US Agrees to Deploy Military to Ecuador Following Presidential Candidate's Assassination by Los Choneros Gang

"Socalj" for Borderland Beat

Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasson in Washington, DC.

According to the Washington Examiner and Texas Representative Dan Crenshaw, The Biden administration has quietly entered into agreements with Ecuador that will allow the United States to send in military forces, both on land and off the coast of the South American country, which has been heavily affected by drug cartels operating in the region.

Select members of Congress were informed during a private briefing on Capitol Hill with Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso on Wednesday, September 26, 2023. Lasso was in Washington to meet with State Department officials and sign two deals, according to Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX), who was present at the meeting and spoke with the Washington Examiner on Thursday.

"They were announcing and signing an agreement with the United States," said Crenshaw, who leads the Congressional Task Force to Combat Mexican Drug Cartels.

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LIVE THREAD: Heavy Military Operation Reported In Badiraguato, Sinaloa

 “Char” and "Enojon" for Borderland Beat 

What's going on in Sinaloa? Heavy military operation reported in Badiraguato

With helicopters, drones and airplanes! During the morning of September 30, residents of the municipality of Badiraguato, Sinaloa, have reported a strong military operation.

The alleged military deployment, cataloged as the largest that has been recorded in Badiraguato, Sinaloa, since the search for 'El Chapo' in 2016, takes place in the mountainous region of the municipality: from La Tuna, to San Jose del Barranco and Santa Gertrudis.

It is worth noting that the area of 'La Tuna' is a region of Badiraguato famous for being the place where legendary former drug trafficker Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán lived as a teenager.

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Patricia Herrera Valera, Owner Of Vanguardia Newspaper In Veracruz, Arrested

"Sol Prendido" for Borderland Beat

The owner of the newspaper Vanguardia de Veracruz was arrested in the state of Hidalgo. This is what is known at the moment about her arrest.

Accused of kidnapping journalist, owner of Vanguardia de Veracruz newspaper is sentenced to trial.

Ivohone Patricia Herrera Valera, owner of the newspaper Vanguardia de Veracruz, was indicted for the crime of aggravated kidnapping. The businesswoman is accused as the mastermind of the kidnapping of a journalist in Poza Rica.

Herrera was arrested on Sunday, September 24 in the state of Hidalgo. On Friday, September 29, the State Attorney General's Office (FGE) of Veracruz confirmed that she had already been indicted.

"The State Attorney General's Office obtained an arrest warrant against Ivohone Patricia "N" as allegedly responsible for the crime of aggravated kidnapping, events that occurred in Poza Rica last April 3 of this year, to the detriment of a victim whose identity is protected." The official message reads.

The aggravated kidnapping for which Patricia Herrera is held responsible is that of Ricardo Villanueva Ake, a police reporter for the Presente Veracruz news portal. The 27-year-old journalist was kidnapped by armed men from a mechanic shop where he was repairing his motorcycle, in the Lázaro Cárdenas neighborhood in the municipality of Poza Rica.

A day later, on April 4, the reporter was found alive during a coordinated operation between state and federal forces on the outskirts of Poza Rica, in the northern part of Veracruz.

Minutes before the journalist was rescued, anonymous accounts spread on social networks a video in which he made a series of statements presumably under torture, where he mentioned names of people who were later killed, including Dr. Ruth Alamilla Olguín.

Ruth Alamilla Olguín, together with her daughter, Margarita Alamilla, were abducted in the municipality of Tihuatlán, on September 20, and hours later their bodies, bound and shot in the head, were found in an oil well in the municipality of Venustiano Carranza, in the state of Puebla.

Patricia Herrera Valera

Ruth Alamilla Olguin and her daughter Margarita Olguin

Bodies of Ruth Alamilla Olguin and her daughter Margarita Olguin discovered. 

Foro Tv  La Silla Rota  Borderland Beat Archives  E Consulta  Proceso  Juan Carlos Valerio

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Armed Group Attacks Migrants In Tecate, Two Dead And Three Wounded

"Sol Prendido" for Borderland Beat

During the early morning hours of Friday, September 29, a group of migrants who were trying to illegally enter the United States through one of the dirt roads located on the slopes of Cerro El Cuchumá in Tecate, were surprised by armed men who shot at the group, the victims fled, requesting, via telephone, the support of the authorities.

Elements of Grupo Beta Tecate and the National Migration Institute (INM) in Baja California arrived at the scene, where they located and provided assistance to 11 Mexican nationals who managed to leave the Cerro de Cuchumá. In the area, one injured person was also located, meters later two more bodies of two Mexicans who were traveling in the group, as well as two more women were taken to a hospital with gunshot wounds.

The information was corroborated by representatives of the National Migration Institute in Baja California through a statement released to the media, as well as the municipal president of Tecate, Edgar Dario Benitez Ruiz, announced the facts through a Facebook page he manages.

The struggle for control of the main migrant smuggling routes in Tecate has left during the last two months more than a dozen bodies, presumably belonging to Mexican and foreign migrants, found dead near the dividing wall between the two countries. Members of the state security roundtable point to a fierce war between the Sinaloa Cartel, the main operator of drug and human smuggling routes in Tecate, and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, which has been trying to take over these routes since May.

Zeta Tijuana

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16 Arrested In Tulsa For Involvement With Mexican Cartel

"Sol Prendido" for Borderland Beat

According to Mark Woodward, the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control (OBN) spokesperson, multiple arrests have been made connected to a drug trafficking organization, with links to a cartel in Tulsa, Oklahoma. 

Woodward says that OBN has been working on an investigation for a couple of months. 

“These individuals are buying directly from people tied to the cartels out of Mexico that are bringing raw fentanyl powder across the border, moving it up into the Tulsa area. But also, it's impacting the distribution in places like Bartlesville, Collinsville, Chouteau,” said Woodward. “Today they're using social media to arrange for the loads being brought from Mexico to Tulsa and then they were using social media to arrange for the pickup and distribution once it got to Tulsa and moving it to places like Collinsville and Bartlesville to support somebody's opioid addiction. Just one of those dosage units, as we've seen, you know, unfortunately over the last several years, could be fatal because of just how powerful fentanyl can be.”

Those arrested in connection with the trafficking are: 

Justin Daniel Smith

Erin Joy Zaremba

Kimberly Whisenhunt

Joseph Kristopher George

Dana Ryan-Tapp

Chad Bentley Dorst

John Frederick Carter

Victoria Stephanie Hendertilo

Brandon Dale Wilson

According to the Oklahoma State Department of Health, (OSDH), fentanyl is one of the leading substances involved in the drug overdose crisis in the state.

There were 300 drug overdose deaths in 2022 in Oklahoma, according to OBN.

Nearly 90% of drug overdose deaths in Oklahoma were unintentional. Meaning, they did not intend to kill themselves, according to OSDH. 

Woodward says the drugs are not being sold in small quantities and not necessarily for personal use.

“In fact, people are ordering as much as one to two ounces of raw fentanyl powder. They can get about 250 doses out of it. So one ounce could supply enough 250 people to get a single use out of it,” said Woodward. “There are about three different groups of individuals that were all linked to the same distributors. And so we kind of merged these three investigations together because they were all tied to the same people bringing, the fentanyl from Mexico to Tulsa. Those shipments are broken up and taken to places like Jenks and Bixby and Bartlesville.” 

According to court documents the investigation used Facebook Messenger search warrants, GPS trackers, visual and electronic surveillance and undercover operations to take down the drug organization.

“Drug trafficking organizations operate as a dispatch system. The dispatcher will coordinate the deal by discussing money for an amount of narcotics. The dispatcher will then provide an address for the customer to go and meet the delivery driver (courier). If the customer does not have a vehicle, the courier may make home deliveries. There is not much interaction between the drivers and customers aside from the narcotics exchange,” described the undercover OBN agent in the court documents. 

Through the investigation explained in the court documents, “agents discovered that many of the Facebook messages originated from Mexico.”  

In late June of this year, OBN began monitoring data for the Facebook wire intercept, according to court documents. 

The undercover OBN agent stated in the court documents, “I have been in extensive communications with the organization understanding the verbiage they use to attempt to disguise the illegal activities. The organization referred to the fentanyl as “tacos.” This never changed throughout the investigation.” 

OBN agents began monitoring GPS trackers on the trafficking organization’s courier vehicles and capturing visual and electronic surveillance in person. 

This resulted in traffic stops where fentanyl was found and seized and the individuals were identified released or taken into custody.  

The identities of the customers arrested lined up with the evidence collected through the Facebook messages. 

“We've identified a total of 23 people at this point and have been serving arrest warrants for them this week, including yesterday and today,” said Woodward, “Right now, we've got 16 in custody. We still have about several outstanding that we believe we're going to be able to get into custody pretty soon that are looking at a variety of charges, including the trafficking of fentanyl.”

Fox 23 News

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Minors Could Be Involved In The Case Of The Seven Missing In Zacatecas

"Sol Prendido" for Borderland Beat

The Zacatecas Attorney General's Office reported the arrest of two minors who were allegedly involved in the kidnapping of seven young people in the municipality of Villanueva; six of them were murdered.

Oscar Alberto Aparicio Avendaño, head of the Secretary of Public Security (SSP) of the entity, said that the detainees are allegedly members of the Jalisco Cartel New Generation (CJNG). The detainees are two adolescents aged 15 and 16.

"These young people (...) are originally from Durango and may be related to the facts that this prosecutor's office is investigating, we have a recognition process in which witnesses recognize that they may be part of the armed group that took the victims," said Francisco Murillo Ruiseco, prosecutor of Zacatecas.

The head of the state Prosecutor's Office added that the detained youths are currently in the Adolescent Detention Center.

He pointed out that after the recognition of the detainees by witnesses, it was enough evidence "to obtain an arrest warrant against them for the crime of aggravated kidnapping to the detriment of the seven young people from Villanova".

The newspaper La Jornada reported that the kidnapping of the youths was allegedly the result of disputes in the state between the criminal structure of Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, alias El Mencho, leader of the CJNG and the Sinaloa Cartel.

Guardia Nocturna  Borderland Beat Archive

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Video Of Alleged CJNG Threat Against Garcia Harfuch Revived

"Sol Prendido" for Borderland Beat

While the former head of Mexico City's Security Secretariat, Omar García Harfuch is focused on winning the candidacy to lead the Morena political party in the CDMX government, social networks have revived videos in which alleged members of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) threaten him.

Some national media and X (formerly Twitter) accounts have viralized the recordings claiming that they are current warnings to the politician. However, they were published in 2020, when Harfuch was attacked by an armed convoy of the four-letter cartel.

The Morena candidate has currently denied threats from the Jalisco criminal group.

Three years ago, the policeman was attacked by gunmen who emptied Barret rifle rounds, grenade launchers and bombs into his car while he was on his way to his office in the Mexican capital. According to authorities at the time, Harfuch survived more than 400 rounds of gunfire.

At the time, there was talk of an alleged pact between the policeman and opposing cartels. The narco-attack has become a shadow for Garcia Harfuch, who is seeking to take over as Mexico City's head of government, as his former boss, Claudia Sheinbaum, did in 2018.

Since his arrival at the CDMX Public Security Secretariat, Garcia has dealt major blows to criminal organizations such as La Union Tepito, CJNG, and the Sinaloa Cartel.

Omar García Harfuch

El Financiero  Borderland Beat Archives

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Ocozocoautla de Espinosa, Chiapas: Armed Assassins Silence Their Captive

"Sol Prendido" for Borderland Beat

The removal of a man’s head is underway by an unknown group of assassins. A right handed male with a 6 inch fixed blade knife does the beheading. 

Two of his counterparts to his left and right are holding the captives torn shirt for leverage. The glistening shine of the spilled vital fluids can be seen clearly across the kneeling prisoner. 

Other men with their AK-47 rifles are also present during the recording of this film. The city of Ocozocoautla de Espinosa is known as Coita for short. 

This is the name of the town mentioned within this broadcast. Their threats of violence goes out to all the unwitting locals who dare to say more than they should. 

Video translation is as follows:

Sicario #1: The city of Coita has an owner already you assholes. 

Sicario #2: The city of Coita has an owner. 

Sicario #3:  Your world went to shit you son of a bitch. 

Sicario #2: This will be the fate….

Sicario #4: Someone hand him a plate to place it on. 

Sicario #2:…things will fucking end horribly for all the big mouths around here.  

Sicario #1: The city of Coita already has its owner you assholes. 

Mexico Código Rojo

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Criminals Install Surveillance Cameras In Tijuana

"Sol Prendido" for Borderland Beat

Tijuana has already detected video surveillance cameras installed and used by organized crime to monitor the presence of authorities on the city's streets, according to the Secretary of Municipal Security and Citizen Protection, José Fernando Sánchez González.

According to the official, from 2022 to date, a little over 100 organized crime video surveillance cameras have been detected, 50 in the Central Zone last year and more than 60 three weeks ago in the East Zone, the latter being detected in the middle of a search of a property in the area, inside the house there were two monitors from which it was possible to observe what the cameras installed on public poles were transmitting.

Regarding what was done with these cameras, colloquially known by criminals as "electronic spies", Sanchez Gonzalez informed that "they were destroyed in coordination with the Mexican Army and the Attorney General's Office, which carried out the search in the place where the monitoring center was located", in which several drugs and vehicles were also found.

The Secretary explained that the cameras installed by criminals are not easy to detect, especially now that the citizens are installing their own, but warned that those installed on public poles are not allowed and if there are any, they could belong to criminals who seek to "watch when the authorities arrive".

"Under some other circumstances where suddenly you see that there are cameras that are installed on public poles. And that do not meet the quality requirements in their installation. Or that they belong to some authority, questions are asked, you investigate the wiring and realize that something isn’t right. Things that are unusual aren’t as easy to detect because more businesses or homes install cameras now. Nothing happens when you install cameras inside your own home, but when you install them on a public pole you don't have permission to do so", he explained.

Sanchez Gonzalez invited citizens to report any camera installed on a public pole that they suspect doesn’t belong to any authority or neighbor, to report it to the anonymous tip number 089.

Zeta Tijuana

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Chiapas: An Unknown Armed Group Threatens Whoever Gets In Their Way

"Sol Prendido" for Borderland Beat

An unknown armed group declares their intent to target any organization that conducts blockades in Chiapas. As well as Mexican authorities in the area. 

It is important to highlight that there are a multitude of armed groups in Chiapas with no ties to Mexican cartels.

All towns mentioned fall under a 100 mile radius. 

Video translation is as follows:

Today, the 27th of September, we send out this communique for the towns of Comitan, Altamirano, Ocosingo, Chanal, Chilón, and Oxchuc. We want to notify everyone that due to the waste of time of our companies because of their fucking blockades.

We have decided that starting tomorrow we will travel through these roads. We will not respect blockades, roadblocks, or checkpoints. We will fucking destroy anyone who opposes us. 

The army, ministerial policemen, local authorities, and blockaders need to understand this. May you all receive this cordial greeting and go fuck your mothers as well. 

Alerta Código Rojo  All Source News

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Farmer Killed by Gunmen Dressed as State Detectives in Ejutla de Crespo, Oaxaca

By "El Huaso" for Borderland Beat

A farmer was killed by gunshot. Image: NVI Noticias

A group of armed men wearing Oaxaca state investigative officer uniforms killed a farmer after stopping his vehicle at a roadblock in the town of San Juan Lachigalla, in Ejutla de Crespo municipality, Oaxaca on Monday.

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Hackers Exploited Google Search Loophole to Advertise Narcotics on DEA, Interpol, FDA & IRS Websites

"Socalj" for Borderland Beat

This article is based on an investigation by Insider.

"Cocaine for sale here," the page hosted on the FDA's website said alongside a telephone number and a handle for the encrypted messaging app Wickr. "Buy crystal meth online."

The culprit is a recent change by Google that makes defacing websites with advertisements for where to buy cocaine, heroin, meth, ketamine, Xanax, black-market Ozempic, ecstasy, and other drugs suddenly a viable way to find customers.

Many websites set up their internal search functionality in a way that creates a new, permanent webpage for every unique search string that users enter, effectively giving users the power to create a webpage on the site. When you enter "see Jane run" into the search box on the FDA's webpage, for instance, the site creates a search-result page with its own unique address to show you the results, whether there are any hits or not. (The FDA since has blocked pages with drug ads after Insider alerted the agency they existed.)

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Kinahan Cartel Had Significant Stake in Ireland's Largest 2 Ton Cocaine Seizure

"Socalj" for Borderland Beat

Gardaí believe the Kinahan Cartel had a significant investment in the €500 million cocaine shipment recovered from a cargo vessel off the Cork coast.

Crew members tried to burn the haul hidden in a lifeboat, which might have a street value as high as half a billion Euros, as the Army Ranger Wing boarded the MV Matthew via helicopter. Detectives are also investigating a possible link between the drug seizure and bales of cocaine that washed up on the Donegal shoreline in July.

There are also severe concerns the major drug bust will lead to bloodshed following the disruption to the operations of several crime gangs involved.

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Ethereum Wallet Tied to Sinaloa Cartel Sanctioned by U.S. Government

"Sol Prendido" for Borderland Beat

The wallet is tied to a money laundering operation that transfers proceeds from fentanyl sales to Sinaloa cartel leaders in Mexico, officials said.

The U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has sanctioned an Ethereum wallet tied to Jimenez Castro, a Mexican male with ties to the Sinaloa cartel.

Castro is one of 10 names listed on OFAC's sanctions list as a part of a counter narcotics operation, according to a published list on OFAC's website.

The wallet in question was first active in January or this year and received around $740,000 in deposits to Binance in a two month period, data from Arkham shows.

A U.S. Treasury press release states that Jimenez Castro "operates money laundering organization that uses virtual currency and wire transfers, among other methods, to transfer proceeds from illicit fentanyl sales in the United States to Sinaloa Cartel leaders in Mexico."

Coin Desk

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Northeast Cartel Or Cartel Del Noreste Blocks Highways And Attacks Police Base In Nuevo León

"Char" for Borderland Beat

This article was translated and reposted from RadioFórmula. MX

Armed men burned vehicles and blocked the Nuevo Leon National Highway, at the same time they attacked a Municipal Police station in the municipality of Iturbide.

On Wednesday afternoon, a series of blockades, burning of vehicles and the presence of armed men were reported in at least three points of the National Highway of Nuevo Leon. There was also a shooting attack on a police base in the municipality of Iturbide.

According to Radio Fórmula contributor, Azucena Uresti, the obstructions were reported on the borders of Hualahuises, Linares and Montemorelos.

In addition, roadblocks have been reported at the El Chocolate and El Brasil ejidos in Linares, in the direction of Montemorelos.

"Narco-blockades reported on the national highway in the limits of Linares and Montemorelos, Nuevo Leon; there are burned vehicles and the presence of armed men."-@Azucena Uresti

Initial reports indicate that the blockades began around 4:30 p.m. after a confrontation between Fuerza Civil and an armed group in the municipality of Doctor Arroyo. Although the name of the criminal organization has not been confirmed, it is believed that the Northeast Cartel could be behind the blockades, since it is the one with presence in the state.

According to Radio Fórmula correspondent Raymundo Elizalde, the confrontation between security forces and armed civilians left two criminals dead and six detained, including an alleged leader of a criminal group.

At the same time as the blockades, armed men shot at a municipal police station in the municipality of Iturbide.

Through videos circulating on social networks it is possible to see vehicles crossed, as well as tires and cargo trucks set on fire in order to block the way.

So far there is no official information provided by the authorities; however, witnesses have indicated that the criminals robbed the drivers of their vehicles and then set them on fire, a modus operandi commonly used by organized crime.

As a result, local authorities deployed a strong security operation, headed by Fuerza Civil, agents of the Ministerial Police and elements of the Army and National Guard with the objective of controlling the situation and reestablishing normality in the area, and after the presence of the security forces there was an exchange of gunfire with armed civilians, as well as a new blockade at kilometer 27 towards Linares-Iturbide in order to prevent the security forces from passing through.

Operatives, the cause of the blockades

Gerardo Palacios Pámanes, Nuevo León's Secretary of Security, held a press conference on Wednesday night, where he detailed that there were four blockades this day, which were part of a reaction by members of the criminal group affected by a series of successful operations.

According to the official, there were a total of three confrontations in China, Los Aldamas and Doctor Arroyo, which left three criminals dead, 11 detained, one wounded, 24 exclusive-use long arms and eight pickup trucks seized.

It is worth mentioning that among those killed was the intellectual and possibly material author of the execution of the director of the municipal police of Linares, Gabriel Solano.

On the other hand, Palacios Pámanes confirmed that at the same time that Wednesday's blockades were carried out on the Nuevo León national highway, there were also two attacks on the Iturbide and Linares police stations "without achieving their goal and without any injuries".

Why has the Northeast Cartel 'set its sights' on Nuevo Leon?

The Northeast Cartel originated in Tamaulipas, but has gradually spread to other states, so that it now has a presence in eight states in the country, including Nuevo Leon.

The state of Nuevo Leon attracted the interest of the criminal organization because it is one of the main economic centers in Mexico and because it connects with the border cities of Nuevo Laredo and Reynosa, both in Tamaulipas.

This has been attractive to the Northeast Cartel for laundering illicit money from drug trafficking, migrant smuggling and other criminal businesses without arousing suspicion.

It should be noted that in recent days there have been a large number of homicides in the state, so authorities have indicated that the violence is the result of a "purge" within a criminal organization.

Mutilated human bodies with messages signed by the cartel have been found, indicating that they found members of the Sinaloa Cartel and Los Rodos, an independent criminal gang supported by Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, who tried to infiltrate to obtain information.

As a result, 100 elements of the Special Forces of the Mexican Army were sent to the state this Wednesday to carry out intelligence work to strengthen the state.

Source: RADIOFÓRMULA.MX

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AMLO: Special Attention Is Being Given To Kidnapping Of Seven Young People In Zacatecas

"Sol Prendido" for Borderland Beat

López Obrador affirmed that he is working and acting in all cases; he assured that nothing is being left uninvestigated.

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador informed that the federal security cabinet is investigating the kidnapping of seven young people in Zacatecas, but due to the sensitive nature of the case he cannot give more details, although he affirmed that "special attention is being given".

In his morning conference on Wednesday, September 27 at the National Palace, López Obrador affirmed that work is being done and action is being taken in all cases, and assured that there is nothing that remains uninvestigated.

"Yes the subject was touched upon (in the meeting of the security cabinet), we are doing the investigation, no more can be reported at this time. We are working on all cases, we are acting and there is nothing that is left without being investigated and this is being given special attention," he stated.

The Zacatecas State Attorney General's Office reported that the seven youths, aged between 14 and 18, were at a ranch known as El Potrerito, in the municipality of Villanueva, from where the armed group took them early Sunday morning.

El Universal  Azteca Noticias

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More Than 10 Mutilated Bodies Found In Bags And Coolers In Five Nuevo León Municipalities

"Char" for Borderland Beat 

This article was translated and reposted from RIODOCE 

The bodies of several mutilated people were abandoned in different streets in five municipalities in the state of Nuevo Leon.

The facts occurred this morning, when the remains of human bodies were abandoned in bags and ice chests in different points of municipalities of the Metropolitan Zone of Monterrey, in Apodaca, Garcia, Juarez, Santa Catarina and San Nicolas.

Pedro José Arce Jardón, head of the Nuevo León State Attorney General's Office, said that a total of seven events related to the discovery of bodies and acts of violence were reported.

Five bodies were abandoned in Apodaca, near the highway towards the airport, where messages from criminal groups were also allegedly found.

APODACA, NL

In San Nicolás, two bodies were found in black bags, one in the streets of the Anáhuac neighborhood and the other was located on Múnich Avenue.

In the municipality of Juarez, in the Santa Isabel neighborhood, the body of a mutilated person was found inside a cooler, and more human remains were found in plastic bags.

Two other bodies were found on a highway in the municipality of Garcia.

And finally, on the Saltillo-Monterrey highway, near the municipality of Santa Catarina, they also found human remains placed in a cooler.

In addition, in the municipality of Guadalupe, it was reported that four people had been injured by firearms, but this information has not been confirmed.

Source: RIODOCE 

LaMasakr3 on X 📸 # #NuevoLeón 

Northeast Cartel  

 Shake Metro areas of Monterrey with violent events. 

ZMMTY

Santa Catarina - 2 coolers and bags with remains.

Apodaca - 5 bodies 

Juarez - human remains in Valle Santa Isabel neighborhood.

Garcia - bagged. 

San Nicolas - 2 bodies in the Anahuac neighborhood. 

And in Guadalupe they reported 4 people shot." -@LaMasakr3

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Video Shows CJNG Donate Computers to School in Jalisco

By "El Huaso" for Borderland Beat

"This computer was donated by Señor Mencho in order to support the students of this school so that they have a better and greater education."

A video released on social media shows a classroom furnished with computers apparently donated by Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, alias "El Mencho", the leader of the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG). 

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US Sanctions 9 'Los Chapitos' Operatives And Gulf Clan Leader For Links To Sinaloa Cartel

"Sol Prendido" for Borderland Beat

All accounts and resources of these ten individuals within the US financial system were frozen, in addition to prohibiting any US citizen from engaging in business with these individuals.

The U.S. Treasury Department, through its Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), sanctioned 9 people, members of the Los Chapitos cell, and a Colombian, leader of the Gulf Clan, for their role in international trafficking operations of drugs such as fentanyl and cocaine.

The first individual named is Jorge Humberto Figueroa Benítez, a Mexican national who heads up security for Los Chapitos' drug trafficking operations, coordinates shipments of fentanyl and directs a group of cartel hitmen.

Brothers Leobardo and Martin Garcia Corrales, both affiliated with Los Chapitos and accused of producing methamphetamine and fentanyl on Mexican soil. They are also identified as traffickers of firearms and military equipment into Mexico.

According to US authorities, they are close to Joaquín El Chapo Guzmán and Ismael El Mayo Zambada.Liborio Núñez Aguirre, Samuel León Alvarado and Carlos Mario Limón Vázquez, operators of clandestine synthetic opioid laboratories for subsequent trafficking to the United States.

Mario Alberto Jimenez Castro, dedicated to laundering money for Los Chapitos through the use of cryptocurrencies and money transfers, mostly derived from the proceeds of fentanyl sales in the United States. According to investigations, he directed various cartel affiliates in the US to deposit cash into virtual wallets controlled by Los Chapitos.

Julio César Domínguez Hernández, in charge of coordinating the sale and collection of profits from the sale of drugs such as methamphetamine and cocaine in the US.

Jesús Miguel Vibanco García, brother-in-law of Domínguez Hernández, distributor of fentanyl in the US and Canada from Vancouver, from where he operates the criminal business.

Jobanis de Jesús Ávila Villadiego, known as Chiquito Malo and leader of the Clan del Golfo, in Colombia, accused of supplying cocaine to several cartels, including the Sinaloa cartel, and for ordering aggressions against Colombian security forces after the arrest and extradition of Dairo Antonio Úsuga David, Otoniel, the top leader of the criminal organization, in May 2022.

As they were designated by OFAC, all accounts and resources of these ten individuals within the U.S. financial system were frozen, in addition to prohibiting any U.S. citizen from engaging in business with these individuals.

 The first seven members of Los Chapitos are also accused of various crimes such as money laundering, possession of firearms and drug trafficking in the United States.

Milenio

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Sinaloa Cartel Wife Sentenced To Prison In El Chapo-Linked Money Laundering Scheme

"Sol Prendido" for Borderland Beat

Margarito Flores' wife, Valerie Gaytan, also known as Olivia Flores, gets 3.5 years in prison

The ABC 7 I-Team has learned the wife of a convicted cartel member was sentenced Monday in a Chicago courtroom to three and a half years in prison.

Prosecutors say Valerie Gaytan, also known as "Olivia Flores," is the wife of Margarito Flores, who, along with his twin brother Pedro, cooperated with the feds against their former boss: Sinaloa cartel leader Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman.

Both twin brothers were once considered El Chapo's most trusted allies.

Gaytan and Pedro Flores' wife, Vivianna Lopez, also known as "Mia Flores," proudly branded themselves as the "Wives of the Cartel," in both print and on TV.

But the wives allegedly turned to crime themselves, and didn't get away with the global vacations, shopping sprees, private schools, a J-Lo concert and other wealthy amenities that investigators alleged came straight from the drug trade.

Gaytan and Lopez were indicted back in 2021 on money laundering charges after prosecutors alleged they hid millions of dollars in drug proceeds from the government.

Both wives had thought they hoodwinked federal authorities by claiming they had turned over a full stash of drug money amassed by their husbands, when, prosecutors said they had, in fact, siphoned off millions of dollars and hid it in secret locations, including under floor boards.

The wives' stash of cash totaled $5 million, according to federal law enforcement officials.

"[Gaytan] spent those proceeds between 2008 and 2020 in ways she knew were designed to conceal the fact that it was leftover drug money," prosecutors alleged in a sentencing memorandum for Gaytan filed earlier this month.

The court filing continued, "She did so even after she and her co-defendant, Vivianna Lopez, turned in approximately $4 million in drug proceeds that was represented to the government as being the remaining cash from the husbands' drug operation. This was false, however."

The I-Team previously reported that the stashed cash was used to pay for global vacations, $165,000 for private schools, shopping sprees, a J-Lo concert and even currency laundered through friendly gas stations.

Gaytan tried to defend herself in court, stating she thought she was granted immunity due to her husband's cooperation with federal officials against El Chapo.

Prosecutors rebuffed that claim, and a judge agreed.

Earlier this year, Gaytan and Lopez pleaded guilty to money laundering charges.

Prosecutors asked the judge overseeing the case to sentence Gaytan to five years in prison, but on Monday, a judge sentenced Gaytan to three and a half years in prison.

Michael Clancy, an attorney representing Gaytan, told the I-Team his client was grateful for the more lenient sentence.

"We do not believe the prosecution of Ms. Gaytan was justified as discussed in our motion to dismiss that was denied," Clancy said by email. "However we also believe that although any sentence to imprisonment is especially harsh, given her circumstances, that the Court was thoughtful and compassionate given the range of sentencing she faced."

As for Gaytan's husband, Margarito Flores, after serving a 14-year prison sentence, he is now assisting law enforcement with seminars on how to detect drug shipments.

El Chapo is currently serving a life sentence in America's escape-proof SuperMax prison south of Denver, Colorado.

ABC 7 Chicago

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Clandestine Laboratory Dismantled In The Town Of Alaya, On The Banks Of The San Lorenzo River In Culiacan: Sinaloa

"Char" for Borderland Beat 

This article was reposted and translated from RIODOCE 

The Secretary of the Navy, through the Mexican Navy, reported that in recent days it located and dismantled a clandestine laboratory for the production of synthetic drugs in the town of Alayá, on the banks of the San Lorenzo river in Culiacán.

PUEBLO DE ALAYÁ, SINALOA 

SINALOA 

The economic impact on organized crime amounted to more than 56 million dollars.

The raid was carried out by naval personnel in coordination with the Attorney General's Office (FGR), the statement said.

During the operation, approximately eight thousand kilograms of methamphetamine, 33,150 kilograms of chemical precursors, 12 reactors, 21 condensers, two mixers, as well as diverse material for the elaboration of these synthetic drugs were seized.

This laboratory is one of the largest and most equipped that have been secured this year, due to the amount of drugs seized, as well as the equipment destroyed, said the Semar.

Source: RIODOCE

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