CAF El Lobo Leaves Narcomanta Claiming Police Collusion With CDS Aquiles In Tijuana

"HEARST" and "Sol Prendido" for Borderland Beat

Recently, a narco sign from the Cartel Arellano Félix (CAF) was left warning the Secretary of Public Security that one of his direct subordinates was colluding with the Sinaloa Cartel and going to try to overthrow him in Tijuana, Baja California.  

On October 17, 2021, a narco banner was placed over the Alba Roja bridge. The sign was reported to the 911 emergency phone line by 11:36 pm at night and police officers were dispatched to the area to remove the sign. Before officers were able to arrive in the area and take down the banner, someone evidently took a photo of it which was later uploaded to social media. 

Zeta Tijuana weekly, along with multiple social media accounts, have written out the full text of what witnesses report the message was. The narco message sign read as follows, as translated by Sol Prendido:

This message goes out to 02 Ascorbe and the minions of 03. Along with all the districts as well. 

02 Ascorbe, we already know that you’ve made a pact with the Aquiles crew and that you want the position as Secretary [of Public Security] since you have told everyone that you were going to be the new Secretary.

You placed 03 Madrid in the Floridos-Mariano's sector so that you could order 03 Madrid to release all of Aquiles’ men.

In the same manner you also placed 03 Chaves in Otay Mesa to knock out drug loads that the Aquiles mob set up for you. Which in turn you sell to them. Much like the 60,000 pills that you knocked out of the production line. You only paid him off for 2,000 of those pills. The other 58 thousand were turned over to you by 02. 

You also ordered 03 Gochi to steal those kilos of cocaine in Playas de Tijuana. 

Here, lately, you’ve been saying that you’re going to take out the Secretary because you have a good godfather. Aside from this, you’re already selling off the districts because you claim you’re going to overthrow the new Secretary and that you’re going to be in charge of all the Tijuana Municipal Police.

02 Ascorbe, remember when you were boss in the Sanchez Taboada borough, and you would ask for help in order to avoid having dead bodies? You were so good at extending out your hand, asking for assistance. 

With all due respect Mr. Secretary watch your back with that cooperating trickster. This problem of ours isn’t against you guys. But it is against Ascorbe, Madrid, Chaves, and Gochi. Furthermore, I will kill off those cooperating tricksters. 

From,  

El Cabo 20 

 

The narcomanta primarily revolves around warning about the dealings of “Ascorbe” which may refer to Arturo Ascorve Ruvalcaba, according to a recent Zeta Tijuana article which alleges that . 

Arturo Ascorve is currently the Tijuana Municipal Police Deputy Director of Operations, making him a direct subordinate of the Tijuana Municipal Police chief. As noted in the narcomanta later, Arturo Ascorve used to work as the head of the Municipal Police of the Sánchez Taboada delegation, which is a section of Tijuana city.   

Back in 2016, the publication PSN en Linea wrote that “Ascorve Rubalcaba remains in command despite his low performance, his low productivity in terms of safety.” 

They wrote that he was given this position as head of the delegation because he was a close, personal friend of Director of the Municipal Police, at the time, Carlos Gómez, adding “since it should be remembered that they have been working together since the current congressman Jorge Ramos was mayor of Tijuana, during which time they were part of his personal escort.”

During Arturo Ascorve’s time as head of Sánchez Taboada, he was accused of torture, extortion and the interrogation of a female, 13 year old minor who had allegedly witnessed thugs attempt to extort and later beat her father when he was unable to pay a 4,000 peso extortion fee. Various aspects of her interrogation broke standard protocol which required a female officer to be present during the time of the interrogation. 

Later that year, PSN en Linea reported that police director Carlos Gómez resigned from his position due to widespread criticism of his delegation appointees, with Arturo Ascorve for Sánchez Taboada and Carlos Morquecho for Centro specifically being named as some of the worst offenders. 

It is worth noting that this October 2021 narcomanta denouncing Arturo Ascorve is not the first of its kind. Ascorve has in fact been named and targeted by narco message signs multiple times this year. 

At roughly 1:00pm on April 2, 2021, the discovery of mutilated human remains along with a narco message sign on Mar Muerto Street in the Camino Verde neighborhood was reported to the emergency phone line. Police arrived on scene and found a green plastic bucket with a plastic bag of human remains at the location. The sign, according to a Zeta Tijuana article, read as follows: 

This message goes for 02 Ascorbe and all the faggot groups. Along with X38. 

You’re all stealing merchandise here and there. Calm the fuck down! This will be your only warning. 

Sincerely, 

La Mera Verga

At approximately the same time, it was reported that on Cruz del Sur street, human remains were found inside a plastic bag  accompanied by a yellow cardboard sign, with the exact same narco message as the Mar Muerto sign. 

According to information obtained by Zeta Tijuana reporters, this message (much like the October 2021 message) refers to Arturo Ascorve Ruvalcaba, despite the spelling differences (“Ascorbe” vs “Ascorve”).

Alfonso Arzate González, alias "El Aquiles", reportedly leads a Sinaloa Cartel (Cártel de Sinaloa, CDS) group in the state of Baja California alongside his brother René Arzate García, alias “La Rana”. 

Aquiles allegedly began his drug trafficking career over a decade ago. He entered into the drug trade by working as a supplier and collaborator of a CAF cell led by Luis Fernando Sánchez Arellano, alias "El Ingeniero" (or “The Engineer”). Following the 2014 arrest of El Ingeniero, Aquiles allegedly joined the ranks of CDS. He is widely believed to be more associated with the El Mayo side of CDS. 

Of note, the Municipal Police department of Rosarito, another city in Baja California, has been accused in recent narcomantas of colluding and kidnapping on behalf of El Aquiles’ CDS group. For more information, please see this previous story.

The narcomanta, ostensibly, is trying to warn the Secretary of Public Security that his direct subordinate Arturo Ascorve is not only working for a CDS group but is also seeking to overthrow him. The narcomanta alleges that Ascorve wishes to have the position of Secretary of Public Security for himself and that Ascorve has been telling other officers that he will be the new secretary. 

The narcomanta goes as far as to imply that Ascorve brags that the current Secretary will be taken out because Ascorve has a “good godfather”, likely referring to the drug lord El Aquiles himself. 

The current Secretary of Public Security is José Fernando Sánchez González. Secretary Sánchez González has only taken on the mantle of Secretary on October 1, 2021, earlier this month, after having been approved by the city council of Tijuana.

The narcomanta is signed by “El Cabo 20”, which is another alias used for “El Lobo”, David López Jiménez. El Lobo was a member of a Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG) group based out of Tijuana. 

El Lobo reportedly left the CJNG due to the erratic behavior of one of the bosses Héctor Manuel Morales Guzmán, alias “El Gallero”, as well as a growing distrust of the CJNG organization due to an internal cleansing of Tijuana leadership. 

El Lobo was then famously persuaded to join the CAF by Pablo Edwin Huerta Nuño, alias “El Flaquito”, the leader of a CAF subgroup. Flaquito’s choice to “poach” El Lobo (despite him being on the CJNG’s blacklist) reportedly caused tension between his group and the CJNG which were trying to maintain a non-aggression pact at the time. The pact later dissolved and Flaquito’s CAF group is currently thought to be working under the Sinaloa Cartel’s Los Chapitos faction in Tijuana.

El Lobo is believed to be a direct subordinate under El Flaquito, with Lobo leading his own group of CAF men with an operation in both Ensenada and Tijuana.

Sources: Tijuana Online, Zeta Tijuana 

Background Sources: Zeta Tijuana Article 1, Article 2, Article 3, Article 4 , Article 5, AFN Tijuana, Punto Norte, PSN en Linea Article 1, Article 2, El Sol de Tijuana