Sedena Secures Record Amounts of Cocaine in El Valle de Mexico

Yaqui for Borderland Beat 

Sedena secures record amounts of cocaine in Valley of Mexico:

In less than 48 hours the two seizures reached 1,633 kilos, a figure that is equivalent to 22.2% of the 7,355 kilos of cocaine that Sedena reported as secured throughout last year. It could be the largest seizure in recent memory. 

In two operations carried out last week, the Secretariat of National Defense (Sedena) secured more than 20 percent of the cocaine seized, respectively, during 2019 and 2020, according to figures from the agency.

Meanwhile, during 2019, the agency reported that 5,886 kilos of cocaine were secured, so the 1,633 kilograms seized last week are equivalent to 27.7 percent of the total seizures made two years ago.

The Sedena estimated that the total of the drugs confiscated in the operations of Tlalpan and Nezahualcóyotl could reach a price in the illegal market of approximately 614 million 384 thousand pesos, which will impact the operation of the organized crime group that mobilized the cocaine.

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Kidnapping and Shootout in Jalisco Shopping Center Attracts National Headlines

 "MX" for Borderland Beat; TY "Sol Prendido"

Gunmen forcibly take a man into the red vehicle. The video recordings of this shootout and kidnapping are found below.

A kidnapping attempt turned deadly in Zapopan, Jalisco, on Monday. Just before 1:00 p.m., between ten to fifteen gunmen entered a shopping center to kidnap one of the diners. A shootout quickly ensued when the man's bodyguards opened fire on the newcomers. Surveillance cameras and mobile phone recordings from eye-witnesses were shared on social media. The shootout quickly became a trending event nationwide.

The attack left three injured, one dead, and one missing: two employees from Los Otates restaurant and one Zapopan police officer were injured. At least one gunman was killed after succumbing to his wounds in a nearby hospital. And the intended target of the kidnapping was kidnapped and his whereabouts are unknown.

In one of the video recording below, witnesses captured the moment when the intended target was taken by the assailants and forced into a red Chevrolet Spark car. The car was then discovered by authorities a few blocks from the scene, but no traces of the man were found.

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The Winners of the War on Drugs: Millionaire Businessmen of Garcia Luna

Yaqui for Borderland Beat:

                                          "The Millionaires of the War on Drugs"

In the War on Drugs, the winners were the businessmen under the protection of García Luna: Peniley Ramírez:

A good part of the federal budget went to a network of more than 83 companies scattered around the world and in more than 30 properties that made it possible to trace some 8,000 million pesos with which yachts, watches, luxury cars, mansions were acquired in Miami and business in Panama, exposes the journalist Peniley Ramírez, author of the book “Los millionaires de la Guerra. The unpublished file of García Luna and his partners ”.

In the so-called war against drug trafficking, with which President Felipe Calderón set out to create security conditions in the country, with disastrous results, there were winners: businessmen whose accounts went to a large part of public resources, says the journalist Peniley Ramirez .

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City Councilor Killed by the CJNG in Baja California Had Ties to Local Cartel

 "MX" for Borderland Beat

Alfonso Zacarias Rodriguez, 36, was a councilman in Tecate Municipality. Investigators say he had ties to drug traffickers.

Alfonso Zacarías Rodríguez was under investigation by Baja California authorities for his alleged ties to Danny Isaac Ortiz Covarrubias, ‘El Moreno’, a drug trafficker who first worked for the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) and then shifted to the Sinaloa Cartel under Los Chapitos.

Zacarias was shot dead in broad daylight in Tecate, Baja California, last week after he was leaving an event held by the city mayor. His assassins shot him from point-blank range when Zacarias was paying for his parking spot. None of the surveillance cameras in the area captured the moment when Zacarias was killed.

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Hector 'El Guero' Palma's Sister-in-Law and Niece Found Dead in Sonora

 "MX" for Borderland Beat

Maria Jimena Palma Romero (left) and Cintia Mercedes Romero Verdugo (right). The latter was once the romantic partner of Marcos Tinoco Gancedo ("Coronel"), a man linked to the Sinaloa Cartel and a ring of kidnappers.

The family history of Héctor 'El Güero' Palma is one of the most tragic in the world of drug trafficking. A few days ago, the Sonora's Attorney General's Office (FGJ) confirmed the discovery of the bodies of María Jimena Palma Romero and Cintia Mercedes Romero Verdugo, Palma's niece and sister-in-law. Both women had been missing for over a year. According to the investigations, they were abducted by four people in Ciudad Obregón, Sonora, in December 2019.

In a surveillance camera video of a shopping center, the authorities were able to notice that María Jimena and Cintia Mercedes left through the main door of the business and are forced to walk at gunpoint before they were taken. Their relatives, realizing that it was 8:00 p.m. and that both of they did not return home, headed to the shopping center and found their vehicle abandoned at the parking lot.

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In Custody: CDS Sicario "El Simpson" Arrested in Ensenada

Yaqui for Borderland Beat 

  "El Simpson", hitman of the Sinaloa Cartel in Arrested in Ensenada:

The State Investigation Agency of the Attorney General's Office (FGE) carried out an arrest warrant against Daniel Alexis Valenzuela Villalva, alias "El Simpson", for the crime of qualified homicide and attempted murder.

“El Simpson” is the successor of Jesús Eduardo Osuna Torres “Talibán” and / or “Osuna”, the latter arrested on January 21 and considered the leader of the Sinaloa Cartel in the Ensenada municipality.

Data from the investigative unit of the State Attorney General's Office (FGE) indicate that its main function was to maintain the attacks of the Arellano Félix -CAF- and Jalisco Nueva Generación Cartel (CJNG) cartels, as well as the commercialization of drugs in the port.

Likewise, he was mentioned on at least four occasions in banners or "narco banners" located in the city of Ensenada, on January 10, 11, 14 and 17 of this year, 2021; where along with other of his accomplices he was threatened by an antagonistic organization called “Cartel of Ensenada ” group linked to the Arellano Félix Cartel.

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Wave of Murders Continues in 2021 in Ensenada, Baja Ca; FIVE Shot on Playa Hermosa on Sunday Night

Yaqui for Borderland Beat 

So far in 2021, in the municipality of Ensenada, 55 people have been murdered with firearms and 11 of these violent acts were committed in the month of February.

One dead and four other people were shot and wounded on the night of Sunday, February 7, on Playa Hermosa in Ensenada, a few blocks from the Second Naval Region, in the tourist area of ​​the port.

The preliminary report shows that around 11:50 p.m. firearm shots were heard between Costero Boulevard and Palmas Street.

Agents from the Ensenada Municipal Public Security Directorate arrived at the site and located five injured people, who were transferred to hospitals, however a male of around 19 years old died.

The Wave of Murders in Ensenada Goes on Unchecked:

In the last twelve hours in Ensenada there have been three homicides in separate events according to data issued by agents of the Municipal Public Security Directorate (DSPM), this was Feb. 6 , 2021

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Wife of Zetas Faction Boss 'El Pawa' Arrested

 "MX" for Borderland Beat

Following the arrest of El Pawa's wife and the death of Enrique 'Kike Cardenas, security forces are on high alert for a violent response from organized crime.

Authorities arrested Erendira Citlali 'N' over the weekend for her alleged involvement in drug dealing. She is the wife of Humberto Alejandro Uribe Mendoza ('El Pawa'), a regional cartel leader in San Fernando, Tamaulipas. Investigators say he is part of the Zetas Vieja Escuela (ZVE) faction. Last month, Borderland Beat reported that authorities in the U.S. and Mexico had listed El Pawa among the top ten most-wanted criminals in Tamaulipas and South Texas.

Her arrest was announced hours after security forces seized several vehicles in Mendez, Tamaulipas. The units, as seen in the images published on social media, had the initials "CDG-Z" on them, suggesting that there could be a collaboration between a faction of the Gulf Cartel and the Zetas Vieja Escuela in this part of Tamaulipas.

There are rumors that the San Fernando ZVE cell headed by El Pawa has an alliance with Los Metros, the Gulf Cartel faction in Reynosa, to drive out the Gulf Cartel faction in Matamoros headed by Evaristo Cruz Sanchez ('El Vaquero') and the Northeast Cartel (CDN) in La Frontera Chica.

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Guillermo González Calderoni: The Federal Police Commander Who Knew Too Much

 "MX" for Borderland Beat

Guillermo Gonzalez Calderoni, a top commander of the Federal Judicial Police, spoke about the corruption that plagued Mexico's officialdom. He was murdered in Texas in 2003.

The younger generations that hear about Guillermo Gonzalez Calderoni through the Narcos television series may not fully know the background of this man or his role in one of the darkest episodes in the history of drug trafficking in Mexico. Calderoni, who spent more than a decade exiled in the U.S., was murdered in broad daylight on 5 February 2003 outside of the Yzaguirre & Chapa attorney firm in McAllen, Texas. One of his attorneys once defended former Gulf Cartel kingpin Juan Garcia Abrego in court.

Calderoni, 54, was attacked while he was inside his Mercedes Benz. He was accompanied by Martiniano 'El Chato' Mendoza, a friend of his, who was unharmed. Calderoni was shot on the left side of his face and died two hours later at the McAllen Medical Center.

U.S. authorities considered Calderoni the "Mexican Elliott Ness", but others say he had already gone out of style after fleeing Mexico over nine years before. He spent the last years of his life in hiding and with limited contact outside of his immediate circle. But his murder showed that someone wanted him dead for something he did or knew when he lived in Mexico.

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Mexico: Cartels and Trash move Pesos through a ‘Trickle-Down’ Economy

Yaqui for Borderland Beat 

In 2020, these bills with jailed drug lord Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán Loera’s initials appeared in Culiacán, evidence of the cartel's influence on Mexico’s economy.

In Mexico, cartels and trash move pesos through a ‘trickle-down’ economy; If the drug trade were to evaporate today, the economy would crash tomorrow.

The term “trickle-down economics” was coined by Will Rodgers in the early 1930s. His exact quote was as follows:

“The money was all appropriated for the top in hopes it would trickle down to the needy. Mr. Hoover didn’t know that the money trickled up. Give it to the people at the bottom, and the people at the top will have it before night anyhow. But it will have passed through the poor fellow’s hand.”

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Mexican Drug Kingpin 'El Tío' Extradited to the US

 "Morogris" for Borderland Beat

Raúl Flores Hernández and/or Flores-Hernandez (El Tío)

The Mexican Attorney General's Office (FGR) extradited Raul Flores Hernandez (alias El Tio, The Uncle), an independent drug kingpin who had strategic alliances with multiple drug cartels. The extradition was made at the Toluca International Airport in the State of Mexico, where he was handed over to US agents based in Washington. D.C. El Tio lost his extradition trial last year but promoted various motions to halt this process.

U.S. authorities say that El Tio was a long-time international drug kingpin. Although he operated independently, El Tio maintained ties with multiple drug cartels in Mexico since the 1980s. He reportedly had drug and money laundering ties with the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), Sinaloa Cartel, Gulf Cartel, and the Beltran Leyva Organization (BLO). His criminal network was mostly based in Guadalajara and Mexico City, and included a vast web of family members and trusted associates.

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'Kike' Cárdenas, Nephew of Legendary Gulf Cartel Leader, Killed in Cartel Infighting

 "Morogris" for Borderland Beat (formerly "MX")

Enrique 'Kike' Cardenas was the son of Gulf Cartel leader Homero Cardenas Guillen ('El Orejon' and/or 'El Majadero'). His father reportedly died of a heart attack in 2014.

News in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, is spreading like wildfire with the reported death of Enrique 'Kike' Cárdenas, a member of a notorious criminal dynasty that has been part of the Gulf Cartel for over twenty years. The city of Matamoros, across the U.S.-Mexico border from Brownsville, Texas, has long been a bastion of the Gulf Cartel and the faction headed by the Cárdenas clan. 

Kike Cardenas was the nephew of legendary drug kingpin Osiel Cárdenas Guillén, who headed the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Local media reports say that Kike Cardenas was gunned down by sicarios working for his cousin Jose Alfredo Cardenas Martinez ('El Contador'). This murder is the latest episode in the cartel power struggle unfolding in the Matamoros plaza.

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Baja California Forensic Medical Service Reports: 1000 Bodies in the Mass Grave Per Year

Yaqui for Borderland Beat

According to the registry of the Baja California Forensic Medical Service, since 2018 each year more than a thousand unidentified or unclaimed corpses are deposited in a common grave; The authority assured that it works to be able to help  relatives to identify and locate them later, although the exhumation is no longer conducted on their part and can represent a high cost.

"Dulce María" was rescued from the common grave by a group of women, who adopted her and moved heaven, sea and earth to prevent that from being her final destination. She spent three months in the facilities of the Tijuana Forensic Medical Service (Semefo) without being identified or claimed by anyone.

In September, the authorities reported the discovery of human remains inside an ice chest that was abandoned on a sidewalk in the El Pípila neighborhood; later they reported that the remains belonged to a minor, who suffered a motor disability in life.

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BUSTED: 1,400 Packages of Meth in El Rosario, Baja Ca

Yaqui for Borderland Beat 

A man identified as Javier Fernando Magdalena Álvarez was detained at the El Rosario, Baja California Military Revision Post when he was transporting 1,440 packages of methamphetamine on the morning of Thursday, February 4, on Carretera Peninsular Numero Uno, #1.

Information obtained by ZETA indicates that around 09:30 a tractor trailer arrived at the military post located at kilometer 52 of the Transpeninsular Highway, to whom the military with the support of the canine assistants began an inspection of the vehicle.

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Former MLB Player With Family Ties to the Old Gulf Cartel Wants to Be Mayor in Tamaulipas

 "MX" for Borderland Beat

Pictured above is old-school Gulf Cartel financial operator Carlos Resendez Bertolucci (sometimes spelled Bortolousi). This is the first picture of Resendez on the web. The picture was retrieved by Borderland Beat from print archives in Nuevo Leon.

Ismael 'Rocket' Valdez Alvarez, a former Major League Baseball (MLB) player, just announced that he will run for mayor of Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas, under the National Regeneration Movement (MORENA). 'Rocket' Valdez was born in Ciudad Victoria and grew up playing in the local minor leagues before he made it into the Dodgers as a pitcher. He played in the MLB from 1999 to 2005.

'Rocket' Valdez is married to Karina Resendez, nephew of Carlos Resendez Bertolucci, former "financial brain" of Gulf Cartel during the era of Juan Garcia Abrego (1984–1996). Resendez managed millions of dollars for the Gulf Cartel and was responsible for paying corrupt Mexican officials on the cartel's payroll.

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