Oscar Manuel Gastelum Iribe Alias, "Musico" "Manny" "Salgado" "23" Indicted in Chicago on Terrorism, Drug Trafficking, and Firearm Charges

Press Release

Alleged Leader of Sinaloa Cartel Faction Indicted in Chicago on Terrorism, Drug Trafficking, and Firearm Charges

Friday, September 5, 2025

A federal grand jury has indicted an alleged leader of a violent faction of the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico on terrorism, drug, and firearm charges, including engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise.

According to the superseding indictment returned yesterday in the Northern District of Illinois, Oscar Manuel Gastelum Iribe, 50, of Sinaloa, Mexico, also known as El Musico, directed the importation of large quantities of fentanyl, cocaine, heroin, and other drugs — at times in shipments of hundreds or thousands of kilograms — into the United States on behalf of the Beltran Leyva faction of the Sinaloa Cartel, a designated foreign terrorist organization.

“As alleged, Oscar Manuel Gastelum Iribe led a faction of the Sinaloa Cartel that flooded the United States with fentanyl, cocaine, and heroin and used murder and intimidation to protect its profits,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew R. Galeotti of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “The Sinaloa Cartel has been designated a foreign terrorist organization because of the kinds of crimes announced today. This indictment further demonstrates that the Criminal Division will use every tool at its disposal to target cartel leaders, including by holding them accountable for acts of terrorism against our country.”

“Today’s narcoterrorism indictment of El Musico sends a powerful message that this Administration is going to aggressively pursue transnational criminal organizations and hold their highest-ranking members and associates accountable for poisoning the American public with illegal and harmful drugs,” said U.S. Attorney Andrew S. Boutros for the Northern District of Illinois. “The Chicago U.S. Attorney’s Office has a proud history going back many decades of prosecuting some of the nation’s biggest and most significant narcotrafficking cartel cases. Building on that tradition, under my leadership, our office will continue to prioritize the investigation and prosecution of violent drug cartels, several of which, including the Sinaloa Cartel, have very deservedly been designated as foreign terrorist organizations. Working closely with other prosecutors and law enforcement partners across the United States, our goal remains unchanged: to disrupt and dismantle the Sinaloa Cartel’s drug empire and bring its leaders to justice.”

“From narcocorridos to narcoterrorist. El Musico famously writes his own lyrics, but his next one will be written from the Bureau of Prisons,” said U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon for the Southern District of California. “As El Musico once boasted, ‘La vida es curiosa, hoy soy poderoso,’ but soon his ‘Rancho Querido’ will be nothing but a distant memory.”

“This indictment sends a clear and uncompromising message: cartel leaders who flood our streets with fentanyl and arm their networks with machine guns and grenades are not just drug traffickers — they are terrorists,” said DEA Administrator Terrance Cole. “Oscar Manuel Gastelum Iribe and his faction turned cartel violence into a campaign of terror, targeting police, military, and civilians alike. DEA remains relentless in our pursuit of these narco-terrorists, and we will not stop until the Sinaloa Cartel — and every organization like it — is dismantled, its leaders brought to justice, and American families protected.”

“The indictment of El Musico and the dismantlement of the leadership structure of these foreign terrorist organizations are direct results of the unwavering commitment of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and our law enforcement partners to protect the United States,” said Special Agent in Charge Shawn Gibson of Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations San Diego. “We remain resolute in our mission to bring all members of these criminal cartels to justice, regardless of where they attempt to evade accountability.”

“As a leader of a faction of the Sinaloa Cartel, Gastelum Iribe allegedly directed the importation of cocaine, heroine, fentanyl, and other lethal drugs into the United States and oversaw atrocious acts of violence, including kidnappings and murders, in Mexico,” said Special Agent in Charge Reid Davis of the FBI Washington Field Office’s Criminal Division. “The superseding indictment against him is the result of years of collaboration among multiple federal agencies and judicial districts. The FBI and our partners will continue to work toward dismantling the Sinaloa Cartel and bringing its violent leaders — including El Musico — to justice.”

After the arrest or death of the faction’s original leaders, Gastelum Iribe assumed a leadership role and conspired with associates to distribute drugs nationwide. including in the Chicago area, using cars, trucks, rail cars, and other interstate carriers. To protect the cartel’s operations, Gastelum Iribe allegedly ordered and carried out violent attacks against rivals, military personnel, and law enforcement, including ordering the murder of a Mexican police officer and two others. Under Gastelum Iribe’s leadership, the faction armed its members with machine guns, rocket-propelled grenade launchers, explosives, and other weapons, while also engaging in kidnappings, assaults, and bribery of corrupt public officials.

Gastelum Iribe is charged with terrorism, drug trafficking, and firearm offenses. The terrorism charges, which accuse Gastelum Iribe of engaging in narcoterrorism and providing material support and resources to the Sinaloa Cartel, is a result of President Trump’s Executive Order 14157 designating the Sinaloa Cartel as a Foreign Terrorist Organization and the State Department’s subsequent designation of the same in February of this year.

If convicted, Gastelum Iribe faces a mandatory penalty of life in prison. He is not in custody and a warrant has been issued for his arrest.

The indictment is the result of a collaboration between prosecutors in the Criminal Division’s Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section, the Northern District of Illinois, and Southern District of California, as well as law enforcement partners from Homeland Security Investigations, FBI, and DEA.

This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s OCDETF and Project Safe Neighborhoods.

An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Updated September 5, 2025

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"El Mochomito" Sanctioned by OFAC

Treasury Press Release

WASHINGTON — Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned Mexican national Jesus Alfredo Beltran Guzman, a key leader of the Beltran Leyva Organization (BLO), for playing a significant role in the trafficking of illicit drugs, including fentanyl, cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine, into the United States.  One of the most powerful drug trafficking organizations in the world, the BLO is heavily involved in the transportation and distribution of deadly drugs, including fentanyl, to the United States, and has been one of the largest suppliers of cocaine to the U.S. market for over two decades.  OFAC carried out this investigation in coordination with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

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Former BLO/H-2 Cartel Leader 'H3' Extradited to the US, Connected to General Cienfuegos Case

 "Socalj" for Borderland Beat

Jesus Ricardo Patron Sanchez, also known as “H-3,” “Diabolic,” “Vela,” “James Bond” and “Xmen,” was arraigned on February 22, 2025 at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn on an indictment charging him with leading a continuing criminal enterprise, participating in a large-scale narcotics distribution conspiracy and using one or more firearms in connection with narcotic offenses.

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Empresa De Guasave Or Guasave Enterprise Organizes Christmas Party In Estacion Bamoa Town Of Guasave, Sinaloa. Chapo Isidro Home Turf Is Estacion Bamoa.

 "Char" and "Enojon" for Borderland Beat 

DECEMBER 31, 2024

As I stated in a previous post, Empresa de Guasave Or Fausto Isidro Meza Flores, "Chapo Isidro" organized a Christmas party in Los Mochis, Sinaloa, and toys as well as pantries were given for free to the public at large. A source confirmed this event occurred in Los Mochis, Sinaloa, a stronghold plaza of the Fausto Isidro Flores Meza organization. 

Milenio News today December 31, 2024, published a journalist work of a Christmas party now organized in Estacion Bamoa town of Guasave, Sinaloa, home turf of Chapo Isidro. Moreover, this party was well organized as free tacos and hot dogs were offered to the public. Also, toys and pantries were once again offered to the public. 

GUASAVE ENTERPRISE 

GUASAVE CARTEL 

                                        

VIDEO TRANSLATION 

BY: SOL PRENDIDO 

In the state of Sinaloa something very similar happened. The following events occurred in Bamoa, a village in Guasave. Milenio News attended one of the so-called narco posadas there. Carlos Morales has the story. 

This Christmas the generosity and the controversy were found in a corner of the north of Sinaloa with the so-called narco posadas. Milenio News was present in one of them in broad daylight at the foot of the church Our Lady of Guadalupe in Bamoa. The atmosphere was festive. More than 1500 people attended. Whole families of men and women with children in arms who waited patiently for their turn to receive food pantries, toys, and sweets. 

The grilled beef tacos and hot dogs were handed out without skimping. And the music to liven up the event wasn’t Christmas music but narco corridos, all alluding to the organizers, the Guasave Cartel. Milenio spoke with some attendees but they refused to be recorded. They confirmed that these narco posadas are a tradition.

Anonymous female: Everything is better organized than before. They use to go through the streets handing out food pantries and toys. But not everyone would receive something. With the way everything is set up now the organization has improved their way of giving.  

The prizes are also part of the attraction. Organized crime gave them tickets to participate in a raffle with prizes. Such as motorcycles, appliances, refrigerators and televisions that were placed in the main esplanade of the town. 

These narco posadas were also organized in other communities of Guasave; Juan José Ríos and Ahome. By orders of El Chapo Isidro, leader of the Guasave Cartel, who is originally from this municipality. 

FAUSTO ISIDRO MEZA FLORES

CHAPO ISIDRO

EL CHAPO DE LAS FLORES 

SOURCE: MILENIO 

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Historic Seizure! Omar Garcia Harfuch Reports 1,500 Kilos Of Fentanyl Seized In Sinaloa After Navy Special Forces Raid In Los Mochis And Guasave: Sinaloa

 "Char" for Borderland Beat 

This information was posted by LOS NOTICIERISTAS 

DECEMBER 3, 2024

GUASAVE, SIN.- According to the information shared by the federal official on his X account, in addition to the seizure of synthetic drugs, two men, whose identities have not been revealed, were also detained and firearms were also seized.

According to García Harfuch, who has been in Sinaloa since the afternoon of Tuesday, December 3, these actions will continue until the violence in the state of Sinaloa decreases. It is worth mentioning that, since Tuesday afternoon, operations by the military forces have been reported in Ahome, Juan José Ríos and Guasave, where they carried out operations in different communities.

In the urban area of Guasave, the raid on a house located next to the municipal boardwalk, near the elevated bridge, attracted attention.

The federal authorities have not revealed the identity of the detainees nor have they shared whether they belong to any specific cartel or criminal cell.

DECEMBER 3, 2024 

PICTURES PUBLISHED BY OMAR GARCIA HARFUCH ON X

SOURCE: LOS NOTICIERISTAS 

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Onslaught Of Mexican Navy Special Forces Raids In Ranches In El Guayabo And El Carrizo; Houses “Seized” in Los Mochis: Sinaloa. December 3, 2024

 "Char" for Borderland Beat 

This article was posted by LUZ NOTICIAS

At the moment, there are at least at least one raid in Ahome, no seizures or arrests of persons have been announced.

Ernesto Torres

 03/12/24

A strong mobilization of elements of the special forces of the Secretary of the Navy was registered very early in the morning, along with personnel from the Attorney General's Office from Mexico City, for a series of operations and searches in the municipality of Ahome; the results are unknown at this time.

Early on Tuesday, December 3, the arrival of special Navy forces was reported, a convoy made up of at least 25 vans and a dozen units without logos, with men dressed in black and presumably carrying personnel from the Attorney General's Office of Mexico, almost 150 elements.

In the case of Los Mochis, there are currently three homes that have been searched, all of which, according to neighbors, have been alone, so it is presumed that these were raids without official search warrants. 

The first “burglary” by the marines and the men in black of the FGR

                             

The first one was carried out in a house located in the Las Malvinas neighborhood, in the north-east of the city of Los Mochis, where they entered and left the place in less than 10 minutes.

A second property is located in Sierra Morena, between Buenos Aires and Alborada in the Las Mañanitas subdivision.

According to neighbors, the police arrived at this address kicking the neighboring houses, including in one of them, there was a young woman who works in her home doing cosmetology work, and at that moment there was an elderly client, both of them were intimidated and wanted to take them out by force.

They pointed large caliber weapons at them. After shouting at them and causing them to panic, they left and then “blew up” the other two-story building, where unofficially it was said that there were seizures, including a pickup truck.

And the third one on Calle 5 de Mayo, between Zaragoza and Gabriel Leyva, in the Insurgentes neighborhood. 

In all of them they entered and within minutes they left and it is unknown what they found inside, what has transpired unofficially is that no arrests have been recorded.

In the rural zone they also “busted” some houses and ranches.      

                                   

At the same time that the three aforementioned houses were being searched, another group of special forces of the Secretary of the Navy arrived in the rural zone of the municipality of Ahome, specifically in the Carrizo valley, where they searched a house in the Villa Gustavo Díaz Ordaz - El Carrizo syndicate.

Moments later in a community of the Heriberto Valdez Romero syndicate, better known as El Guayabo, there elements arrived in 5 Navy vans and in two private white units, where they also entered a private ranch and searched it.

They remained there for a few more minutes, so it is presumed that there may have been a seizure.

In other places where they have reported the presence of Navy elements this same day, is in Ejido Mochis, Ejido Mexico, Ejido Primero de Mayo, Ejido 5 de Mayo, Ejido Felipe Angeles and 18 de Marzo.

In addition, after the search of the Insurgentes neighborhood, it was reported that they are heading to Ejido 9 de Diciembre to carry out another search of a property.

It appears that the agents are divided into two groups carrying out simultaneous searches in the rural area of the municipality of Ahome and in the urban area of the city of Los Mochis.

 Also in Compuertas they searched a ranch next to the canal behind the community.

SOURCE: LUZ NOTICIAS 

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Two “Mochomito” Hitmen Arrested In Confrontation In Culiacán. Jesus Alfredo Beltran Guzman, "Alfredito" "Tito" Was Not Captured Source Confirms

 "Char" for Borderland Beat 

This information was posted by RIODOCE 

Autor | Redacción Ríodoce

Date | November 30, 2024

Time | 10:59 am

Federal forces detained two alleged “Mochohomitos” and/or “Linces” hitmen, belonging to the “Beltrán Leyva” criminal organization, led by Jesús Alfredo Beltrán Guzmán, alias “El Mochomito”.

Information from the federal government indicates that while carrying out reconnaissance and surveillance actions in the town of El Alto del Coyote, Army personnel from the National Guard were met with gunfire and after repelling the aggression, they detained two people.

The detainees are linked to “Mochomito”, a cell that is supporting the “Los Chapitos” faction in their dispute for territory.

The detainees were found with four long arms, a Barret rifle, a grenade launcher, two grenades, 15 magazines, 420 useful cartridges, two tactical vests and 1,000 fentanyl pills.

Alfredo Beltrán Guzmán is the son of Alfredo Beltrán Leyva, and was arrested in 2016 in Zapopan, Jalisco, but was released in 2021.

FOLLOW-UP

BY: CHAR 

JESUS ALFREDO BELTRAN GUZMAN

TITO 

ALFREDITO

MOCHOMITO 

SOURCE: RIODOCE 

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Brother Of Amado Carrillo Fuentes "El Señor De Los Cielos" Died On A Hit-And-Run Accident In Navolato: Sinaloa

 "Char" for Borderland Beat 

This article was translated and reposted from LOS NOTICIERISTAS

WRITTEN BY: ERNESTO MARTINEZ

08/6/2024

Culiacán, Sinaloa - The man who died instantly in the early hours of Tuesday morning, August 6, on a highway in the municipality of Navolato while trying to change a broken tire on his car was the brother of the late drug trafficker Amado Carrillo Fuentes, better known as 'The Lord of the Skies', according to authorities.

The information indicates that the deceased was Guadalupe Alvarado Carrillo Fuentes, 54 years old, with a known address in the community of El Guamuchilito belonging to the municipality and at the time of the accident he was driving a recent model Chevrolet Spark red car on the north-south lane of the highway that leads from Ejido 5 de Mayo to El Limoncito.

According to the information the victim was changing the rear tire when he was rammed by a vehicle whose characteristics are unknown, since after the accident the driver fled with everything and the unit, while at the site Guadalupe Alvarado died instantly due to the multiple injuries and fractures he suffered.

Minutes later the authorities were alerted about the accident, but at first it was said that it had been a death by gunshot, but upon arrival they confirmed that it was an accident when they found a crosshead and a jack next to the unit as well as a tire so it was confirmed that he was trying to change the tire.

Due to the fact that the deceased had no documents among his belongings that screamed his identity, he remained unknown until this morning when he was identified by his relatives before the corresponding authorities and turned out to be the brother of the well-known drug trafficker who died in the 90s.

FOLLOW-UP    By: CHAR

Alvaro Guadalupe or Guadalupe Alvaro Carillo Fuentes "El Lapa" the mysterious low-profile brother of Amado Carillo Fuentes "El Señor De Los Cielos" was killed in a hit-and-run accident on August 6, 2024. According to Los Noticieristas, the victim Alvaro Guadalupe Carrillo Fuentes was changing the rear tire when he was hit by a vehicle whose characteristics are unknown. 

Not much is known about Alvaro Guadalupe Carrillo Fuentes, but according to Guacamaya Leaks "El Lapa" was identified alongside Fausto Isidro Meza Flores "Chapo Isidro", and the Gonzalez Peñuelas brothers as leaders of the Beltran Leyva organization. 

SOURCE: LOS NOTICIERISTAS 

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Navy Dismantles Three clandestine Laboratories In Sinaloa

 "Char" for Borderland Beat

This article was translated and reposted from LUZ NOTICIAS 

The seized laboratories and other materials were destroyed on site.

06/24/2024

Through the Mexican Navy, the Ministry of the Navy reports that on June 20, naval personnel located and dismantled three clandestine laboratories in Culiacán, Sinaloa. 

Naval personnel, with the support of a helicopter, in cooperation with the Attorney General's Office, located and neutralized three clandestine laboratories for the production of synthetic drugs, securing approximately 5,307 (five thousand three hundred and seven) kilograms of the finished product (presumed methamphetamine), 4,125 (four thousand one hundred and twenty-five) kilograms of chemical precursors, four reactors, three condensers, and diverse material, in the vicinity of the towns of "El Tecomate" and "Las Flechas", in Culiacán, Sinaloa, 229 kilometers southeast of the Eighth Naval Zone. 

It is worth mentioning that the seized laboratories and other materials were destroyed on-site.

Figures

1. Likewise, so far this year, a total of 97 laboratories have been located and neutralized, more than 155 (one hundred and fifty-five) tons of methamphetamine, and 381 (three hundred and eighty-one) tons of chemical precursors have been seized. 

With these actions, the Secretariat of the Navy of Mexico, in coordination with other institutions, contributes to the sum of efforts to combat criminal behavior, both in the establishment of clandestine laboratories and in the production of synthetic drugs in our country, thus weakening the production and distribution of drugs by criminal groups.

SOURCE: LUZ NOTICIAS

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BLO takes on CDS and the Mexican Federal Government

Buggs for Borderland Beat

Segment 2

Members of organized crime in Mexico spend millions of dollars to corrupt government officials. These criminal organizations see this as an investment in their drug trafficking enterprise. It is the price of doing business in Mexico. The expensive bribes they pay gets them protection, access to sensitive information, targeting of rival cartels and assistance to move their drugs north. 

The corrupt government usually will ask the cartels to keep the violence to a minimum to avoid attracting attention. No one does it better than the Sinaloa cartel. But not everything always runs smoothly. Many times, this is not possible due to conflict within cartels and the fight from cartels for position of power. 

In 2008 people started to notice that the Felipe Calderon government was not targeting the Sinaloa Cartel as he was other cartels. High level leaders of the Sinaloa cartel had to be sacrificed to give a perception that Sinaloa was not being favored. It is believed that several high-ranking members of the Sinaloa cartel had to be surrendered. 

It is said that Ignacio "Nacho" Coronel Villarreal, Alfredo Beltrán Leyva El Mochomo and Gonzalo Inzunza Inzunza El Macho Prieto were a few high-level capos that were surrendered by the Sinaloa Syndicate. Except, the arrest of El Mochomo caused major problems for the CDS and the federal government. 

A bloody war like never seen before.

***

The war started on a Monday, January 21, 2008. On board Hummer vehicles, and with heavy artillery, more than 300 elements of the Special Forces Aeromobile Group (GAFE) of the Mexican Army, positioned themselves in the area of a residence located in the Burócratas community in Culiacán, Sinaloa. An anonymous call had told them that the youngest of the Beltrán brothers, Alfredo, alias El Mochomo, was waiting at that address for a shipment of money on an outstanding settlement from some of his Colombian associates. 

Near dawn, a gate opened. A white BMW van came out with four men on board. The team of elite military commandos blocked their way. The men in the vehicle surrendered without firing a single shot. Inside the vehicle was El Mochomo while inside the house military officials recovered $900,000 in dollars, 11 expensive watches, an AK-47 and eight handguns. 

In the news of the arrest of El Mochomo was presented as the most important arrest carried out by the government in the war against drug trafficking that Felipe Calderón had carried out. El Mochomo would be extradited to the US. 

The arrest of El Mochomo caused immediate panic from federal police agencies that were receiving brides to protect the Beltran Leyva brothers. The BLO led by the Beltran Leyva brothers had corrupted the highest level of that federal institution by paying monthly bribes of between $150,000 and $450,000 in dollars. These bribes were supposed insure that officials of the highest level were to provide leaks of sensitive information to the BLO. 

That day of El Mochomo arrest, several high-ranking officials were very nervous. They had received reports that El Mochomo was going to be arrested by the military but could do nothing to avoid it. They expected the leadership of Arturo Beltrán to call them to explain why Alfredo was arrested.

Hector Beltra leyva "El Hache," was upset with El Grande over the arrest of his brother Alfredo Beltran Leyva. Sergio Enrique Villarreal Barragán, El Grande, was a former Mexican federal police officer who worked as a lieutenant for Arturo Beltrán Leyva. He got his name El Grande ("The Big One") because he is 6 feet 7 inches tall. El Grande was extradited to the United States on May 23, 2012, and may possibly be serving as a "protected witness" for the DEA. 

Although El Grande was not directly responsible for the security of El Mochomo, he oversaw the cartel relationship with the federal government and the arrest caused suspicion for El Grande. 

Hector Beltran was resting at his home in Morelos when he was told about the arrest of El Mochomo and became so upset that he took out a firearm from inside his waist and started shooting up to the ceiling while his escort looked on very nervous. He smashed a bottle of wine that was on top of a table against a European table that had been a gift from the Panista governor Marco Antonio Adame Castillo. Hector Beltran requested the immediate presence of his most trusted man, El Grande. He was brought in all the way from Puebla in a helicopter from the state police of Morelos.

With his eyes red from anger and anguish, Hector Beltran Leyva requested a quick explanation why his brother was arrested. He reminded El Grande about the millions of dollars in bribes that the cartel paid to ensure the protection of his family from many levels of the government. There was a clear understanding that his family would not be touched. Hector Beltran requested that El Grande conduct a complete thorough investigation to find out who they had to kill.

El Grande started making phone calls to his contacts with the PGR. He spoke with Captain Fernando Rivera of the PGR. He arranged for a meeting in the city of Mexico to get the information on the arrest Alfredo Beltran Leyva in Culiacan. El Grande told him that Arturo Beltrán Leyva was pissed off, very pissed off. Captain Rivera promised to give him a detailed report of the operation no later than the next day.

The next day captain Rivera met with El Grande in a restaurant on Avenida Reforma and the captain was also in the company of commanders Menton Silia and Roberto Garcia. Rivera ordered the commanders to gather the information immediately in less than 24 hours. El Grande was given the names of the supposed “snitches.” He was told it was two agents of the ministerial police in Sinaloa. Their prompt death was surely assured. 

Rivera told El Grande that from 11 o'clock onwards, the special forces of the army would no longer be present, and that only 11 agents of the Federal Investigation Agency, AFI, would remain on scene to provide security. He told El Grande that with the delivery of one million pesos for AFI's, as well as three million that would be to pay off Fernando Rivera and his people, it would be possible to get the cooperation of the security detail and allow an armored truck to break into the gate to give them access to the facility.

After El Grande gave the information to his boss, Hector Beltran ordered El Grande to take immediate action to rescue his detained brother. El Grande gathered about 100 men, that came from different parts of the country to the city of Mexico, to carry out an assault of the headquarters where El Mochomo was being held. But El Grande ran into some problems. 

The top bosses of the Beltran Leyva clan; Joaquin Guzman Loera El Chapo and Ismael El Mayo Zambada refused to authorize the rescue attempt. They explained that the conditions were not right for a rescue attempt. They further explained that Mochomo would have to be sacrificed. The assault had been planned for midnight on January 24th but in the end, it did not take place because El Mochomo was transferred to the federal prison Puente Grande.

The refusal of El Chapo and El Mayo to help secure the freedom of Alfredo Beltran prompted bad blood between the Beltran brothers. This caused the breakup of the two factions. This would be the start of the bloody war between the BLO and the Sinaloa Cartel. This is when El Grande brought up the notion that perhaps the people responsible for the arrest of El Mochomo were attributed to El Chapo Guzman and Mayo Zambada.

It is believed that in the drug trafficking business where there is a blood alliance, it is virtually indestructible. El Mochomo was married to a cousin of El Chapo. But Arturo Beltrán felt that the blood alliance had been broken. From now on he was going to have to be killed or arrested, for he did not care anymore of the consequences. El Chapo and El Mayo knew that this would result in a war with the BLO but they accepted the risk. They just wanted to move on. They either did not want to bring heat from the federal government or perhaps they were working another angle with the top levels of the federal government, or both.

Then, there was the rumor that the El Chapo had made a deal with the highest levels of the federal government that he would deliver El Mochomo in exchange for the release of his son, El Chapito. At the end of April 2008, the same month that El Chapito was released, a shootout occurred in Culiacán. A house which allegedly belonged to the children of Arturo Beltrán, was targeted by elements of the Federal Police, supported by municipal police. Five sicarios and two ministerial police agents were killed during a fierce battle. 

Arturo Beltrán accused the feds of serving as an armed wing for El Chapo and ordered his people to kill any federal police officer wherever they were found. He placed narcomantas in which he wrote: "Policemen, soldiers, so that it is clear to you, El Mochomo continues to reign. Atte. Arturo Beltrán Leyva." And also: "Warrying Soldiers, little federal police forces, this place is the territory of Arturo Beltrán." 

By the end of April of 2008 there was blood running down the streets of Culiacan after the demons were unleashed, causing a string of confrontations that in a month alone resulted in 1,156 executions.

Arturo Beltrán assassinated the regional director of the PFP, Édgar Eusebio Millán. Millán was ambushed and killed when he arrived at his parents' house in a building located in a community in Guerrero. Although only a handful of people had access to the itinerary of Millán, the information was leaked from within the PFP to the BLO.

The real revenge for Arturo Beltrán came on May 8, 2008. Five SUVs loaded with sicarios surrounded a vehicle carrying Edgar Guzman, another son of El Chapo, in a parking lot in Culiacán, Sinaloa. Edgar Guzman was executed. Five hundred gunshots were fired along with a grenade deployed from a grenade launcher. In addition to the execution of Edgar, a nephew of the drug trafficker, César Loera, was also killed.

In Culiacán the evil rage was unleashed. The local media did not dare to report the news. They only did it two days later, attributing the information to newspapers and news agencies in Mexico City. Borderland Beat was the place where some information could be obtained. The blood of the son of El Chapo was still fresh on the ground when the cries from the leader of the Sinaloa Cartel pledged that he would erase the name of Arturo Beltrán from the face of the earth.

The murder of El Chapo's son was part of the same MO that killed the police chief Millán. Millan had been the "brain" of the secretary of Public Security, Genaro García Luna, in many anti-drug operations. His death caused a change in the upper level of the structure of the PFP. Genaro García Luna replaced Millan with an old friend with whom he had collaborated closely while working with the AFI. It was Gerardo Garay. But as things happen in Mexico from time to time, Garay only lasted a few months in that position. Commissioner Garay was accused of serving two masters: the Beltrán Cartel and that of El Mayo Zambada. A judge ordered him to be formally apprehended in October 2008.

In December of 2009, Inspector Edgar Enrique Bayardo, who was a protected witness, was killed at a Starbucks in Mexico City after he had confessed of colluding with organized crime by allowing infiltrations to the agency, tapping telephone calls to benefit specific cartels, allowing cartel operators to interrogate captured adversaries, and then presenting the arrestees as "as achievements of the PFP."

Segment 1

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Genaro García Luna in Collusion with Organized Crime

 Buggs for Borderland Beat

Genaro García Luna (GGL), The Fall

Segment 1
Note: In lieu of the pending trial of Genaro García Luna (GGL), I want to share some observations and events related to GGL. Borderland Beat was already tracking the collusion of GGL starting around 2001 when GGL served in the newly created Agencia Federal de Investigación (AFI) under Mexican President Vicente Fox Quesada. Genaro García would go on to serve in the federal cabinet of President Felipe Calderón as Secretary of Public Security. 

Genaro García Luna is arrested on December 2019 in Dallas, TX

García Luna was arrested on December 9, 2019, by federal agents in Dallas, Texas, and he is presently pending trial in the Eastern District of New York to face charges of engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise. It is alleged that García Luna received multimillion-dollar bribes from the Sinaloa Cartel in exchange for permitting the Sinaloa Cartel to operate with impunity in Mexico. "As alleged, for nearly two decades Garcia Luna betrayed those he was sworn to protect by accepting bribes from members of the Sinaloa Cartel to facilitate their crimes and empower their criminal enterprise,” stated Acting United States Attorney DuCharme. 

If convicted of the continuing criminal enterprise charge, Garcia Luna could face a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment and a maximum of life in prison.

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Genaro García Luna right hand man of Former President Felipe Calderón

Felipe de Jesús Calderón Hinojosa, a conservative Mexican politician served as the president of Mexico from December 2006 to November 2012. As a member of the National Action Party (Partido Acción Nacional, PAN) for 30 years, he had made the issue of organize crime the central part of his campaign for president. When he took office in 2006, he wasted no time in taking on the Mexican cartels head on. He dismantled the Tijuana cartel on the border of California, the Cartel del Golfo in the Gulf Coast, La Familia Michioacana (this was personal, as Calderon was from Michoacan) in the Tierra Caliente region and almost decimated the very powerful Juarez cartel. Calderón had entrusted his right-hand man and personal friend, Genaro García Luna to accomplish this task. He had appointed García Luna as Secretary of Public Security in his cabinet. 

García Luna started by rebuilding the Federal Police Force that began operating in June 2009 under a New Police Model. Felipe Calderon beefed up the federal police and changed their role to strictly take on the cartels. They became a huge nationwide tactical unit, operating in hot spots around the country. Under President Vicente Fox, from 2000 to 2006, there were 11,989 federal police. Under President Felipe Calderon, the number of federal police officers was increase to 34,846. This was in addition to the Mexican military that also played a key role in taking on the cartels. 

Felipe Calderon used the federal police extensively to combat the Mexican cartels

Calderón kept García Luna very close in his circle of trusted politicians. García Luna was considered untouchable and was Calderón's favorite cabinet member.  Yes, Calderón managed to keep his campaign promise, he hit all the criminal cartels in Mexico hard, except for one.  There was a little secret that was starting to pop its ugly head. There were very credible rumors that García Luna was colluding with organized crime, specifically the Cártel del Pacífico under the very command of Ismael Zambada García, El Mayo. The group was mainly composed of the Beltrán-Leyva brothers that were based in the Mexican state of Morelos.

Garcia Luna and his collusion with organized crime

On October 19, 2008, Genaro García Luna (GGL) was travelling from Cuernavaca to Tepoztlán with an escort of 27 armed bodyguards. His escort was intercepted by approximately 10 armored Suburban vehicles carrying a large commando of heavily armed sicarios. García Luna ordered his bodyguards to stand down and comply with the directions given by the sicarios. The bodyguards were stripped of their weapons and were blindfolded. They were not just concerned for the dignitary they were supposed to protect, but for their own safety. Some of the bodyguards overheard one of the sicarios yell at García Luna, "This is the first and last warning, so that you know that we can reach you anytime we want, if you do not comply with the mutual agreement we forged." 

The day Arturo Beltran Leyva reminded GGL his role

It is said that the voice came from Arturo Beltran Leyva, a top lieutenant for the Cartel de Sinaloa (CDS). García Luna left with Beltran Leyva abandoning his escorts to their fate. The bodyguards did now know where García Luna went and what he did during those four long hours he was away meeting with Arturo Beltran Leyva. When García Luna returned, the sicarios returned the weapons to the bodyguards and they proceeded with the escort of García Luna. The bodyguards, who were professionally trained to protect dignitaries and high-level politicians, felt humiliated. They were not happy with how they were treated, while García Luna was complicit with the sicarios.

The bodyguards narrated the details of the event in a letter sent to the legislators of the Senate in order to exposed what they say was how dangerous it is to grant more power to the SSP (Secretaría de Seguridad Pública or Secretariat of Public Safety) under the control of GGL. A good portion of the high-level officials of the SSP were at the service of drug traffickers. According to the investigations carried out by the Office of the Assistant Attorney General for Specialized Investigation in Organized Crime (SIEDO), many of the officials closest to García Luna seem to be corrupted by drug traffickers. Under the watch of the Calderon administration, evidence started to emerge that the SSP was one of the institutions most infiltrated by the Sinaloa cartel and other criminal organizations.

The only interview of El Mayo by Proceso Magazine

In 2010 Zambada did an interview with Julio Scherer Garcia of Proceso Magazine. He criticized the government's effort to take him down, saying it was a little too late, if the goal was to hurt the drug trade. "The problem with the narco business is that it involves millions of dollars. How do you dominate that?" Zambada said. "As for the bosses, locked up, dead or extradited, their replacements are already standing by. The government's drug war," he said, "is already lost." 

Why lost? 

"The narcotics trade and everything that goes along with it," Zambada responded, "are inside the society, it is deeply rooted in corruption, it always has."

El Mayo is the last powerful boss of the old guard. All the others have either died or are in prison. There are not many pictures that have been made public of Mayo Zambada. El Mayo has managed to avoid capture by keeping a low profile and by corrupting the Mexican government at the highest level.

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On the next short  segment, I will cover how the arrest of one of the Beltran Leyva brothers, resulted in the betrayal of GGL and CDS, that would ultimately unleash a bloody war between each other and the downfall of the BLO (Beltran Leyva Organization).

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