Culiacán Police Chief is Given a Send Off Reserved for Narcos

Lucio R for Borderland Beat -contributed by Siskiyoukid and BB archives

At the funeral a corrido was played dedicated to Pedro Avilés, the notorious pioneer of drug trafficking in the golden triangle, called "The End of Clave 7",

On Saturday, May 21, Culiacán security director Héctor Raúl Benítez Verdugo was gunned down at a home, near where he lives in the neighborhood of Lomas del Bulevar, in Sinaloa's capital city.

Benítez Verdugo was killed, while sitting in  white Toyota Camry in front of the parking area of  a home on Lago de Texcoco street in the Lomas de Bulevar neighborhood. Police recovered 18 shell casings from an AK-47 or "cuerno de chivo" rifle.

It has been reported that a person with Benítez Verdugo was wounded,  he has been identified as a cousin of the security director. At the scene of the crime, the deputy attorney general for the state, Martín Robles Armenta, confirmed the identity of the deceased, and said that Benítez Verdugo had just arrived at the home when he was attacked by armed men.  

Last Tuesday, the 17th of May, Benítez Verdugo had been relieved of his duties as security director for the city of of Culiacán, as part of a restructuring of the city's security strategy. This came following attacks which resulted in the deaths of two transit police and a municipal police officer, in separate incidents at the beginning of the month.

Yesterday, on Monday at 3:00 PM, a funeral mass was held for Benítez Verdugo at St. Jude's cathedral, a half a block from where he was killed, in the Lomas de Bulevar neighborhood. The ceremony was heavily guarded by state and municipal security forces.

Not one public official was present at the funeral mass.

At the end of the ceremony, a band outside the cathedral began to play a corrido dedicated to Pedro Avilés, the notorious pioneer of drug trafficking in the golden triangle, called "The End of Clave 7", which memorializes the death of the famous narco at the hands of special police unit called Clave 7.  Pedro Avilés was the father-in-law of the recently deceased police chief.

Three days earlier, which was five days after the security director's dismissal, a group of heavily armed men arrived at the home of some politically connected relatives, including his mother-in-law, and they killed the chief. 

Who was Pedro Avilés?

Pedro Avilés Pérez aka "El León de la Sierra", (the lion of the Sierra),   was a doctor in Sinaloa, who in the 60’s  became the first generation of major Mexican drug traffickers of marijuana.  Originally, from the state of Durango,  he was  a pilot who pioneered the use of aircraft to smuggle drugs into the United States. 

On September 15, 1978, Aviles was killed by federal agents on the road to Tepuche, in the city of Culiacan.  He was intercepted and disarmed by the feds, who  then killed him.

According to authorities, the leader position of Pedro Aviles was given to Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo, currently imprisoned, who emerged as the boss of bosses. the chief of the then so called  "Federation". The second generation of narcos included; Amado Carrillo Fuentes, Héctor Luis Palma Salazar, Joaquin Guzman Loera, Ismael Zambada Garcia, Ernesto Fonseca Carrillo, Rafael Caro Quintero, Manuel Salcido Uzeta, Rafael Aguilar Guajardo and Juan Jose Esparragoza Moreno.

Fonseca was the treasurer of the Aviles organization. Rafael Caro Quintero was the lieutenant for Aviles Chihuahua. The corruption of state officials was first promoted by capo Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo, known as “El Padrino” (The Godfather).  Félix Gallardo spent time in Sinaloa working as state police, Sinaloa and acted as guard of Leopoldo Sanchez Celis, governor of Sinaloa.

Pedro Avilés Pérez, marked the beginning of powerful capos in Mexico, who trafficked drugs on a large scale. He was the uncle of the current leader of the Sinaloa cartel Joaquin Guzman Loera alias  “El Chapo ".

The 2001 film" La Clave 7 "( Key/Code 7) " is the story of the efforts of the Navy of Mexico to stop Pedro Avilés Pérez.