El Primito vs El Pezón & El Flaco Sierra in La Frontera Chica, Tamps

"HEARST" for Borderland Beat

In the wake of the execution of El Calamardo as covered by Socalj and the release of an audio clip of Gulf Cartel members discussing a divide as covered by Sol Prendido, it appears that the growing cartel turmoil in northern Tamaulipas has evolved into an all out war between two factions of the Gulf Cartel subgroup Los Metros. 

This turmoil is further compounded by the rival group Cartel del Noroeste (CDN) who are applying pressure to a Los Metros leader, as seen in the audio clip covered by Sol last night wherein CDN’s K1 says he intends to kick Los Metros out of Tamaulipas entirely.

(UPDATE 3:30 PM CST: K1 may have been misreported as a CDN members when he is actually another Los Metros member)

The threats K1 makes follow months of intermittent skirmishes between Los Metros and CDN members in the area of La Frontera Chica, most especially in Miguel Aleman where in June 2021 a clash left 9 cartel members dead, dumped on a road.

The following is intended as a basic overview of the relevant context for what’s currently going on in the northwestern Tamaulipas border region.

The Area and Los Metros

“La Frontera Chica”, or “La Ribereña”, is an area in northern Tamaulipas along the US-Mexico border that is made up of the municipalities of Guerrero, Mier, Miguel Aleman, Camargo and Diaz Ordaz. The Gulf Cartel leader in charge of holding them is believed to be “El Primito”, who is part of the cartel’s subgroup Los Metros.

Meanwhile Los Metros leader Miguel Ángel Álvarez Campos, alias 'M-54' is believed to be in charge of holding Reynosa for the group, according to a June 2021 Milenio article. Los Metros currently have an alliance with the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generation (CJNG). 

As a basic overview of the conflict, on one side there is a group led by “El Primito” versus another side led by “El Flaco Sierra” and “El Pezón”. El Primito is believed to have recently suffered the loss of two lieutenants “Comandante Sánchez” and “Comandante Leno”, both widely believed to have been killed by armed men working for the El Flaco Sierra and El Pezón.

El Primito's Side

According to leaked National Guard intelligence data covered by MX in this story, César Morfín Morfín, alias “El Primito” or “M300” was born in 1987 in Colima, Mexico, making him 34 years old during the writing of this story. At least two of his three younger brothers are believed to be involved in cartel activity. They are Alvaro Noe Morfín Morfín, alias “R8” and Remigio Morfín Morfín, alias “El Remy”. 

His mother, Maria De Jesus Morfín Galvan’s side of the family is believed to hail from the McAllen, Texas area. His father Remigio Morfín Moreno comes from Jalisco. There is a prevailing association between Primito and the state of Jalisco. This may mean that despite Primito being born in Colima, he may have grown up in Jalisco. 

El Primito does not have a criminal record according to the intelligence leak but he does have up to 10 known properties that are located across Tamaulipas, Colima, Mexico City and Jalisco. He is also believed to be supporting Alfredo Alemán Narváez, alias “Comandante Alemán”.

El Primito is believed to have ordered the death of Armando Daniel León García, alias “El Metro 90” or “El Choco”, who was killed while he was in Nuevo Leon in May 2021. El Choco was considered to be one of the Los Metros top operators at the time so El Primito’s ability to have Choco killed spoke to his rising level of power within the Gulf Cartel. Some possible motives for his execution include El Choco’s rumored involvement (alongside El Pezón and El Boludo) in a 2019 attempted coup d'état against El Primito.

One of the prominent lieutenants working under El Primito was Commandante Leno” or “Leno Vega” (unclear if alias or actual name). Leno Vega was alleged to originally come from Carachurio, in the state of Guerrero.  His name did not appear on a 2018 list of CDG’s comandantes which may mean he was lower rank at the time within the cartel structure, he was not with CDG at the time or he has changed his alias since 2018. 

He has a narcocorrido dedicated to him called EL LV by Gerardo Díaz. He was reportedly killed by men working for the rival Los Metros group led by El Flaco Sierra and El Pezón. A video was shared on social media of El Leno Vega’s funeral on September 4, 2021. Whether this was the first upload or a reupload is unclear. In the video hitmen are seen firing guns almost as a cartel-version of a 21 gun salute. 

Another prominent lieutenant was a man known as “Comandante Sánchez”, who is originally from the state of Michoacán. Now Sánchez did appear on the aforementioned 2018 list, unlike Leno, which suggests Sánchez has been involved with the CDG for at least three years prior to today. It is currently rumored but not confirmed that Sánchez has been killed. 

On September 3, 2021, Reynosa Codigo Rojo reported rumors that Sánchez and Leno wanted to betray El Primito. Sánchez was also rumored to have betrayed Primito during El Pezón’s earlier 2019 attempted coup against El Primito. Whether either of these rumors were true or false is unclear at this time.

El Pezón & El Sierra Flaco's Side

                            

Luis Miguel Gonzalez Mercado, alias “El Flaco Sierra” or “El M31” is believed to originally come from the San Fernando area. He is a well known and established Gulf Cartel leader. Notably, in 2018 when Grupo Escorpion was moving to try to take Reynosa, some reports alleged El Flaco fled to  Miguel Aleman, abandoning the remaining Los Metros members in Reynosa. 

According to La Jornada, El Flaco Sierra was captured in Reynosa in June 2018 alongside Ángel Francisco Martínez, alias “El Pako”. Pako was identified by United States authorities as being one of the Gulf Cartel coordinators of drug shipments from Tamaulipas to southern Texas. At the time of the arrest in 2018, Flaco Sierra was considered a priority cross-border target for law enforcement. Four hours of narco blockades occurred in Reynosa, Tamaulipas in protest of their arrest. 

Despite the effort required in order to arrest El Flaco Sierra, he seems to have been quietly released from prison not too long after as locals report that he is still actively leading a Los Metros cell. 

This short sentence may have been due to the PGR only managing to secure charges of possession of illegal firearms against him despite having accusations against Flaco for homicide, kidnapping, extortion and drug trafficking, according to El Universal. El Flaco is alleged to be the voice heard in the recently released aforementioned audio clip covered by Sol.

Alongside El Flaco Sierra in leading the group against El Primito is El Pezón. He was included on the 2018 list of CDG comandantes so there is at least a few years of confirmed history within the cartel structure. 

El Pezón is believed to have tried to overthrow El Primito before, in 2019 after forming an alliance with Jesús Iván Castellanos Alanís, “El Boludo” and the aforementioned Armando Daniel León García, “El Choco”.

El Pezón is also believed to have infamously led the group that executed on video "El Gordo Sexy" in July 2019 in the La Frontera Chica region. 

El Calamardo's Death

So who is El Calamardo and how does his death fit into this Metros dispute? José Alfredo Hernández Campos, alias “El Calamardo” or “El M27” was the alleged Los Metros plaza boss of Diaz Ordaz, which is across from the Texas communities of Los Ebanos and La Grulla. Calamardo reported to El R8 directly, who in turn reports to his brother El Primito. 

Calamardo was wanted on multiple criminal charges which include: drug trafficking, human smuggling, kidnapping, attacking law enforcement officers, and the taking down of surveillance cameras. Citizen journalists have stated that El Calamardo lives in Reynosa and has been seen hanging around in the Las Cumbres and Las Fuentes areas.

On July 12, 2021, El Calamardo was arrested by members of the Special Operations Group (GOPES) in his home territory of Díaz Ordaz, Tamaulipas. According to local media, El Primito offered a million dollars to the authorities who detained El Calamardo in exchange for releasing him.

On July 13, 2021, it was reported that armed gunmen had broken El Calamardo out of police custody. According to police sources and eye-witnesses, Calamardo was in custody at the Tamaulipas State Police detention center in Reynosa when armed men wearing military garments went in to release him. The gunmen arrived in at least five (5) vehicles and threatened the officers at gunpoint to release him.

It is believed that the Gulf Cartel carefully planned the operation. When gunmen went to the detention center to release him, others carried out a series of road blockades across Reynosa and dumped tire spikes in several neighborhoods simultaneously. This prevented security forces from swiftly responding to the incident and distracted them.

Video allegedly depicting part of the CDG operation to free Calamardo.

As covered by Socalj, on September 3, 2021, El Calamardo was killed when he and some of his gunmen encountered SEDENA soldiers near the border of Camargo and his home territory of Díaz Ordaz and a confrontation broke out between the two groups. Calamardo was reportedly shot by SEDENA members.

One image of the incident shows Calamardo lying in the back of a pickup truck. Proceso reports that Calamardo was photographed in the pickup truck because following his death, members of his group managed to grab his body before it could be transported away for autopsy. 

So it is believed that El Primito valued El Calamardo so highly that he offered a million dollars in exchange for his release and Primito possibly was the one who approved the high risk operation that it took to break Calamardo out of custody, risking a potential crackdown from law enforcement in the area as a reaction.

And yet, confusingly, there are currently persistent rumors that El Primito also orchestrated El Calamardo’s death.

Lending some credence to these rumors, Proceso, in the same article that reports Calamardo’s death, mentions that “It was reported that Comandante Calamardo and the CDG faction he commanded had clashed on several occasions with other assassins of César Morfín, El Primito, who commands the same cartel cell in Reynosa.”

There are a number of possibilities, some of which include:

1. The rumors that El Primito offered a million dollars to free El Calamardo were false and the two men were not on good terms at the time of Calamardo's arrest. Men loyal to Calamardo were the ones who freed him in July and Primito was uninvolved.

2. El Calamardo betrayed or upset El Primito in the time between his July 13, 2021 escape from custody and the time of his death on September 3, 2021.

3. El Primito no longer felt Calamardo was more useful to him alive due to a change in the last few months (other than a betrayal by Calamardo) such as an organizational restructuring. 

Sources: La Jornada, Reynosa Codigo Rojo, El Universal Article 1, Article 2, Milenio, Valor Tamaulipeco, Reynosa Código Rojo, Proceso

Borderland Beat Articles Referenced: Los Metros Leader "M-27" Executed, K1 Threatens César Morfín, “I Don't Want Gunfire Or Gossip",  El Sierra Flaco, El Flaco Arrested,The Butchery Continues, 2018 List of CDG’s Comandantes