La Línea Executes 9 CDS Gente Nueva Del Tigre Men, Cuauhtémoc Update

"HEARST" for Borderland Beat

As an update to Sol’s story yesterday in which 9 men were reportedly killed in Cuauhtémoc, Chihuahua, newspapers are now reporting that according to their sources inside the State Attorney General’s Office the nine men killed were members of Sinaloa Cartel’s Gente Nueva del Tigre.

The sources also say that the perpetrators who killed the nine were members of Nuevo Cartel de Juárez, which is a subgroup of La Línea. This version of events greatly differs from the official press statement that the State Attorney General’s Office released. 

Some of the facts not in question are that at approximately 4:30 pm on the afternoon of September 7, 2021, the emergency phone line received multiple calls reporting the sound of dozens of gunshots in the Periodistas neighborhood of Cuauhtémoc.

When the authorities arrived they found nine men executed. Photos show the men lying on the ground outside. All of the deceased had multiple gunshot wounds and with at least one of those wounds to the head. 

So what are the two versions of events? And why do those working within the Attorney General’s office tell a diverging narrative when acting as anonymous sources?

The official press release was sent out on September 7, 2021, during the same day that the attack occurred. It read as follows: 

The District Attorney's Office in the western zone began investigations to find the whereabouts of those responsible for the death of nine men in a house in Colonia Periodistas. 

 

The investigating agents went to the patio of a house on Novena and Nayarit streets, where they found the bodies of the nine lifeless men, who had wounds caused by firearm projectiles. 

 

According to initial investigations, the victims, between 25 and 30 years old, were at a party and were grilling outside when they were attacked. 

 

The bodies of the deceased have not yet been identified [...] According to the version of witnesses, around 4:00 p.m. several subjects arrived at the house on board of three pick up vehicles, carrying long weapons, who immediately went to the backyard where they shot at those present. 

 

At the scene several percussion casings of 7.62 x 39 millimeter caliber firearms were found. The bodies were taken to the Forensic Medical Service for the autopsy and identification. 

 

The most important thing to note in the statement is the claim that the men were grilling together outside, implying a kind of social gathering that all had voluntarily arrived at. 

According to a Reporte Cuauhtemoc article, the prosecutor of the western zone of Chihuahua, Jesús Manuel Carrasco Chacón, added that at the time of the massacre of 9 people yesterday, they were celebrating the birthday of one of the victim’s, Brayan Gonzalo's 18th birthday.

Proceso seems to have chosen to relay the press release version, writing that “armed individuals broke into a house [..] and executed nine people who were in a gathering.” Similarly news agency REDACCIÓN, which is reprinted on site like Noticias en la Mira, reported that ‘an armed group broke into a family gathering

The newspaper El Heraldo de Chihuahua reported on the same day as the press release, September 7, that according to investigating agents at the State Attorney General's Office, La Línea obtained information on nine different men who belonged to Sinaloa Cartel’s Gente Nueva del Tigre and were distributing drugs in the area. 

Based on the intelligence they gathered about the nine men, La Línea members were able to locate and individually kidnap each man, one by one, over the course of the morning and afternoon of September 7, 2021. All of the men were said to have been kidnapped from various locations within the city of Cuauhtémoc. Heraldo’s sources clarify this is based on several reports that investigation agents received from the western Chihuahua area. 

They were then taken to the home where they were later found deceased and executed by the members of La Línea. This version, notably has the men arriving at the location under very different circumstances. It has some different implications about the complexity of the attack as well.

The victims are alleged to have belonged to the Sinaloa Cartel group Gente Nueva del Tigre. This group Gente Nueva del Tigre is allegedly led by Edgar Alfredo Gamboa Sosa, alias “El Tigre Blanco” or “El 11”. 

Cuauhtémoc is one of the municipalities in Chihuahua with the most turbulent cartel history, having been fought over countless times by various groups. El Tigre Blanco has a particularly strong grudge against La Línea already, as Línea is suspected to have been behind the killing of his brother Raul Gamboa Sosa, alias “El Cabo” after the falling out with the organization.

The municipalities currently thought to be under the control of Gente Nueva del Tigre are: Nonoava, Cusihuiriachi, San Francisco de Borja, Carichí according to February 2021 article by El Heraldo de Chihuahua.

According to intelligence from the State Attorney General's Office, at the beginning of 2021, El Tigre Blanco formed an alliance with another Sinaloa Cartel figure José Noriel Portillo Gill, alias “El Chueco”. El Chueco is believed to control Urique and parts of Creel municipalities. 

According to the aforementioned State intelligence, their alliance was because both leaders sought to take control of the region north of Urique up to the city of Cuauhtémoc away from the control of La Línea. 

As previously covered on Borderland Beat, between July 20 to July 25, 2021, there were ten dead men found in nearby Guerrero municipality. All ten were presumed to have been casualties of the battles occurring between La Línea and the El Chueco/El Tigre Blanco alliance. Since the start of 2021, at least 48 deaths have already been attributed to battles in occurring in Chihuahua between the two allied CDS leaders and La Línea.

The names and ages of the nine deceased have recently been released by authorities and they are: 

Fredy Q, 34 years old 

Hipólito HD, 28 years old 

Alan LB, 29 years old 

Adam QH, 25 years old 

Armando GP, 36 years old 

Brayan Gonzalo VR, 18 years old 

Javier CQ, 18 years old 

Luis BC, 18 years old 

Carlos CR, 34 years old

 

Sources: El Heraldo de Chihuahua Article 1, Article 2, Bajo Palabra, Proceso, El Diario de Chihuahua Article 1, Article 2, Article 3, Noticias en la Mira, La Opción, Regeneración, La Lista

Background: BB - First Five Killed, Second Five Killed, El Heraldo Reports on State Intelligence