Borderland Beat
Page 15
People on both sides of the border started to take noticed and caused a sense of fear from insecurity. People in Juarez started to leave by the thousands and tourist from the US and abroad, started to avoid Juarez.
You know the old saying in Juarez, "drugs go north, guns come south." In the meantime, blood tarnished shell casings scattered on the ground from weapons smuggled in to Mexico from the US have caused the blood of US citizens to spill on Mexican soil. The decision to travel to Mexico is a personal one, that must be made in a measured way, taking all precautionary measures to be safe and feel safe. But not to worry, the La Cúpula hotel re-opened within hours of the massacre and were taking reservations, I hear they accept Visa or Mastercard.
The Sinaloa and Juarez Conflict
To curb the wave of violence in Ciudad Juarez, the government of Felipe Calderón had rehearsed everything: it had replaced the police with the military, it had reinforced local security with federal police, but no measure had been effective against the overwhelming power of the drug cartels.
In addition to the presumable police protection that the Juarez cartel had, it had always enjoyed the protection of the Army's high command. This was according to testimony by Vicente Carrillo Leyva, El Vicentillo, that he made on March 1, 2009 before the SIEDO.
An anecdote told by Carrillo Leyva, illustrated how military personnel protected the emblematic figures of the Juarez cartel:
"We arrived in Cozumel in a private plane, my father (Amado Carrillo) and I, and immediately the military surrounded the plane. When they opened the doors, they greeted us very kindly telling us that they came from orders of General Curiel. The soldiers escorted us to our hotel. They did it in official vehicles that, I remember, were a Jeep and a Suburban.
We settled in the hotel.
In the afternoon General Curiel arrived, he was in company of dozens of high military commanders and they all put themselves under our orders."
Vicente Carrillo Fuentes inherited the Juarez Cartel from his brother Amado Carrillo Fuentes, "El Señor de Los Cielos" or "The Lord of the Skies." He had earned that nickname because of his large fleet of jets that he used to transport drugs. Amado Fuentes died in July 1997 during an extensive plastic surgery to change his appearance. Two of Amado's bodyguards were in the operating room during the procedure. On November 7, 1997, the two physicians who performed the surgery on Fuentes were found dead, encased in concrete inside steel drums, with their bodies showing signs of torture. That is how business was done in Juarez and that is how it has been done for a long time.
The death of Amado created a large power vacuum in the Mexican underworld.
Vicente was born in Sinaloa, the same state where Joaquin Guzman Loera, "El Chapo," leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, was from. The Juarez Cartel was once an ally of the Sinaloa Cartel. All that changed when El Chapo ordered the execution Of Rodolfo Carrillo Fuentes, "El Nino de Oro." Ismael El Mayo Zambada Garcia was in possession of the body when he received a phone call from Vicente who was aware that El Mayo was providing security for El Chapo.
It was at that moment that Carrillo asked him directly: Are you with me? Or are you against me? Zambada answered: “I'm with you, of course.” It was then that Carrillo demanded El Mayo bring him the head of El Chapo. Of course, that never happened and the war between the Sinaloa and Juarez Cartels began.
Vicente retaliated by ordering the assassinating of El Chapo’s brother in prison. This created a very dangerous feud between both cartel leaders.
It was Vicente's character and demeanor that drove the associates of his brother Amado, like El Mayo Zambada and Juan José Esparragoza Moreno, “El Azul” away from the Juarez cartel. This left the Juarez cartel isolated and fighting on its own. It was during this time that El Mayo and company had decided to take over operations in Juarez, and this intensified after the first escape from prison by El Chapo.
There is a story about a meeting that took place in Monterrey by numerous powerful capos that had planned a consolidation of resources to make Sinaloa the most powerful cartel in Mexico and they talked about conducting several executions to open the way to carry out their plan. It was said that they had the full support of the federal political establishment, at the time Vicente Fox was the Mexican President.
The meeting apparently took place in the city of Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, between several leaders of organized crime. Among the notable attendants were Ismael 'El Mayo' Zambada, Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzmán, Juan José Esparragoza Moreno, alias 'El Azul', and Arturo Beltrán."
This was the initial alliance to take over the operations of the once powerful Juarez Cartel.
Despite fighting alone, Vicente started seeking help from other cartels and acquire political influence in the state of Chihuahua. It was said that he had the support of the then governor of Chihuahua, Patricio Martinez and forged alliances with the Tijuana Cartel, the Beltran Layva brothers (after the broke away from the Sinaloa Cartel) and Los Zetas. Vicente also started to strengthen his organization by creating his armed wing known as “La Linea” and coordinated cooperation from street gangs such as Barrio Azteca in Ciudad Juarez, El Paso, Dallas and Austin, Texas.
The war for control for the Juarez plaza was on.
During the years I was reporting on the cartels on BB, the violence by Sinaloa and Juarez cartels intensified between 2008 and 2011 reaching the highest levels in Ciudad Juarez that placed the city as the most violent in the world, with 9,000 executions in little more than two years.
The Sinaloa and Juarez cartels had a strong presence in the whole state of Chihuahua, in each and every one of the towns, one or the other was in control. Although the state of Chihuaha had always belonged to the Juarez cartel, the Sinaloa had the most presence in the state.
Despite the separation of Mayo Zambada, El Azul and other emblematic figures from the Juarez cartel, Vicente Carrillo knew how to infiltrate the political structure in Chihuahua. With the help of Governor Patricio Martinez, the Juarez cartel reached its peak, it controlled all the state police and had in its pocket even the state attorney, Jesus Chito Solis, who was investigated by the SIEDO for alleged links to the drug traffickers.
Vicente Carrillo Fuentes had full control of the Chihuahua region since 2007, but the Sinaloa cartel started to move in to the state starting in 2010. This shift in power was led by Joaquín Guzmán Loera, El Chapo, who's cartel entered the state of Chihuahua from the south taking control of the towns of Guadalupe, Calvo and Guachochi, until seizing the towns of Ascensión, Parral, Jiménez, Camargo and Delicias.
In the middle of the state, Guzmán Loera also retained control of Benito Juárez and Villa Ahumada, which are a strategic trafficking points of drugs into the US within the state of Chihuahua. Chihuahua had more than 300 border breaches that facilitated the clandestine trafficking of illicit drugs into the US. After the arrest of Pedro Sánchez, third in command of the Juarez cartel, the area fell to the control of the Sinaloa cartel led by José Antonio Torres Marrufo.
In the north, after the arrest of José Rodolfo Escajeda, El Rikín, the Sinaloa cartel took possession of the Guadalupe Bravo District, Práxedis G. Guerrero and Ascensión, municipalities bordering the United States.
This forced the people of Vicente to retreat to the west, to towns of Cuauhtémoc, Madera, San Buenaventura, Galeana, Nuevo Casa Grandes and Casas Grandes.
The Sinaloa cartel was able to penetrate Ciudad Juarez but was not able displaced the Juarez cartel, creating Juarez into a deadly battle ground for both cartels. In the city of Chihuahua there was the presence of both cartels, but the violence was contained.
The Juarez Cartel
The Juarez cartel, through its armed branch of La Línea, participated in criminal activities such as drug trafficking, arms trafficking, money laundering, auto theft, kidnappings, extortions and executions.
Under the command of Vicente Carrillo Fuentes was José Luis Ledesma or Pablo Ríos Rodríguez, El JL, who was the main operator in the state of Chihuahua. El JL had
under his command Luis Guillermo Carrillo Rubio, El Pariente, who led a group of sicarios from La Línea and who operated in some of the plazas in the state.
Juan Pablo Guijarro Fragoso, El Mónico, was plaza boss in the city of Chihuahua, Puerto Palomas, Ascensión, Nuevo Casas Grandes, Janos and Puerto San Luis. El Monico took command after the arrest of Carlos Vázquez Barragán, El 20, by federal police on July 25, 2010.
The towns of Creel, Cuauhtémoc and Batopilas were under the control of Hernán or Germán García Loya, El Gaviota, who had Misael Loya Caraveo as his lieutenant. The towns of Delicias, Ciudad Jiménez, Camargo, Parral and Balleza were under the control of Evaristo Rentaría, who now lives in the United States as a protected witness for the DEA and the FBI.
Ciudad Juárez was run by Juan Díaz, El Leopardo or El Rojo, who had Antonio Acosta, El Diego or El 10, who was head of La Linea. El Makarfi headed the drug distribution in the six districts of the Juarez city police, who was also assisted by El Mandis or El Gordo.
The operators of the cells of sicarios in the police districts of Ciudad Juarez had a group of 10 sicarios who were characterized as "bloodthirsty." Their ages range from 20 to 30 years of age and almost all of them came from Sinaloa. Some were former police or military members. In Juarez, one of the groups of gang bangers known as Los Aztecas, were commanded by El 51, who in turn was under the orders of El JL. They operated under the control of El Diego, who personally ran the cell of Los Linces.
Diego also commanded the six cells in the Ciudad Juárez police stations. The head of each cell had five to eight sicarios.
90% of the members of the Juarez cartel dedicated themselves to drug dealing within the city, and the rest to drug trafficking in to the United States. The Juarez cartel also charged other cartels a 25% fee of any proceeds from drugs or human smuggling that crossed the border, this was also known as "derecho de piso." This was in essence a fee assessed to other cartels to use the plaza to cross dope or people in to the US.
The Sinaloa Cartel
At the same time, the groups and cells of the Sinaloa cartel, which were advancing to take control of the state of Chihuahua, functioned in a similar manner as the Juarez cartel. The leadership in the state was Noel Salgueiro Nevárez, El Flaco Salgueiro.
Their groups of sicarios were known as la Gente Nueva. They were mostly from Sinaloa, Michoacán and Guerrero and were responsible for eliminating the members of the local Juarez cartel, La Línea.
The plaza boss in Chihuahua, El Señor Delgado, was a direct subordinate of Salgueiro, who previously had Elizabeth Rodríguez Griego, La Doña, who was killed on August of 2010. La Doña previously had two cells of sicarios who were former military and cocaine dealers.
The municipalities of Ascensión, Puerto Palomas and Janos were under the control of Mario Amaya, El 11, who replaced Fernando Arámbula, who was in custody in the United States. From El Porvenir to Ojinaga, El Gavilán was in control. Nuevo Casas Grandes and Madera were under the command of Daniel Leo Pérez, El 16. In the city of Parral, El R-3 was in charge and controlled several cells of sicarios that operated in Cuauhtémoc, Delicias, Camargo and Ojinaga.
In Ciudad Juárez, the main operator was José Antonio Torres Marrufo, El Jaguar, who worked alongside of Mario Núñez Meza El Mayito or El M-10. The Valle de Juárez was controlled by Gabino Salas Valenciano, El Ingeniero, who lived in Durango and had under his command two cells of sicarios, as well as the control of the trafficking of drugs into the United States.
El Jaguar had met with "El Chapo" and with Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada to join their cartel and confront the Juarez Cartel.
But why did Torres Marrufo decided to join the Sinaloa Cartel and betray the Carrillo Fuentes?
El Jaguar had been kidnapped years before by a man identified as "JL", who was a trusted man of the Carrillo Fuentes.
Torres Marrufo wanted revenge, it was personal, just as it was for "El Chapo" who wanted to steal Ciudad Juarez.
Thus, El Jaguar founded, along with Noel Salgueiro Nevárez, "El Flaco", the criminal cell group of "Gente Nueva", which served as the armed wing of the Sinaloa Cartel.
Torres Marrufo also controlled the street gangs of Los Mexicles and Los Artistas Asesinos(AA).
For the government of the United States, "El Jaguar" was identified as one of those responsible for the acts of violence in Ciudad Juárez and as one of the men closest to "El Chapo" in the state of Chihuahua and Durango. Torres Marrufo was arrested in 2012. He was extradited to the US at the request of a Texas Court order for the murder of two US citizens.
The name of El Jaguar reappeared in the trial of "El Chapo" in Brooklyn, in New York in 2019. Edgar Iván Galván, alias "El Negro", a man of low rank within the Sinaloa Cartel, testified about his enlistment into the Sinaloa Cartel with the help of Torres Marrufo.
Torres Marrufo and Gabino Salas were the ones responsible for the increase in violence and insecurity in Ciudad Juárez due to the constant confrontation they had with La Línea.
The Sinaloa cartel dedicated 90% of their activities to drug trafficking to the US and 10% to local drug dealing in Ciudad Juarez. Mainly, the sale of narcotics was made in the state and municipal penitentiaries. It also obtained financial resources from kidnappings, robberies, extortions, assaults on shops and banks, executions, contraband, piracy, human trafficking, and arms trafficking.
El JL, who commanded Los Aztecas, had a presence in Rancho Anapra, Ladrillera, Popular, Altavista, Barrio Alto, Centro, Azteca, División del Norte, Partido Romero and Barreal.
Through Los Mexicles, Guzmán Loera controlled the communities of Nuevo México, Chavena, Juárez, Obrera and Pradera.
The role of Los Aztecas and Los Mexicles was to prevent the incursion of rival cartels, to protect the points of entry of drugs into the United States, to recruit members and to control the drug dealing in the more than 6,000 distribution points in the city.
In the end, according to reports from the Federal Bureau of Investigation of the United States (FBI), Carrillo's organization lost the war to the Sinaloa cartel in Ciudad Juarez. Despite this, the Juarez cartel remained active and continued operating in Juarez at a minimal level.
In October 9, 2014 Vicente, El Viceroy, Carrillo Fuentes was arrested. It was just a matter of time. Fausto Isidro, of the Beltrán Leyva cartel, tried to move in to be the new leader for the Juarez cartel. He felt he who could very easily occupy the place that was once held by the Carrillo Fuentes dynasty.
Attorney Interrogated and Executed
In October 2010 attorney Mario González Rodríguez was abducted by armed sicaros presumed members of the Sinaloa cartel, in the city of Chihuahua. Mario González was the brother of the former attorney general of Chihuahua Patricia González Rodríguez. A video uploaded on Youtube by a user named “quitapuercos” showed the abducted Mario González accusing his sister Patricia González of having ties to narco cartels.
In the video, Mario González, is seated and handcuffed while being held at gunpoint by five sicarios dress in military fatigues. The gunmen appeared to have professional training. Their AK-47s have two magazines taped together for quick reload. At the end of the video, one of the gunmen standing right behind Mario González approaches him, and it sounds as if he triggers his gun, but the rifle does not fire.
He is questioned and says that his sister Patricia González was protecting members of the Juárez drug cartel. When questioned, he also said she ordered the murders of two journalists, as well as Mormon community members in the Colonia LeBaron in northwest of Chihuahua.
Patricia González denied the claims her brother made. She said police officers working for the Sinaloa drug cartel were behind the video. She claimed they were seeking revenge for her cracking down on some of their cartel members.
Mario González answered questions from a man off-camera about high-profile killings and kidnappings supposedly carried out by La Línea, or the Juárez drug cartel.
Some of the armed sicarios seen in the video behind Mario Gonzále
z would eventually be arrested.
In November of 2010 eight alleged kidnappers linked to the Sinaloa Cartel were arrested during a confrontation with government officials. During the police action, police rescued two people who had been abducted. Police seized 12 long guns, four handguns, six vehicles, various magazines of different calibers, radio equipment and fake uniforms of different police agencies.
Among the eight detainees were three people who participated in the interrogation in the video and the subsequent murder of Mario González, while the masterminds of the events and three other sicarios who were in the interrogation, including the one who is asking the questions, managed to get away.
One of the detainees was identified as Luis Miguel Ibarra Castellanos, alias "El Cora," who provided authorities the location of where Mario González had been murdered and buried. El Cora also gave details of the abduction perpetrated in October 21, 2010 in the capital of Chihuahua. He added that the kidnapping and homicide was committed by orders of a person identified only as "El Buitre" and a municipal policeman named Adrián Orozco, aka "El M1", who worked directly for the plaza boss Noel Salgueiro Nevarez, alias "El Flaco" and was the leader of the group known as "Gente Nueva," an organization that is at the service of the Sinaloa Cartel.