THE SECRETS OF "EL AZUL"

Posted on Borderland Beat forum by Arm Chair Intellect

by Ricardo Ravelo

Mexico, D.F., April 17-Peacemaker of Mexican Drug Lords, skilled in negotiations, has worked for years to put an end to long-standing conflicts within Mexico's underworld.  His name, Juan José Esparragoza Moreno, or El Azul, AKA the blue.  Few can claim to have survived more than four decades in drug trafficking.  Today he is the most discreet and, at the same time, the most effective in the fixing both social and financial problems in Mexico narco underbelly.

Since 1992, when he was released from the Almoloya de Juárez prison after serving a seven year sentence, he vanished.  No one knows of his whereabouts, although whispers through song sing of his adventures; claims he has been seen in Queretaro - once a stronghold - another claim is in 2003  he was seen in Morelos, under the aegis of the Government Pan headed the Governor Sergio Estrada Cajigal.

But in Mexico few speak of him and little is known, in United States the Federal Bureau of investigation (FBI) regarded him as the second  most wanted international criminal in 2005, only behind the terrorist Osama Bin Laden. Currently El Azul appears on the FBI's most wanted list and has been well known amoungst law enforcement.

On 12 February of that year, Art Werge, spokesman for the FBI in El Paso, Texas, announced that there was a reward of $ 5 million for anyone who provides information that leads to the capture of Esparragoza Moreno, who at the time was identified as one of the main leader of the Juárez cartel.

A FBI spokesman said that the capo, "Has had the ability to form well-organized structures involving officials, police and military, including important commanders of the Mexican army". 

He added that the agency, "Considers him one of the key men in the Mexican drug world by his contacts within Colombian's drug trafficking world and with logistics to transport cocaine to United States", according to the newspaper La Jornada.

The FBI say Esparragoza Moreno is very dangerous, is always armed and has a strong security team which looks after him. In Mexico, the perception of the authorities is quite different: they assume that El Azul is more prone to negotiation than other more violent narcos.

HISTORY

Juan José Esparragoza Moreno is barely younger than "El Mayo" Ismael Zambada (1948)  and older than Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman (1957).  He was born on February 3, 1949 in Chuicopa, Sinaloa, and is one of the few survivors from a generation of narcos who are now dead or imprisoned.  Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo, Rafael Caro Quintero, Ernesto Fonseca Carrillo (Don Neto), Emilio Quintero PayanManuel Salcido Uzeta (Cochiloco) and Pablo Acosta Villarreal, to name a few.

The next generation of drug traffickers who inherited power was also advised by Esparragoza Moreno. In this group include Vicente Carrillo Fuentes, Albino Quintero Meraz and even own Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, who were partners with El Azul in the Juarez Cartel, he is now at the service of the Sinaloa Cartel.

According to the psychological profile prepared at the end of the 1980s, during his imprisonment, Juan José Esparragoza Moreno is a person to be avoided, though he has not been known for violent confrontations and executions. He often says: "The business of drug trafficking is not with bullets".

Tarín Chávez, a protected witness in the trial of general Francisco Quiroz Hermosillo, accused him of being linked to the Juárez cartel. In a conversation with El Azul, they talked in length about the business.

 "On one occasion Juan José Esparragoza Moreno came up to me and asked me, "Can I have a moment?   I bring you a very warm greeting of general Francisco Quiroz, who is my very dear friend.  He said that the business is not compatible with the deaths of those that would be missed… '"

In 1998, José Luis Santiago Vasconcelos, then owner of the specialized unit in organized crime (UEDO), developed a profile of Esparragoza Moreno and Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo. The second said that it was El Azul is the most seasoned of bosses. "There is no other capo like him", he told the reporter.

Azul was profiled as: "A great negotiator, perhaps patient strategist who has had a hold on drug trafficking in Mexico.  He was the only man who has been able to sit at the negotiating table for most drug traffickers.  Like few others, he likes to be in second position, because his experience has taught him becoming boss means death or jail".

A sample of his conciliation ability was the negotiation between a dozen of drug traffickers, Capos from the Gulf and Juarez cartels, ironed out blocks to stave off continued heat in late 1993, it was successful, for a short time.

The pact was called "The Peace of the North" because it put an end to a long period of killings and betrayals between both criminal organizations.

This managed to reduce the tensions that could be felt from Ciudad Juárez and Tamaulipas, and lead to a more robust border area for Mexican drug traffickers.

At the same time, according to official data, El Azul reached out and helped create the Federation.  This federation included most of the strongest and most influential Cartels to date.

El Azul did not try to complete the desire of Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo  to build a monopoly of drug trafficking in Mexico.

After the death of Amado Carrillo Fuentes in July 1997, who died of a botched plastic surgery, Esparragoza Moreno didn't stay in Juarez for long, he soon left for Sinaloa after leaving jail in 1991.

Instead he spent a decade building closer ties to the Beltran Leyva brothers and Ismael El Mayo Zambada, his old acquaintances. The game changed in 2001, when Joaquin El Chapo Guzman escaped from Puente Grande penitentiary.  This was when relations broke with the Juarez cartel, Azul lost respect for the leadership of Vicente Carrillo Fuentes.

According to a letter dated in October 2004 which was received by the President, several capos met a month earlier in Monterrey, Nuevo León, to discuss how they could establish hegemonic group to handle the drug trafficking in Mexico.

Drafted by a witness of that encounter, the Charter ensures that El Azul was able to sit at the table with Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, Joaquin El Chapo Guzman and Arturo Beltran Leyva, among others.

The idea was to plan the murder of Rodolfo Carrillo Fuentes (brother of Amado, Vicente Carrillo) and blame it on to another Cartel, Los Zetas, which was challenging Carrillo Fuentes family and the empire they created.

The new members of the Sinaloa Cartel believed that they only owed loyalty to Amado Carrillo, and not to the other members of his family, after his death many left, many felt Vicente Carrillo neglected command of the cartel and lost confidence.

At the meeting of the federation, El Azul also raised the idea to get rid of Los Zetas.

Coupled with the evidence above, another point critical objective of the cartel of Sinaloa Cartel was to control the golden triangle and to kill or exterminate Los Zetas, while leveraging the power of economic staff, coupled with the support from the highest level of government.  They were to use the full weight of their corrupted federal officials against Los Zetas. 

They would take advantage of Government for the purpose and aim to conduct all activities with impunity.  Its predominant activities, specifically were those related to drug trafficking.  This being Ismael Zambada, Arturo Beltrán Leyva, Chapo Guzmán and Juan José Esparragoza Moreno, El Azul. They intended to monopolize drug trafficking and create a single cartel drug, the Sinaloa Cartel.

At that meeting it was also agreed that they would penetrate the plaza of Nuevo Laredo. The man responsible for that operation was a U.S. born, Edgar Valdez Villarreal, La Barbie.   Arturo Beltrán, who was his boss died at the end of year 2009 in Cuernavaca, Morelos, during a shootout with members of the Marina.

Esparragoza Moreno seems to have been on the move; proven when the DEA confirmed that the Sinaloa cartel and the Gulf - deadly rivals for decades - came to an agreement and consolidated both cartels in most parts of the country. 

In response, Los Zetas broke relations with the the Gulf cartel, and allied themselves with the Juarez and Tijuana cartels.

Corrupter Of Power

In addition to his negotiating capacity between traffickers, Juan José Esparragoza Moreno has also managed to corrupt governors, senior police and military officers.  An example of this is in the State of Morelos, where in 2004 he brought under his influence the then Governor Sergio Estrada Cajigal.

The power of El Azul in Morelos had no limits: had police agencies are for his personal use and for the protection of his partners and family members. According to research conducted by a crew in Morelos, Nadia Esparragoza Gastélum, daughter of El Azul, was romantically linked with the Governor Estrada Cajigal.

Esparragoza also enjoyed protection from Agustín Montiel and Raul Cortez, heads of the ministerial police of Morelos, Cuernavaca airport.  They used to bring down planes loaded with drugs that were then later transported in trucks protected by  police patrols, according to the PGR.

The relationship between El Azul military isn't a secret. He has had a long standing relationship with the generals Francisco Quiroz Hermosillo and Jorge Maldonado Vega. In a recording you can clearly hear Esparragoza Moreno talking with Maldonado Vega, in the early 1980s when he was still in Juarez.

Javier Barba Hernández, a member of the cartel of Guadalajara, who attended the University of Guadalajara and subsequently was sent to work for the major drug traffickers.  Maldonado Vega had the order to burn six tons of marijuana by the army in Guadalajara, but beard Hernández asked an interview to the military to negotiate the drug to be handed over to the Judicial Police of the State. At that meeting, which was attended by El Azul and Hernández,  they offered up to 5 million dollars. "All you have to do is deliver the shipment to the Judicial Police," He was told. But Maldonado Vega refused to negotiate in his ministerial testimony.

The drug is not negotiable: I'm going to burn and I demand respect for my work. If any of you gets close, I'm going to arrest on the spot - said the general energetically.

These are güevos, my general, allow me to you kiss the hand - El Azul commented ironically. He then rose from his seat and turned to him. He took the hand and gave him a kiss as a sign of recognition of his authority. The next day the drugs were burned in Tequila, Jalisco.

This portrays the capo as a character, which is humorous, and likes partying, yet another feature in his personality, as was confirmed among people who knew him.   Esparragoza Moreno likes to walk all  "blinged  up with shiny hair" in the style out of the 1970s.  He likes alcohol, and playing cards, one of his favorite pastimes while imprisoned along with Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo and Amado Carrillo.  He is fond of the dark glasses of the Ray Ban brand, sportswear and enjoys exercising.

There are few photographs of Esparragoza Moreno, but during the searches made by the PGR they found some. In one El Azul appears in the hallway of his home in the northern style cloths and mustache and cropped hair. In another picture, published in the Edition 1098 issues of process, he is accompanied by Boxer Julio César Chávez and the then-head of the Juarez Cartel, Amado Carrillo Fuentes.

"Why El Azul has survived so many years in the business?", asked a man who requested anonymity.

He is a very skillful capo. He is liked by all. He murders but does not by murder senselessly. He dislikes violence.  He only kills for the money.  He is a kingmaker of drug traffickers, to be respected.

Translated from the Spanish language article in El Orbe ( a reprint from Proceso)