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.

Murder details 

Zacarias, her significant other, and two other women, were returning from an event held by the mayor when he was killed. As Zacarias was paying for his parking spot, a man approached him from behind and shot him at point-blank range four times.

 

One of the bullets went through his right check. The gunmen then fled the scene in a 2009 Honda, and investigators say they were paid assassins from the CJNG. The vehicle was abandoned a few blocks from where the attack took place.

People who were present at the time of the killing tried to stop Zacarias' bleeding but were unsuccessful.

Investigation 

According to the investigation, Zacarías had ties with Ismael Gómez Sierra, 'El Chiquilin', (former municipal police officer), identified as the second-in-command of the CJNG in Tecate; El Chiquilin was arrested in July 2020, and Zacarias began a new working relationship with 'El Moreno'. El Moreno was left in command of this CJNG cell once El Chiquilin was behind bars. Investigators say Zacarias notified 'El Moreno' about the operations local security forces conducted against the CJNG in Tecate.

In late 2020, 'El Moreno' left the CJNG and joined the Sinaloa Cartel along with Zacarias. This desertion was headed by former CJNG member Alfonso Trapero Ibarra, 'El Trapero'. Investigators say that Tijuana Cartel hitman Pablo Edwin Huerta Nuno, 'Flaquito', also joined the Sinaloa Cartel with them. The Tijuana Cartel and the CJNG are believed to be working together in some parts of Baja California against the Sinaloans.

Evidence found at the crime scene points to the possibility that the CJNG was responsible for killing Zacarias.

The mayor said that she saw a man sweeping the street in front of the municipal hall that may have been involved in the murder. She said that the man looked suspicious and was wearing the same clothes as one of the hitmen.

So far in 2021, there have been 41 homicides in Tecate. Violent murders in the city have increased from 2019 to 2020. In January of last year, 8 murders were committed while 33 were committed this January.

Profile 

Zacarias, 36, was in a romantic relationship with the director of the Municipal Institute for Women, Adriana Barrera Hernández. Together they were the parents of a minor and an unborn baby.

According to his colleagues, Zacarias had several businesses in Tecate, Mexicali, and Tijuana. In Tecate, he had a painting workshop for cars; in Mexicali he had a ranch in the outskirts of the city; and in Tijuana he owned a tire shop. However, per the Public Registry of Property and Commerce of Baja California, none of these properties were under his name.

Zacarias entered politics in 2018 and had plans to become mayor of Tecate after the 2021 elections. Reporters from the Zeta weekly newspaper in Tijuana said that Zacarias' resume was not available in any public record.

"Files covering his public office trajectory do not exist", the newspaper said.

Tecate mayor Olga Zulema Adams Pereyra said that Zacarias was an "activist" who enjoyed going to rural areas with her to help low-income families.

Zacarias had a strong presence in local and state politics. At every event the mayor appeared in, Zacharias was there. When Tijuana mayor Arturo González Cruz was sworn in, Zacarias was there. When the two mayors met with Governor Jaime Bonilla Valdez to issue a public complaint, Zacarias was also present. 

Source: Semanario Zeta; Proceso