Sinaloa Cartel Gente Nueva del Tigre Second-in-Command Arrested in Chihuahua ~ Borderland Beat

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The second in command of the Sinaloa Cartel group known as Gente Nueva del Tigre, Jesús Omar Cortés Gutiérrez, alias "La Changa", was arrested after a violent shootout in Chihuahua with the State Investigations Agency (AEI) members, which left one of the AEI so badly injured that he was airlifted out for medical treatment.

Now a judge has approved that La Changa will be held in jail until his trial, a positive step in the journey towards convicting and sending La Changa to prison.

Back in May 14, 2021, the District Attorney for the Zona Occidente (western zone of the state) Jesús Manuel Carrasco Chacón named three key figures from the Sinaloa Cartel subgroup Gente Nueva del Tigre who they say were major priority criminal targets. The three named were Edgar Gamboa Sosa, alias “El 11”, “El Tigre Blanco”, or “El Virolo”, who is the overall leader of the del Tigre group.

They also listed two of El 11’s top lieutenants: Víctor Hugo Vázquez, alias “El Chilango”, and Jesús Omar Cortés Gutiérrez, alias “La Changa”.

La Changa was described as the right hand man of El 11 and he is considered to be the second in command of the del Tigre group. He sometimes goes by the aliases "El Comandante" and "El Z-84". He is reportedly 31 years old. Diario de Juárez reports that after the death of “El 100”, La Changa was given control of the plaza in Cuauhtémoc and has been in control of the city ever since, reporting as a direct subordinate to El 11.

He has two warrants out for his arrest for the crimes of kidnapping and forced disappearance of individuals in events that occurred between 2019 and 2020.

The Attorney General's Office reports that La Changa has multiple other open investigation files for various crimes, mainly homicides and robberies with violence committed in the city of Cuauhtémoc. One of these open investigations relates to the September 7, 2021 massacre of 9 men who were in a house in the Periodista neighborhood of Cuauhtémoc. For more details on that event, please see this story.

Then, on August 27, 2021, an intense shooting took place in the municipality of Cuauhtémoc, Chihuahua. Initial reports said that armed men from Gente Nueva del Tigre who were traveling in four or five vehicles attacked the District Attorney Jesús Manuel Carrasco Chacón, the same man who named the three leaders publicly as criminal targets.

Chacón’s bodyguard reportedly repelled the attack of the cartel hitmen which occured on a stretch of the Gómez Morín freeway.

Later, Attorney Carrasco Chacón stated that the shooting was not a direct attack against him, but rather as a response to an operation which almost captured a top Gente Nueva leader. He clarified that the shooting occured because he was personally leading the actions of an operation which sought to detain a criminal target in the Western zone.

He stated that no officers were injured in the shootout with Gente Nueva, that the official government vehicles involved, including the armored car he was in, were damaged by the impacts, but no injuries were reported.

The regional prosecutor stated that the operation he was personally overseeing at the time of the attack was a follow-up on a lead that developed from an investigation that had been going on for several days which aimed to locate and arrest specifically Jesús Omar Cortés Gutiérrez, alias “La Changa”.

Carrasco said that the target was finally located inside a vehicle on Mangos street, in the Delicias neighborhood in the city of Cuauhtémoc.

Officers of the State Investigation Agency (Agencia Estatal de Investigación, AEI) began following La Changa’s vehicle from a distance in order to avoid detection and to avoid a confrontation breaking out in the urban area. Carrasco added it was especially important to law enforcement not to close in yet because there was a lot of traffic on the streets which could have led to civilian casualties.

AEI officers continued to follow from a distance until La Changa’s vehicle reached the outskirts of the city with the target’s vehicle almost reaching the Manuel Gómez Morín highway. After seeing La Changa’s vehicle drive closer to the highway, which would enable his fast escape, the officers rapidly accelerated and closed in on his vehicle. They caught up with his vehicle a few minutes before 9:00 pm at night, at the height of the Ingenierías road.

When the officers tried to stop La Changa’s vehicle, a major shootout took place, not only did the AEI call for reinforcements, reportedly the Gente Nueva hitmen also called for reinforcements. The confrontation was reportedly so long that both sides received support from new armed men arriving at the site. Carrasco said that around five vehicles with armed men were involved on behalf of Gente Nueva by the end of the battle.

At some point, the shootout evolved into a car chase which continued on the Manuel Gómez Morín highway up to the Juárez road.

Vehicles from both sides were taking such heavy bullet damage that even the specially modified and armored white Ford Expedition SUV of the District Attorney general broke down and ceased to be able to drive due to the damage it received to one of its tires.

The chase reportedly continued on despite the District Attorney’s vehicle breaking down near the Cuauhtémoc Olympic Stadium, as the support of elements of the State Security Commission arrived and Carrasco Chacón boarded their vehicle in order to continue the pursuit of La Changa’s vehicle as it drove into the municipality of Carichí, in the direction of Bacaburiachi. Eventually they lost sight of his vehicle and the chase ended, with La Changa getting away.

Diario de Juarez writes that “the last five years have been a time of terror for the entire area from Cuauhtémoc to San Juanito, and from Guerrero to Madera. The entire Mennonite corridor, with tens of thousands of inhabitants, has been taken over” by Gente Nueva del Tigre.

La Changa reportedly had so much influence over the police and military in the Cuauhtémoc area that according to Diario de Juárez, La Changa was able to return to the city of Cuauhtémoc following the huge shootout with the AEI. He reportedly returned to a safe house in the middle of the city, without being disturbed by local authorities despite all the heat the car chase should have brought down on him.

However the brand new State Attorney General Roberto Javier Fierro Duarte made it a priority to take down La Changa. (Not to be confused with another famous Duarte from Chihuahua, César Horacio Duarte Jáquez, the former governor turned fugitive.)

Arrest warrants were drawn up in relation to a suspected location where La Changa may have been staying. Diario de Juárez writes that corrupted state police officers and infiltrators into the planning from other law enforcement corporations almost jeopardized the outcome of the plan on multiple occasions, saying “there was no lack of subtle protest even in the location of the safe house and the way to raid it,” adding “Prosecutor Fierro and his commanders should spend less time considering the criminals they were targeting, and more time considering which police officers they were involving.”

On September 23, at approximately 3:00pm, members of the AEI approached a home that was believed to be used as a safehouse, located on a street between the Los Frailes and Campo Real subdivisions in the heart of Cuauhtémoc city.

An entry team AEI agent was injured when he broke down a door and received gunshots in his shield that bounced off his shield, ricocheting into his shoulder. But the AEI team kept pushing forward and a shootout began between the bodyguards of La Changa, covering La Changa exit, while he made his way to an armored Mercedes vehicle. However, La Changa eventually surrendered, likely due to his vehicle being blocked in or due to the volume of fire.

The injured entry team member was transferred via the helicopter Halcón 1, which landed right in front of Alsuper de la Juárez and Pacheco streets, where he was rushed into the helicopter in order to be flown to the state capital for immediate medical attention

In addition to the arrest of La Changa, the AEI successfully arrested three more people, including a woman and the chief of hitmen from "La Changa", who will also be prosecuted for attempted homicide against police officers.

Then on September 25, 2021, the three male detainees were presented before the Control Judge Eduardo Alexis Ornelas Pérez in the criminal chambers of Aquiles Serdán's prison #1 (CERESO). The judge approved the preventative detention of Jesús Omar Cortés Gutiérrez, alias “La Changa”, Francisco “UB” and Adolfo “CO”, for the crimes of homicide in degree in attempt and possession of firearms for the exclusive use of the Armed Forces.

Sources: El Puntero, El Diario de Juárez Article 1, Article 2, Article 3, Article 4, Article 5, Article 6