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Saturday, November 23, 2019

Juarez Cartel: Body of wanted drug suspect found in Albuquerque Morgue

Chivis Martinez Borderland Beat TY Gus from  Albuquerque Journal and AP

“A person associated with the Padilla DTO (Drug Trafficking Organization) paid $21,000 in cash for funeral services, including a $15,000 payment of all one-hundred-dollar bills,” the search warrant affidavit said. “A drug dog alerted to the presence of controlled substances on those one-hundred-dollar bills.”

The hunt for a suspected cartel trafficker by federal narcotics agents has ended after the man’s body was discovered in a New Mexico mortuary, officials said.

The body of 43-year-old Johnny Lee Padilla was found last week at Albuquerque’s Gabaldon Mortuary, The Albuquerque Journal reported.

U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents are investigating whether Padilla was tortured and executed in Mexico, where they believe he lived under the protection of a cartel leader.


Authorities found Padilla’s body through an obituary on the mortuary’s website, officials said.

Authorities have linked Padilla to the Juarez Cartel and identified him as a leader in the Los Padillas gang, which they said has operated for decades out of Albuquerque’s South Valley.

A federal grand jury indicted Padilla on charges of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine in 2015, but authorities said he was out of their reach in Mexico.

Agents were told in early November that Padilla died in Mexico and then found the mortuary’s online announcement of his death and pending funeral services. Agents served a search warrant on the mortuary and found the body.

“A person associated with the Padilla DTO (Drug Trafficking Organization) paid $21,000 in cash for funeral services, including a $15,000 payment of all one-hundred-dollar bills,” the search warrant affidavit said. “A drug dog alerted to the presence of controlled substances on those one-hundred-dollar bills.”

Documents indicated Padilla’s body was transported by a Mexican funeral home through Mexican customs, but there were no records of the body clearing U.S. customs.

The Mexican documents listed Padilla’s cause of death as heart attack and diabetes, but an examination found a bullet hole in the back of the head, stab wounds, scratches on the back, and “signs of torture,” U.S. records said.

A DEA spokesman would not comment on an ongoing investigation.
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Chivis Note: according to his obituary, he is the brother of Jeffrey Padilla, the  the leader of the notorious Los Padillas gang and a convicted killer. He was released from prison in 2017 with  camera crews following him.

Those cameras are part of a documentary crew that followed  Padilla for the next year, for a documentary about his life after prison.

A British documentary-maker met Padilla while working in Las Cruces on the popular A&E series, Behind Bars: Rookie Year.

Padilla was sent to prison for two murders and suspected of many more crimes. He was arrested in 1999 for killing Fernando Velasquez execution style and putting a hit on Julius Sanchez.

He was officially released after serving 17 years of a 25-year prison sentence and was welcomed back into the real world by cameras.

Padilla was originally released from prison in 2013 on probation, but after three probation violations he was sent back in 2015 to finish his sentence.

44 comments:

  1. Yea so like when she said she was ENCHANTED, yea we all know what she meant there. Mañosa. Lol. And then when Padilla starts talking with all those hand movements I couldn’t help but think that he sounds so much like a politician. Lies on lies.

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    1. There u go Flappin your c..k sucker. U are the reason why journalists get hurt! U talk To much shit about ppl u don’t know...G.C...

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    2. Complaining does you no good in daddy’s world babygirl.

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    3. Lol your an idiot.Again talking out your ass NOT KNOWING THE FACTS. I'm Male. Lay off the drugs buddy. Chi Chivis PLZ get rid of this clown...G.C.

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    4. Daddy won’t have trouble turning you out

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    5. Everyone knows who is writing these comments. Scorned much? The life of a rat is hard , living in the shadows and posting anonymous comments... pitiful.

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  2. He new too much for a not so close cartel associate, so La Linea silenced him.

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    1. Doubt it. You dont know the truth. That's old news about those guys. Early 2000s....He didn't get tortured either...

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  3. more than likely got caught in the middle for the Azteka vs La Linea war

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  4. Enchanted was a very strange word to use. I agree.

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    1. New Mexico, Land of Enchantment...
      Play on words?

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  5. Jeffrey Padilla is also boxer Johnny Tapia's half brother.

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    Replies
    1. No he is not. Those claims were proven to be false.

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  6. If he had chosen to stay in prison he would have lived longer. What would you have done? This is a case of you're screwed if you do, and screwed if you don't. These kind of choices are very common in the criminal lifestyle. But try to teach this to young people is hard.
    Mexico-Watcher

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    1. Read it again. Lol. Mexico watcher. Good try tho

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    2. I know he survived in the jungle for 20+ yrs and started from nothing, not knowing nobody. Shout out from your peeps in Burque, New Mex.

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  7. Great story Thanks Chivis

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  8. Is anyone going to question the so-called drug dog that found drugs on US currency. Most all of US currency has traces of drugs on them.

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    1. Why? Just old news.

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    2. Some prisons in u.s. have drug detectors and test your hands, shoe laces, etc. And if you even touch paper Bill's, you come out dirty and your visits denied. Anybody whose been in prison or visited an inmate knows this. Lame cops trying to get credit

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  9. After over 20 yrs on the run, the only reason law enforcement got him is because he died, even with their informants. RIP JOHNNY LEE. Your legacy will live on forever with us in Nuevo Mexico. Nobody did it like you!!

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    1. Did what? Lose his life in the drug trade like thousands of others. Nothing special.

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    2. Rest in peace...OG.. from canada

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  10. "According to court records, Padilla has been connected by informants and wiretaps to the Juarez Cartel and its enforcement arm, La Linea.
    Most recently, DEA agents believe he was under the protection of and living with Carlos Arturo Quintana, known as “El 80” or “Ochenta,” a leader of La Linea.
    Many DEA agents believe La Linea has taken over control of the Juarez Cartel in the wake of the Juarez-Sinaloa Cartel war that lasted almost a decade at a cost of thousands of lives in northern Mexico." Albuquerque Journal, Nov 20, 2019 https://www.abqjournal.com/1393952/deas-search-for-elusive-fugitive-ends-at-local-mortuary-ex-johnny-lee-padilla-had-ties-to-carte-abqs-los-padillas-gang.html

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  11. I know a few members. I was unaware they moved to Meth. They were known for heroin. They worked the Las Cruces , Acension mexico area. They moved stolen cars south and heroin north. They’ve had multiple members jailed. Years ago they lost some key members because of a Dope fiend. That broke into the house of a son of a big Padillas stole some 4 wheelers. And other shit. Well the feds were on to that guy. He got arrested and since he got caught in possession of some stolen merch from the Padilla’s he decided to rat everyone out. Including the son.
    Arriba Cuauhtémoc

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    1. Theres no way you could know what your talking about. He stayed off the radar. He lived by the sword and died by the sword and held his flag up high. Padillas has been on the map since the mid 70s...

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  12. Didn't Jeffrey Padilla marry the widow of boxer Johnny Tapia after Padilla's father falsely claimed to be Tapia's biological father?

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    1. Maybe you should talk to Teresa Tapia about that. Within a few years, she was married 4 different times. And still wants to call herself his widow...Smh...Wells Park boxers in the house. Burque, NM....

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    2. Yup, I think Teresa Tapia was married to Eddie Winslow at some point in time.

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  13. Well we'll life of crime does not pay.

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  14. I would rather be free making millions enjoying life than doing the rest of my life in Florence ADX. I've heard the Feds didn't want to arrest him, they wanted to kill him. They knew how dangerous he was and he would never go down alive. He would say that since he was a juvenile everytime he hit the news. Los Padillas family had settled in Alb. South Valley since the 1600s. They not going nowhere. We have alot of culture and history here. Were proud people and stick together no matter what part of town we live.

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    1. Yeah culture and history of heroin dealing! That is why albuquerque nm is a tecatos paradise!! Way to go pal thats something to be proud of!! How many track marks you have on each arm and leg!!

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    2. Dont hate the player, hate the game. Everybody makes their own choices. If somebody wants to use drugs that's on them. Padilla family is so smart and Johnny Lee was a master mind . Tha feds must have spent millions looking for him for over 20 yrs and all they got was 15k from the funeral home and took off his PADILLAS BOYS diamond ring when they snatched up his body from the funeral home just to degrade our family and keep it as a trophy. The corrupt cops have taken money, birds, and jewelry from us without reporting it. So what makes them any better? Your a legend JLP. Miss you. RIP...

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  15. The big find is who let that bastards body through US customs. Find them!

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  16. ""The Mexican documents listed Padilla’s cause of death as heart attack and diabetes, but an examination found a bullet hole in the back of the head, stab wounds, scratches on the back, and “signs of torture,” U.S. records said""

    What a great autopsy! Bahaha

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  17. should be a fancy funeral

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  18. We all know who is behind the comments. Low life RAT. Be ready for it.

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  19. Informant of the year... the irrelevant comments can’t be disguised as random. Next article is on you.

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  20. As long as the USA is the biggest consumer of drugs, it's never gonna stop. They need our guns and $$$. I feel they should stop funding millions or billions to Mexico drug war, direct that money to free inpatient/outpatient rehab sub abuse treatment. The

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  21. Instead of giving Mex government billions of $$$ per year for the lost war on drugs, they could relocate that to free sub abuse inpatient rehab. The average person can't afford 20k, 30k, 50k for treatment. But then our government, CIA etc has to get their issue , kickbacks from the tons of drugs coming in. I.E. Rick Ross, Barry Seal and many more we dont know about. Too many billions of $$ at stake. Money is the root of all evil. The government is great at hiding things from its US citizens....As long as USA is biggest consumer of drugs in the world, it will never stop!

    ReplyDelete

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