Alfredo Alemán Narváez, leader of CDG Los Alemánes, Arrested in Nuevo Leon

"HEARST" for Borderland Beat 

Alfredo Alemán Narváez, alias “El Alemán”, was arrested at a home in Monterrey, Nuevo León.

He is believed to be the leader of Los Alemanes, a major group within the cartel landscape of the state of San Luis Potosi, who are primarily contested by the Cartel Jalisco Nuevo Generación subgroup Operativa Bélica.

The Arrest 

At approximately 9:00 pm on September 22, 2022, a group of Army (SEDENA) and National Guard soldiers raided a home located in the northwestern side of the major city of Monterrey, in the state of Nuevo León. 

Inside the home, they arrested Cártel del Golfo (CDG) leader Alfredo Alemán Narváez, alias “El Alemán”, while he was hosting a horse race watching party, which was attended by his friends and family. 

The house was situated in the Nuvol sector of the housing subdivision Montenova, a luxurious gated community. 

The raid appears to have been planned, based on intelligence gathered by the state Attorney General’s Office (FGE). Newspaper El Norte writes that “Neighbors of the sector said that they did not hear any gunshots, so the operation is believed to have been carried out in a surprise and stealthy manner, shortly before 21:00 hours.”

These same neighbors told the newspaper that during the raid, they were told by soldiers “to go into the houses, to take shelter, especially in the back rooms. 

The FGE press release on the arrest is scant on details, confirming only that Alemán had been arrested but no information on if there were any other detainees or if anything such as drugs or weapons were seized. No booking photos of El Alemán have been released as of yet. 

Very Brief Overview of Los Alemán History 

Los Alemánes, a group led by El Alemán,  began as a CDG group but later split with the CDG and famously waged war against them. They are sometimes referred to as a Zetas group in media reports however the group itself seems to self-identify more as a CDG group. 

In August 2020, Los Alemanes released a video in which they delivered a message on behalf of themselves and Los Zetas splinter group Old School Zetas (Zeta Vieja Escuela) addressed to José Guadalupe Castillo Celestino, director of the Ministerial Police, saying he had broken the truce he had with them.

In a November 2020 video, they stated that they were at the service of the CDG - Matamoros Los Espartanos faction leader Evaristo Cruz Sanchez, alias “El Vaquero”. For a full explanation of Los Espartanos, please see this previous post. 

So, as of most recently, it appears they work closest with ZVE, who despite the name, are currently considered to be a CDG subgroup. They mainly operate in San Luis Potosi but also have some presence in the state of Zacatecas.

Recent Happenings with Los Alemans

In 2022, Los Alemánes were most often mentioned in cartel news when the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion subgroup Operativa Bélica would name drop and threaten them in messages in San Luis Potosi. 

For example, in February 2022, Operativa Bélica, or the Bloodthirsty Operatives, left a banner in the city of San Luis Potosi, in the state of the same name. The banner names El Alemán (or “Alfredo Alemán”) and Luis Alemán.

The banner read, as translated by Sol Prendido:

This message goes out to all the independent traffickers in the capital. Along with the distributors of drugs who sell for Alfredo Aleman. Just so that you’re all aware the purge has begun in the Progresso neighborhood, and it’s surroundings. For all those who choose not to fall into formation with us. Your fate will be the same as with this dumb ass. 

Luis Aleman, where’s all that bravery of yours? We’ve already seen that you don’t have anything under control here. And that you fucking homos don’t even take care of your personnel. Therefore, brace yourselves because we’re coming after everyone left over. We already have everyone located. With an advance warning there is no betrayal. We’re coming for this plaza. 

Sincerely, 

The O.B.

Then in June 2022, Operativa Bélica released a video message (which is translated in full here) in which they interrogated a Alemánes  member. He confesses to being involved in “drug sales, distribution, fee collections, and kidnappings” in the cities of Seoldad de Graciano Sanchez and San Luis Potosí. 

He then describes how he and his brother, another Alemánes member, would smuggle in cocaine, marijuana, crystal meth, and beer kegs to La Pila prison which would be sold for profit to the prisoners inside. He alleges the prison's warden and deputy director were on the payroll of El Alemáne and they were personally involved in the smuggling itself. 

The Operativa Bélica interrogators then end the video by addressing the camera directly and saying:

“For all the citizens of San Luis Potosí. We are the Operativa Bélica cell from the Jalisco New Generation Cartel. And we want to let you know that we’re purging the plaza of all these scumbags from the Los Alemanes Cartel and Golfos (Cartel del Golfo). Everyone already knows that we don't charge fee collections, nor do we extort, much less do we kidnap. We're just drug traffickers. And little by little we’re going to get rid of all this gang of scumbags. We’re going after all those who support them.”

Some Interesting Information About El Alemán 

This is not the first time that El Alemán has been arrested. He was arrested back in November 2011, while he was at a horse race. People allege he was drunk at the time of his arrest.

There are videos on Youtube of a man alleged to be El Aleman speaking for hours at addiction recovery meetings.

In the videos, the man can be seen erratically hosting an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, giving a speech about the role drugs played in his own life. 

At about 02:50 in the video, linked here, he says, as translated by Sol Prendido: 

"I thought about killing myself, I actually wanted to kill myself while high on drugs. I struggled for eight years, trying to leave drugs behind but I couldn’t.

 

I went through the most beautiful moments of my life, where I could have left it [drugs] all behind but I didn’t.

And then, I went through a second phase of my life, where I wanted to leave it [drugs] all behind but I couldn’t.

And then, I jumped up to the third and fourth dimension, where I reached a level of craziness. I was at that stage in my life where I just wanted to die.

We reach that fucking moment where, the fucking alcoholic or the drug addict, he fucking loses himself -son of a fucking bitch- and you cross that fucking barrier where you say to yourself 'You son of a bitch, you no longer know what the fuck you're doing.’ Or where the obsession overpowers you.

 

At that moment, you don't even know what obsession is - you no longer have any power over yourself. I spent four long years getting high, every fucking day.

 

I don't know how the fuck I would go through a thousand pesos - my goal was to spend a thousand pesos a day on drugs."

Another video featuring Alemán can be viewed here.

The Arrest Sources: El Norte, La Orquesta, Milenio 

Very Brief History Sources: Vanguardia, BB- March 2021 Video, El Universal 

Recent Happenings Sources: Borderland Beat, Borderland Beat 

Some Interesting Information Sources: Youtube Video 1, Video 2 

Further Reading:

Overview of Cartels in SLP