Lupe Tapia's Arrest Is A Blow to 'Mayo' Zambada's Structure

 “Ivan” for Borderland Beat 

The federal forces have been following Jose Guadalupe Tapia Quintero's footsteps since last year. First his son, Heibar Tapia, was killed, and then last week he himself.

On Thursday, February 9, the military arrived by air. According to neighbors, the helicopters began to land next to Lupe's house in the town of Estancia de los García, in the Tacuichamona syndicate, municipality of Culiacán.

A helicopter would come down and soldiers would descend from it, then withdraw and immediately another aircraft would arrive to drop soldiers on the ground. One after the other, soldiers would descend and leave soldiers behind, according to the inhabitants of the town.

On the ground, soldiers also arrived in patrol cars that surrounded the house and blocked the street.

According to the villagers, there were shots fired from the helicopter, although the house and the surrounding buildings were not shot at.

The house where he was captured is located on the way out of town towards the river (San Lorenzo) and is like any other in the community, on a plot of land with a wire fence and Brazilian tree trunks and a cyclone mesh door.

The military began the operation around 5:00 am and left the property around 11:00 am.

ROAD TO TACUICHAMONA. Preventive operation.

The house was left alone, without security seals, with the doors open and a television on.

Inside, the house was broken into, with clothes on the floor and closet doors open.

In the same lot, in front of the house, there was a mobile home, also with the door open and broken into.

Together with Lupe Tapia, four men and a woman were arrested in possession of six long arms, a Barret rifle, four short arms, fentanyl and cocaine.

One of the detainees was injured by a bullet and was hospitalized in a hospital in Culiacán.

Lupe Tapia has been wanted by US authorities since 2013, when the Department of Justice formally charged him with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine with intent to import, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine, and conspiracy to commit money laundering concealment.

According to the U.S. government, Lupe owns several businesses, including bus and trucking businesses used to move large quantities of methamphetamine from Mexico to the U.S.-Mexico border, including Arizona.

During the pre-indictment investigation, they seized 67 kilos of methamphetamine, 30 kilos of cocaine, more than $770,000, and arrested three people.

In 2014, the DEA identified him as an operator for Ismael El Mayo Zambada and Joaquin El Chapo Guzman, and froze his assets and prohibited Americans from conducting any financial or commercial transactions with him.

The DEA said Tapia Quintero oversees the transportation of cocaine and marijuana for the Zambada Garcia organization and is responsible for coordinating the monthly purchase and transportation of cocaine and methamphetamine from Sinaloa to the United States, specifically Arizona and California.

Tapia Quintero also transports methamphetamine for a cell affiliated with Chapo Guzman from Sinaloa to Tijuana, Baja California via tractor-trailer trucks.

"DEA and its OFAC partners will not allow these dangerous cartels and their associates to exploit the U.S. financial system," DEA Special Agent in Charge Doug Coleman said in a statement after announcing they were freezing their assets.

"We are relentlessly following the financial trail to deprive these traffickers of their assets, draining the lifeblood from their criminal enterprises. Our actions will focus on their financial nerve centers, as well as the underlying logistics that are essential to their daily operations, such as the transportation network we are taking action against today," it mentions.

In Culiacán, federal forces began tracking him since June of last year.

LUPE TAPIA'S HOUSE. The last refuge.

In the operations, Army personnel arrested three people, seized 25 vehicles allegedly used to move drugs and 8,500 fentanyl pills in Culiacán, and three methamphetamine laboratories in Cosalá.

On 22 August, Heibar Tapia, Lupe's son, and another man identified as José were arrested in the Bachigualato neighborhood.

Both were captured in an Army operation, in possession of eight bags with 6,99 fentanyl pills, a rifle for exclusive Army use, 47 cartridges for firearms, six cell phones and a pickup truck.

After the capture, military personnel implemented an operation and blocked the Culiacan-Navolato highway to immediately transfer the detainees to Mexico City to prevent them from trying to thwart the arrest.

"The federal authorities decided to form a joint force to carry out operational activities in the Bachigualato neighborhood in the municipality of Culiacán, Sinaloa, in order to reduce the possibility of violent action in the city," said Sedena.

HEIBAR TAPIA. Arrested and consigned.

Heibar and José were sentenced to criminal proceedings for the crimes against health, in the modality of possession of fentanyl for commercial purposes; and carrying a firearm exclusive to the Army, Navy and Air Force.

Governor Rubén Rocha Moya said that local corporations were not taken into account for the operation to capture Lupe Tapia, probably due to distrust.

He mentioned that the federal government acts within its jurisdiction and they are stealthy when taking measures and the state government is not notified of the operations, only when they ask for assistance.

-Is it because of a lack of trust in the local police?

-It is very probable, it is very probable, the most probable, is that they start from the idea that the more information is disclosed, the more it can spoil an operation, that is the principle with which they act," he said.

Rocha Moya said that he does not trust many of the police either.

"In general I trust the police officers, but not many, but I am not aware of it, we have suspicions about many and we act based on that, knowing what your reality is, the government has to know what your reality is, I cannot tell you that we have perfect corporations, we are trying to improve them", he said.

RIODOCE