst are able to luckily find an outlet like this since nothing else permits.

      Delete
    3. Bellingcat, InSight Crime, Stratfor, there are definitely sizable organisations reporting on this topic and/or similar ones

      Delete
    4. 6:56 No agency in the Western have that freedom.

      Delete
    5. 9:44, you have no glue what you are talking

      Delete
    6. 12:55 Years working for media, but ok.

      Delete
  2. Funny thing I showed Bordeland website to my coworker who is from El Salvador. She thinks all the killing in Mexico is fake,, all are made up. I was stunned!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Puro cerote voz

      Delete
    2. 10:42 no different from trumpsters thinking trump was a good president

      Delete
    3. 5:13 wait a minute Trump wasnt a good president

      Delete
    4. 10:42 that's weird I rent a room to a man from El Salvador and he says that in El Salvador people have their hand and head cut off all the time

      Delete
    5. @8:53 that happens in Honduras very often aswell

      Delete
    6. In Iran thieves' hands are medically amputated.

      Delete
  3. Replies
    1. If she was a dude yea, this might sound bad but she is a big vagina, cause she is a girl 😉

      Delete
    2. @5:14 I'm theory you might be right. But that sounds horrible. Mas respeto ala señora Hearst cabron!!!!!

      Delete
    3. 5:14 / 10:14 No digan pendejadas chavitos. When someone is a "verga", means badass, depending on context.

      Delete
    4. 9:40 every body knows what it means bud, but lets make the vaginas as big as the dicks if you know what i mean, nothing wrong with that 😉

      Delete
    5. In El Salvador it is legit to call a female a v..... to indicate baddasery.

      Delete
    6. 12:37 Telling someone, You are a pussy, can be wrongfully understood.

      Delete
  4. Great article Hearst!
    Mica

    ReplyDelete
  5. Very sad that nobody has looked out for the Tarahumaras. We explored and were guests in this area in 2007 and this area and the people were amazing. No signs of any of this from my perspective 25 years ago.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Are they the people known for crazy long distance running through the mountains?

      Delete
    2. Thats correct, raramuris / tarahumaras are known for being long distance runners.

      Delete
  6. So the government couldn’t solve the 2019 murder of the activist until they put in effort.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Chueco knows the region like the back of his hand I bet probably hiding in cliffs

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Cliffs hmm 🤔 open target more like caves

      Delete
  8. Looks like El Chueco will be cornered later or soon.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Que chinge a su Madre el gobierno de MEXICO, Que chinge a su Madre estos putos corientes Muertos de hambre de carteles Y politicos Y Que chinge a su Reputa Bomba Madre la perra que parrio a estos perros de Mierda...!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. La neta el publico vota por el gobierno.

      Delete
    2. 12:48 Deja en paz a Maru Campos!

      Delete
  10. Mexico... instead of Hunting down high profile targets. They instead go after some Nobody.... typical

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah right, and every time they get a new capo, a new cartel emerges. Dumb comment.

      Delete
    2. the fact that they still hunt him should shows that the gob thinks he is important.
      Also from the amount of support he receives and the connections he has with police and politics should show you this.
      Its more than a bunch of clowns from sinaloa.

      Delete
  11. keep up the fantastic work!

    ReplyDelete
  12. I wonder how true it is that chapitos turned their backs on chueco

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. hasta crees que no... les calento el huevo en la sierra chihuahuense y por ende perdieron mucho $... Al chueco lo busca el gobierno federal, agencias estatales, los linieros y casi estoy seguro, los mismo chapitos. Es una papa caliente ese Chueco.

      Delete
  13. Unrelated, Aaron Carter died. R.I.P.

    ReplyDelete

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