BLO Leaves Mutilated Torso With Narco Message Threatening CIDA, in Acapulco, Guerrero

"HEARST" and "Sol Prendido" for Borderland Beat  

A BLO group left dismembered human remains along with a sign threatening Cartel Independiente de Acapulco (CIDA) in the beach city of Acapulco in Guerrero. 

Warning: Graphic photos below this point.

The Remains and Sign

At approximately 6:00 am on the morning of Sunday, January 23, 2022, police were alerted that drivers had discovered human remains and a narco sign left on a highway in the city of Acapulco, a beach resort city on Mexico's Pacific coast. The city lies within the southeastern region of the state of Guerrero.

The discovery was made at a major intersection of two highways, where Highway 200 crosses over Highway 95, on the far eastern side of the Las Cruces neighborhood. 

Officers were dispatched to the reported location and they indeed found a dismembered human body near a cab stand, in the direction of La Sabana. Alongside the remains were multiple narco message signs, some neon green, one white. Unfortunately, photos of all the signs are not currently available online.

The message seen on the white sign in the photo above reads as follows, as translated by Sol Prendido:

Beto Rodriguez,

Stop supporting Panadero. The only ones in charge here will be the absolute Rusos. The human hunt has just begun. 

The “Panadero” being referenced in the message likely refers to Marcos Parra de Jesús, alias “El Panadero”, who is a cartel plaza boss from the group Cartel Independiente de Acapulco (CIDA). El Panadero reportedly controls the Acapulco neighborhood of La Venta.

The “Rusos” who signed the message are believed to be men who belong to a Beltran Leyva Organization (BLO) group that is currently led by Jesús Orlando Rodríguez, alias "El Ruso 2".

An Overview of CIDA Cartel History

CIDA emerged after a split occurred within the BLO in December 2009, when Arturo Beltrán Leyva was gunned down, the BLO was split between Héctor Beltrán Leyva, alias “El H” and Edgar Valdez Villarreal, alias “La Barbie”. 

Some of the BLO cartel members in Acapulco, who were associated with leaders like Isidro Juárez Solís, alias “El Kirri”, and Gamaliel Aguirre Tavira, alias “El Güero Huetamo”,  split off from the national organization after they were dissatisfied with the leadership of La Barbie’s successor and father-in-law, Carlos Montemayor González, alias “El Charro”.

These BLO dissidents formed their own independent group: CIDA. The first major leader of CIDA was Moisés Álvarez Montero, alias “El Koreano”.

Following the August 2011 arrest of El Koreano by officers from the Federal Police, the leader of CIDA becomes less clear cut, with some modern retellings of CIDA history misattributing Ricardo Reza García, alias “El Reza”, as the leader however his role within the organization was merely as a head of hitmen. The most likely leader at this time was Carlos Antonio Barragán Hernández, alias “El Melón”.

By at least 2013, Víctor Aguirre Garzón, alias “El Gordo”, took over overall leadership of the group. El Gordo allegedly had strong political connections due to being the cousin of the former governor of Guerrero, Angel Aguirre Rivero, according to Excelsior. 

Then on March 10, 2015, in spite of his political influence, El Gordo was arrested without a shot being fired while he was in the city of Progreso, in the state of Yucatan. 

In the aftermath of El Gordo’s arrest, two potential leaders fought to take over control of CIDA Freddy del Valle Berdel, alias “El Burro”, and Félix Alejandro Magno Acevedo, alias “El Correcaminos”. 

Both men had loyal followings within CIDA and the support of other important lieutenants. El Correcaminos had the support of his brother Irving Magno Acevedo, alias “El Pantera” and “El 14” who was leading CIDA operations for the state of Oaxaca. El Burro had the support of CIDA lieutenant David Canek Palma Analco, alias “El Deivid”.

El Burro reportedly sought to reconnect with the BLO organization, with Milenio newspaper writing that he “regrouped with the Beltrán Leyva brothers' organization”, in order to give himself an edge within the internal CIDA war. El Correcaminos was forced to leave the city of Acapulco and he changed his center of operations to the state of Puebla while he fought to retake Acapulco from El Burro. 

2016 - The Year of Arrests

During the year 2016, many leaders of Acapulco groups were arrested and then subsequently their immediate subordinates, who had just taken over leadership, were also arrested. 

In January 2016, El Correcaminos was arrested in Ecatepec, in the state of Mexico by officers of the Federal Police. Correcaminos was sentenced to serve 12 years in prison. 

On April 23, 2016, El Burro was arrested. The next day, in retaliation for his arrest, El Burro’s hitmen attacked a hotel near the famed Caleta beach that was housing federal police officers. The aggression was repelled but then the hitmen fled, the hitmen fled, starting a chase along the Miguel Alemán coastal avenue that led to three simultaneous shootouts in the main tourist area in Acapulco.

Videos of these shootouts were widely circulated and became emblematic of how violent Acapulco had become. El Burro’s second-in-command El Deivid took over leadership of the Burro’s group. 

Source: Lo Real de Guerrero, reuploaded on Youtube

However, only 12 days after the arrest of El Burro, El Deivid was captured by Federal Police officers. In July 2016, a judge released El Deivid from custody but he was then immediately recaptured by agents from the state Attorney General's Office (FGE) and brought up on charges again. 

During all this infighting within CIDA in 2015 -2016, a BLO lieutenant who was working under Héctor Beltrán Leyva, alias “El H”, took advantage of the moment and made an aggressive push to retake control of Acapulco for the BLO. The lieutenant was named Juan Carlos Rodríguez , alias “El Ruso”, and with the support of his brothers, he developed a revived BLO presence in the city and declared war on CIDA.

Early into his campaign for Acapulco, on July 22, 2016, El Ruso was arrested by Federal Police in the Villas Paraíso neighborhood of the city. El Ruso’s second-in-command Benito Escalante, alias “El Benny”, then took over control of the Acapulco BLO group, which came to be known as “Los Rusos” (and unrelated to the Sinaloa Cartel group led by Jesús Alexander Sánchez Félix). However, by November 2016, El Benny was arrested.

El Correcamino's Time in Prison

When El Correcaminos went off to prison in 2015, having been ordered to serve his time at a prison located in Juárez city, Chihuahua, it was reported that he left José Ángel Palacios Galeana, alias “El Capuchino” in charge as the overall caretaker of CIDA.  

El Correcaminos also portioned out territory to each of his top lieutenants, giving them an Acapulco neighborhood to take care of on his behalf while he was away. 

Marcos Parra de Jesús, alias "El Panadero" or “The Baker”, was left in control of the La Venta neighborhood. Josué Vladimir Palacios Galeana, alias “El Cacho” was left in control of the region around Caleta beach. Of note, El Cacho is the brother of El Capuchino. Javi Daniel Cervantes Magno, alias “El Barbas”, was left in control of the Morelos neighborhood.

The María de la O, Derrumbe, Mozimba, Las Cruces, Renacimiento, and Zapata neighborhoods were given to other subordinates of Correcaminos like Hermilo Blanco Rodríguez alias “El Milo” and Antonio Muñoz Lara, alias "El Bolillo”.  

In February 2018, El Barbas became well known for his alleged participationin the murder of a Yotuuber named Pamika Montenegro Real (known as "Nana Pelucas"). According to GR Medios TV, El Barbas planned on overthrowing El Capuchino so he secretly approached the leaders of the Acapulco CJNG group, suggesting they work together to kill El Capuchino. The CJNG group allegedly responded by abducting and executing El Barbas. 

On August 20, 2018, cartel members from El Panadero’s group attacked state police officers, leaving five of the officers injured. In response, there was a major law enforcement crackdown and multiple raids targeting organized crime occurred within the La Venta neighborhood that El Panadero controlled. 

Then on August 25, 2018, over 150 residents of the La Venta neighborhood protested by standing on the main federal highway which tourists use to access the resorts and physically blocking vehicular traffic, which disrupted the main economy of the city. The protest was supposedly done in defiance of the recent operations by state police officers and soldiers from the Army (SEDENA) in La Venta. 

The governor, Héctor Astudillo Flores, alleged that the demonstration was actually a kind of narco-blockade organized by El Panadero. The governor’s administration asserted that armed hitmen had gathered the La Venta residents and forced them to protest with threats of violence. 

On August 11, 2020, El Capuchino was arrested on charges related to the homicide of three people, leaving CIDA without an overall leader but not for long.

El Correcaminos Released From Prison

After serving only five years of his 12 year prison sentence, a judge released El Correcaminos from prison. For more details on his release, please see this previous story by MX. Whether or not El Correcaminos retook overall power of CIDA upon his return or was met with some resistance is unclear. 

It is clear, however, based on the January 23, 2022 narco message sign left along with the human remains, that although some of the lieutenants El Correcaminos left in charge like El Milo have been arrested, some others like El Panadero are still actively controlling neighborhoods for CIDA. 

The BLO group Los Rusos did not end after the arrest of El Ruso and El Benny in 2016. According to a January 2022 article by Sur Acapulco, they currently hold a large part of Acapulco bay.

They are currently believed to be led by Jesús Orlando Rodríguez, alias "El Ruso 2". Some notable members of Los Rusos include: Jared Marquez Parra, Pedro Santos Cruz, alias "El Pino", and Antonio Rodríguez Soriano, alias “El Toño”. 

Los Rusos are also currently fighting Los Talcos for control of the Costa Chica in the municipalities of Marquelia, Copala, Las Vigas, Cruz Grande and San Marcos.

Sources: El Sol de Acapulco, Quadratin, Sur Acapulco, Lo Real de Guerrero, El México Real

Background Sources: Proceso Article 1, Article 2, La Jornada, Milenio, Article 2, Article 3,  La Cronica Vespertino de Chilpancingo, BB: El Reza Arrested, Vice, MVS Noticias, GR Medios TV , Pagina Siete, El Financiero, Infobae, El Tiempo Monclova, WSJ, Insight Crime, Zona Franca, La Jornada, Vanguardia, Business Insider

Acapulco Rusos Sources: El Financiero, Noroeste, MVS Noticias, Proceso, Sur Acapulco Article 1, Article 2