"HEARST" for Borderland Beat
A Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG) Morelos leader, named Francisco Javier Rodríguez Hernández, alias “El Señorón”, was arrested in Mazatlán, Sinaloa.
The Mazatlán Arrest
The Morelos FGE says that their collaboration with federal law enforcement agencies led to the location and subsequent arrest of El Señorón. He was found to be staying at Torre Veleros apartment building, which is located on Pez Vela Street in the city of Mazatlán.
Navy soldiers (SEMAR) are the ones who carried out the arrest, in coordination with federal Attorney General’s Office (FGR) agents, which took place at Residencial Pacifika, just a few blocks away from the apartment building. Excelsior reports that no shots had to be fired in the operation in order to detain El Señorón.
A photo alleged to depict El Señorón in custody is being shared on social media. In the photo he can be seen standing in the back of an aircraft, flanked on either side by soldiers. He was flown out to the state of Guanajuato and will be presented before a federal judge.
At the time of his detention, there was a $500,000 peso reward being offered by Morelos authorities for any information that led to his arrest, which they announced back in July 2021.
Morelos Attorney General Carmona Gándara said the reward will not be released until all the details of the investigation and operation that led to his arrest in Mazatlán are known, meaning they will need to review if a submitted tip is what led to the arrest.
Francisco Javier Rodríguez Hernández is known by the aliases “El Señorón”,"El Colombiano", and "El XL".
He is allegedly involved with a CJNG smuggling route that transports drugs from Mexico to the United States. In a April 2022 article, El Universal reports he is also involved in local drug distribution/sale in the municipalities of Cuernavaca, Jiutepec, Puente de Ixtla, Amacuzac, Emiliano Zapata, Cuautla, and Yautepec.
The cartel groups which are currently officially acknowledged by the FGE of Morelos are: the CJNG (with subgroups like Colombianos), La Familia Michoacana, Los Tlahuicas and Los Mayas. However, as recently covered on Borderland Beat, there are still remnants of the BLO splinter group Los Rojos, Los Linos and Sangre Brava Morelense. For more details, please see this previous post.
In August 2019, the leader of the BLO splinter group Los Rojos, named Santiago Mazarí Hernández, alias “El Carrete”, was arrested.
His arrest fundamentally changed the dynamics of cartel groups within Morelos, leaving a power vacuum. The CJNG allegedly sought to capitalize on this and tried to franchise existing Morelos cartel groups who were not affiliated with bigger entities.
During the month of March 2020, an interrogation video of two subjects who were kidnapped by CJNG hitmen in Jiutepec surfaced online and covered by Borderland Beat. In the video, the two men are accused by the hitmen of being involved in vehicle, motorcycle and auto part robbery. The hitmen’s leader El Señoron warns thieves, extortionists and rapists in Morelos that he’s coming after them. At the end of the video, each man is shot in the head.
On the same day of the video’s release, the bodies of the two men were found dumped inside black plastic trash bags on Paso Express Cuernavaca highway.
Hitmen working for Señorón donated packages of food to families in Cuernavaca. The bags of supplies were labeled as a gift from El Señorón along with his personal logo, the white silhouette of a button up shirt and a hand adjusting the knot of a tie.
In the following months, police would often skirmish with hitmen that reported to Señorón who traveled in vehicles which bore his logo. These same hitmen allegedly attacked a wake, killing 10 of the attendees in the Antonio Barona neighborhood.
A video is posted in which a CJNG hitmen tells the camera that “whoever is selling narcotics here that doesn’t belong to El Señorón will be dealt with like this.” Then a captured man wearing a red shirt is seen being shot on camera.
In early July 2021, the FGE officially offered a reward of $500,000 pesos for information leading to the arrest of El Señorón. A billboard was posted on the Mexico-Cuernavaca highway which displayed the reward information and a photo of Señorón. Shortly after, the billboard was damaged by presumed hitmen from the CJNG cell. A jug of gasoline and charred weeds thought to be used by the vandals was later discovered nearby by police officers.
A week or so later, videos of hitmen giving out baskets of food and school supplies to families in Morelos was shared online. The bags again featured Señorón’s personal logo.
Towards the end of the month, police were called to a location in the town of Tlayacapan where dismembered remains, inside black trash bags, had been dumped just outside the doors of a home. There are no further details on the identity of the homeowner to help clarify why this home was selected. Similar remains were found later that week with signs warning against that this would happen to anyone selling crystal meth.
The uptick in cartel violence in Morelos led to increased efforts by law enforcement to capture El Señorón. An anonymous tip was received by the telephone line related to the $500,000 FGE reward. It gave details about a home located in the Azteca neighborhood of the city of Temixco.
The information given in the tip was deemed credible by investigators because surveillance revealed that a truck bearing the same personal logo featured on the Señorón food donations was seen on the property. Based on this information, a judge approved a search warrant for the property and authorities raided the house but El Señorón was evidently not to be found. A 38-year old man named Sergio Luis who was found on the property was brought up on minor firearm and drug possession charges.
As previously covered on Borderland Beat, on November 23, 2021, Criminal Investigation Agency (AIC) agents were driving on the Alpuyeca-Grutas highway, traveling to a location related to an active investigation. At approximately 12:05 pm, the agents happened to notice that another vehicle on the highway appeared to be full of heavily armed individuals. The agents signaled for the vehicle, a Volkswagen Cross SUV, to pull over so they could ask the armed individuals some questions, but the group instead accelerated, trying to lose them.
A high speed car chase ensued. The hitmen’s vehicle tried to make a quick turn onto the Miacatlán - Mazatepec exit of the highway but their vehicle ended up crashing into a tree. The armed group then exited their vehicle after the crash.
A gunfight between the hitmen and the AIC agents ensued, in which their driver received a gunshot wound which killed him. Three hitmen were injured in the gunfight. The injured were a 17-year-old female (because she is a minor, the name is not given), Alexander "N" 18 years old and Emanuel "N" 24 years old. Later a video which films the injured individuals and dead hitman was uploaded online.
Inside their SUV, agents found a total of 172 small black bags of narcotics which were branded with El Señorón’s personal logo. They also found a baseball cap with the name El Señorón embroidered on it.
At the beginning of this year, the governor of the state Cuauhtémoc Blanco Bravo became entrenched in scandal when a photo of him posing next to a number of cartel figures, including CJNG figures was found on the phone of a captured cartel member who went by the alias “La Jefa”.
Some of the CJNG men seen in the photo are associates of El Señorón, whereas others, like La Tripa, are from Los Tlahuicas, one of his main rivals.
Subsequent narco banner were placed addressing the photos and further accusing the governor of working with organized crime. These events were covered in multiple Borderland Beat articles, along with accusations of El Señorón being involved in the PAN political party.
What the hell was he doing in in Sinaloa cartel turf. What's the use of arresting him, that after a bribe he set free.
ReplyDeleteI'm very interested to see if any information emerges about why he was in Sinaloa. That was my first question as well.
Deleteprobably was on vacation.
DeleteGrasshoppers jumping in and out of gangas like chapulines.
DeleteHope the reward gets paid.
Pinche animal tan grandote y tan pendejo, en Morelos la gente mide 5 ft, o sea metro y medio, ya tenia tiempo practicando de rodillas para ser la Señorona Perra de la carcel.
On vacation in another cartels area, well he is welcomed but won't leave with his body together.
DeleteWas El Marro vacationing in Sinaloa with his girlfriend before he got cogido?
DeleteThe Universal article describes El Señoron's group and CJNG as having control over a significant swath of Morelos, which is a little difficult to believe. There have been a lot of killings in Zapata for a few years now, and Cuernavaca off and on, indicating that things are not as simple as one group having significant control. Tal vez El Señoron nada mas quería un respiro y un aguachile en la playa
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that the official version of just how much area El Senoron controlled seems exaggerated.
DeleteAnd we know there are more cartel groups present in Morelos than the FGE officially acknowledges, such as Los Linos and Sangre Brava Morelense.
10:54 he the foolest guy will pay for the whole bill for being a dumbass...
DeleteThey say: esto lo va a pagar el màs pendejo, y no falta quién pregunte "y porque yo???"