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Sunday, August 13, 2023

Sinaloa Cartel Operator 'El Cumbias' Absolved of 2010 Chihuahua Massacre and Released From Prison

"Morogris" for Borderland Beat

Enrique L贸pez Acosta (left) was said to have been involved in the notorious 2010 massacre in Creel, Chihuahua that left at least 8 people dead. The video, captured through a surveillance camera, made international headlines 13 years ago

Enrique Lopez Acosta, also known by the alias El Cumbias, was freed from a prison in Chihuahua during the early hours of Friday after state judges acquitted him of the eight murder charges he was facing in relation to the 2010 massacre in Creel, Chihuahua.

El Cumbias was a ring leader of the Gente Nueva faction of the Sinaloa Cartel and had been incarcerated since December 2010 following his arrest in Delicias, Chihuahua. He spent the first years of his imprisonment in the Federal Social Readaptation Center No. 11 in Sonora, until he was extradited to Chihuahua in 2018. His trial begun less than a month ago.

The names of the judges who absolved El Cumbias are: Zulema Sandoval, Erick Nevarez, and Mariano Durazo.

El Cumbias was facing a prison term of up to 200 years if he had been convicted for the eight killings linked to the 2010 Creel massacre.

In the days leading up to the judges' verdict, the legal team representing El Cumbias had submitted a formal request to the court, urging them to prevent any media outlets from having presence at their client's trial. All three judges granted this request, resulting in the absence of any media during the concluding phases of the trial.

The court did not publicly elaborate on the rationale behind El Cumbias's release. However, El Diario de Ju谩rez alluded to the possibility that the judges' decision might have stemmed from their belief that the video recordings of the massacre were inadequate in establishing concrete evidence linking El Cumbias as one of the participants in the video.

The State Attorney General's Office has confirmed the existence of another individual who is allegedly responsible for the multiple homicides. However, this person is imprisoned out of state and authorities opted to keep their identity confidential and did not provide any details regarding their current legal status.

To this day, no individuals have been been found guilty of the Creel massacre, marking 13 years of impunity.


The massacre

The Creel massacre, which occurred on 15 March 2010, reached national and international headlines after a surveillance camera captured El Cumbias and his gunmen carrying out a commando-style attack in broad daylight.

The video demonstrates a step by step footage in which armed assassins boldly seize control of Creel. They barricade streets, forcibly remove drivers from their cars, and carry out killings without hesitation.

The initial broadcast of the video occurred on the show Punta y Partida, hosted by Denise Maerker in Mexico City on the Televisa network. Introducing the footage captured on March 15, Maerker remarked that the video speaks for itself. Subsequently, the video gained widespread popularity.

The video displayed a convoy of vehicles that arrived while armed men swarmed the town. At a certain moment, the camera focused on a grey SUV, where a man extracted a bag of white powder. This man was observed sharing the substance with several of the hit men and snorting handfuls of it himself.

Wanted bulletin picturing El Cumbias and other sicarios; the picture on the bottom left shows him inside the vehicle. The judges did not agree this was El Cumbias and deemed the video evidence "insufficient" 

The gunmen then commenced their activities, establishing checkpoints, removing drivers from their vehicles, and frisking them for weapons. Another group surrounded a spacious house, forcefully entering through the door. The flash of gunfire became visible at the entrance.

Allegedly, this residence belonged to a businessman and his family. State authorities claimed that they were not aware of the precise count of casualties that occurred on that day.

According to local media reports, the hit men fatally shot nine individuals and wounded six, among them a 12-year-old girl. At least eight (8) people were confirmed dead, including an 18-year-old lady.

The state authorities initially refrained from specifying which cartel was responsible for the attacks, but it was later confirmed to be Gente Nueva, a faction of the Sinaloa Cartel.

Sources: Diario de Juarez (1); (2); (3); (4); (5); (6); (7); (8); Borderland Beat archives

63 comments:

  1. Good share. I remember that video and how popular it was when it was aired on TV and shared on YouTube. It must be one of the most recognizable narco videos out there.

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    1. Right next to the chain saw video

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    2. There are different type of narco videos so hard comparison. The execution ones, yeah, the chainsaw video is the most famous one. Of the convoy videos, this one and the Valle Hermoso one of the CDG/Zetas is up there too.

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    3. @8:55 the chainsaw video had me traumatized lol, that video was so popular back in the day and probably everyone had seen it.

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    4. Frickin classic , homeboy pulling out that bag for all to see , right out of the movies ,

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  2. Gente Nueva special forced commando style attack

    RIP Sicario 006

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  3. Thats insane yet guero palma served full sentence and cant catch a break ?! I wonder why

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  4. Having a house like that either ur in the drug game or politician which is about the same

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    1. Not sure. Creel used to have a lot of rich families that made large logging companies. And also other agricultural businesses. Most of these families fled to El Paso but back then it wasn’t that uncommon.

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    2. When the video first came out, I could swear I remember the victims in the house were described as the mayor and his family..
      It's always bothered me seeing those sicarios do a bump out of the boss' bag and then running up and whacking the family, the adults maybe guilty of something, but a 12yrold girl?
      Reprehensible..
      Speaking of guilt, these corrupt judges should explain their reasoning behind the order excluding the press..
      Doesn't pass the smell test..
      Pretty good translation, but the part about sniffing blow by the "handful", only Tony Montana gets that wigged-out..
      馃

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    3. "Carlos Gonz谩lez, a police spokesman, said most of the victims were related to the appointed mayor of Creel and had no link to organised crime. One was a baby"
      -The Guardian

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  5. Isn’t this prick (el cumbias) missing an arm now? If i remember correctly he had to get that arm amputated due to the damages he received on it from another shootout.

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    1. Yes, you are correct. Good memory!

      He lost his right arm in the shootout that led to his arrest. Seems like the arm literally blew off from the gunshots. His brother Ever Horacio L贸pez Acosta was killed in that shootout too.

      https://www.elagora.com.mx/Perdio-El-Cumbias-brazo-en.html

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    2. I guess he can’t rejoin the cartel then. One arm can’t be useful in the cartel

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    3. He can still work for the cartel. Just not as part of their armed wing.

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    4. They might strong arm him into being a low halcon.

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    5. I saw a one-armed man shopping at a second-hand store..
      I told him "you're not gonna find what you're looking for"..
      馃

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    6. @5:21PM I bet he would give an arm and a leg to have those years back.

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    7. 4:48 PM
      "Just not as part of their armed wing."
      Cold man cold lmao,i think it flew over these idiots heads

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  6. From 200 potential years to just 13 for time served. What a joke.

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  7. this guy was in phx .one night he was at stratus club balling out

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    Replies
    1. That’s right .. los de Chihuas mueven mucha blanca por Phoenix, West Texas and up to Colorado .. pero este wey mov铆a su jale pa los Salgueiro que mas vien vienen siendo chinolas aunque son de Chihuahua

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    2. A lot of the Sinaloa guys run around in phx az they literally have immigration agents pick them up at border in work vehicles then with the confidence of ? Bring them back to phx in there personal vehicles this shit is crazy and no I’m not bull shitting I put that on everything god everything

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    3. @654 — seems like how Serafin was running around… wouldn’t doubt it

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  8. Looks like the Colombians wacked the Ecuadorian

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    Replies
    1. 10:04 go tell Ecuadorians

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    2. They killed a presidential candidate

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  9. The video is unavailable. Is there anu website I can see it ?

    MDZ-BR

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  10. El chapo almost got caught with el cumbias too

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  11. Damn. That is disappointing

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  12. I remember watching that video back in the day.

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  13. Anyone knows who was the target ? Or why did they went after him ?

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  14. Back when gente nueva had chihuahua under their powers.

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    Replies
    1. They made a big push, hell they even made it all the way into Juarez but they couldn’t maintain control of the plazas they took and got pushed out once the government stopped aiding them

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    2. They still hold a lot of power in the Valle de Juarez

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  15. You know those guys had some military training but yet again back in the day the myth was that gente nueva had some ex militaries in their cartel.

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    Replies
    1. Yup its all a myth (:

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    2. They did … as did the zetas and Linces and golfos .. but soon ALL the groups have been watered down in trainin

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  16. Mexico judges straight sux ..video footage of his face...an still set free...p.o.s people

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    Replies
    1. Like the girl of Iranian descent that stabbed a man in Texas as revenge for general Sulemeini's death and got probation. I thought Texas was tough on crime.

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    2. Correction:
      The woman was from Texas but the stabbing took place in Las Vegas.

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    3. Correction attention!
      General Sulemeini's deserved to get, exploded in piece's. He was getting US citizens killed.

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  17. Glad the freed a real one. Let's go. Ⓜ️

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  18. Replies
    1. Yes. That was him before he passed

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  19. I remember this video on YouTube

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  20. thats because the judge got a big fat check. i bet they gave the dude his two options. he went for that plata which is pretty logic if you ask around MX.

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  21. La justicia de M茅xico...

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  22. Is this guy for ivan or mz

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    Replies
    1. he is gente Nueva and was with Chapo back in the day so Ivan.

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  23. Why do Sinaloans Sniiitttchhh so muuuuuch?

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  24. Wait long enough and there is not outrage I guess.

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    Replies
    1. Yeah. How many days has it been since Hip贸lito Mora and his bodyguards got blasted out of the bulletproof vehicle and then got cremated on the spot by their killers?

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  25. Unbelievable. The video clearly shows him doing coke. They barred the media so they could work out their shitty crooked deal. Should of let him bleed out on the street

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  26. Dang. It’s been many years and I remember this video like yesterday. Mexico still a dumpster.

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  27. He'll get killed or capture sooner or later. Him and the rest of the baby killers cartels don't have there sugar daddy garcia luna to help them out anymore. Or there mexican bank accounts since amlo order to freeze the assets from the cartels.

    I wonder if creel or closer to that town has a national guard base?

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