El Shakira, Cousin of El Chueco, Charged in 2018 Killing of US Tourist

"Socalj" for Borderland Beat

"El Shakira" was arrested during searches for his cousin "El Chueco" for the murders of two Jesuit priests and a tour guide among other crimes.

The Western Zone District Prosecutor's Office obtained a link to the process against Gilberto Portillo V, also known as El Shakira, who is accused of organized crime, aggravated homicide, and the disappearance of persons. The defendant will face criminal proceedings for the death and disappearance of the American tourist Patrick Braxton Andrew.

Patrick Braxton-Andrews was an American teacher who vacationed in Chihuahua and visited the Urique region in 2018, where he disappeared.

The United States citizen disappeared in the municipality of Urique, where he arrived on October 27, 2018, on a tourist trip and was later found dead 20 days later.

American teacher, Patrick Braxton-Andrews's body was discovered 20 days after his disappearance. He was fluent in Spanish and falsely suspected of being a DEA agent.

Residents of Urique say that Patrick was killed because the criminal group led by "El Chueco" believed that he was an undercover DEA agent, because of the trips he made to two areas located on the river bank, and because of the questions he asked as part of of his interest in the culture of the region. Patrick "asked a lot of questions" so they thought he was from the DEA. It surprised them that he spoke Spanish very well; he did not know that the party he attended was "El Chueco's" people.

El Chueco was responsible for the tourist's disappearance and death in addition to the recent deaths of two priests and a tour guide.

It is presumed that El Shakira participated with José Noriel Portillo Gil, also known as El Chueco, a criminal leader who directs a cell of the criminal group Gente Nueva, known for being the armed and operational arm of the Sinaloa Cartel in Chihuahua. A judge ordered that the accused remain under the precautionary measure of preventive detention and established a period of six months for the Public Ministry to carry out the complementary investigation.

Gilberto P.V. is guarded in State Prison number 1 Aquiles Serdán after his capture on August 08, 2022, in an improvised camp on the border between Chihuahua and Sinaloa. During his arrest, he had a .223-caliber rifle, in addition to a bag with more than 2,000 pills of the drug known as fentanyl weighing approximately 220 grams. The Prosecutor's Office managed to link him to the process for the crimes of illegal carrying of weapons for the exclusive use of the Army and Armed Forces, as well as possession of firearm cartridges.

On August 11, the arrest of El Shakira was reported during the morning conference of Andrés Manuel López Obrador. On that occasion, the undersecretary of Citizen Security and Civil Protection, Ricardo Mejía Berdeja, reported the arrest, was also identified as a direct relative of El Chueco, and is accused of being the main operator of his group.

Two Jesuit priests were killed inside their church after harboring a tour guide that was being targeted by El Chueco's men.

El Chueco is accused of the death of two Jesuit priests in Chihuahua who were attacked while trying to help a tourist. The crime happened inside a temple of the Cerocahui community. Javier Campos Morales, El Gallo, and Joaquín César Mora Salazar, El Morita, are the two Jesuit priests who were murdered in a temple in the Cerocahui community.

It is worth mentioning that José Noriel Portillo Gil is still a fugitive, but there are already several detainees who bring the authorities closer to his capture, for example, at the end of July, agents from the Army and the Chihuahua Prosecutor's Office arrested El Chueco 's first cousin.

Sources Infobae, Borderland Beat, Borderland Beat, Borderland Beat

Graphics by HEARST