'Lupe' Tapia Remanded In Custody

 "Ivan" for Borderland Beat 

A judge ruled that the arrest of José Guadalupe Tapia Quintero, Lupe Tapia, alleged operator of Ismael el Mayo Zambada, arrested last Thursday, February 9, during an operation by federal forces in the community of Estancia de los García, south of Culiacán, was legal.

The Ministry of National Defense (Sedena) explained that the detainee was remanded in custody and charged with alleged crimes against health and carrying firearms for the exclusive use of the Mexican Army and Air Force.

Lupe Tapia was interned in the Federal Center for Social Readaptation No. 1 (Cefereso) of Altiplano, in Almoloya de Juarez, State of Mexico, the same prison where Ovido Guzman Lopez, El Raton, arrested on Thursday, January 5 in Jesus Maria, north of Culiacan, is being held.

According to Sedena, the detainee is considered the main alleged producer of fentanyl and methamphetamine pills, as well as allegedly transshipping cocaine on a large scale from Central and South America to the United States.

The Army assured that the subject was arrested "in flagrante delicto", in an operation in which military and National Guard personnel provided support to the National Intelligence Fusion Center (CENFI), attached to the National Intelligence Center (CNI).

RIODOCE