Blog dedicated to reporting on Mexican drug cartels
on the border line between the US and Mexico
.

Friday, January 17, 2025

Man who procured guns, ammo for Sinaloa Cartel sentenced to nearly 20 years

 "Char" for Borderland Beat 

Prosecutors said Keith Rodriguez Padilla obtained powerful guns and ammunition for the Valenzuela trafficking organization that was part of the Sinaloa Cartel

This information was posted by THE SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE 

WRITTEN BY: ALEX RIGGINS 

JANUARY 14, 2025



When federal agents raided an Otay Mesa truck yard linked to the Sinaloa Cartel in 2020 they discovered more than $3 million in cash and more than 1,500 pounds of cocaine, as well as a tractor-trailer loaded with 20,000 rounds of .50-caliber ammunition, which is so powerful it can pierce a concrete wall, disable a vehicle or shoot down a helicopter.

Prosecutors alleged that ammunition was headed for Mexico, where drug trafficking groups have used .50-caliber machine guns and sniper rifles to try to outgun each other, as well as government security forces. Specifically, prosecutors said the ammunition seized in Otay Mesa was headed to a Sinaloa Cartel faction with deep roots in San Diego that was locked in a bloody internal power struggle with a rival bloc.

On Monday, the man who procured the 20,000 rounds of ammunition for the cartel, 39-year-old San Bernardino County resident Keith Octavio Rodriguez Padilla, was sentenced in San Diego federal court to 19 years and six months in prison.

Rodriguez, who prosecutors said used the moniker “Taliban,” pleaded guilty in 2023 to four federal conspiracy charges involving cocaine importation and distribution, money laundering and firearm and ammunition smuggling. He was prosecuted as part of a broader investigation into the Valenzuela Transnational Criminal Organization, which prosecutors described as “a significant component” of the Sinaloa Cartel.

“(Rodriguez) played a vital role supplying high-powered military grade ammunition to the (Valenzuela) TCO,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Sutton wrote in a sentencing memorandum


Federal agents raided an Otay Mesa truck yard in November 2020, discovering cash, drugs and some 20,000 rounds of .50-caliber ammunition. Keith Octavio Rodriguez Padilla admitted that he procured the ammunition for a faction of the Sinaloa Cartel. (U.S. Attorney’s Office via U.S. District Court filing)

The probe of the Valenzuela organization, dubbed Operation Baja Metro, is an offshoot of Operation Narco Polo, an even larger and longer-running investigation of the Sinaloa Cartel. Prosecutors have charged hundreds of people linked to those investigations and secured guilty pleas from members of the Valenzuela family who have admitted to leading the crime group.


Authorities say that in 2020, Jorge Alberto Valenzuela Valenzuela and his sister Wuendi Valenzuela Valenzuela, a Chula Vista restaurateur, stepped up to lead the organization after the slaying of another brother who was the logistics and financial operator of a money laundering network for longtime Sinaloa kingpin Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada. Since the 2016 arrest of Zambada’s longtime partner, Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, the Valenzuela organization and other factions of the Sinaloa Cartel loyal to Zambada have been locked in a vicious internal war with factions loyal to Guzmán’s sons, collectively known as Los Chapitos.

Defense attorney Megan Foster acknowledged in a sentencing memorandum that the Valenzuela faction of the cartel “is incredibly dangerous and responsible for unspeakable acts of violence, money laundering, and drug trafficking on both sides of the border.” But she argued that Rodriguez’s only role was sourcing ammunition for a contact who he only later learned was a “heavy hitter” in the cartel.


“Little did he know that said contact was extremely high up in a TCO being investigated by federal law enforcement officials,” Foster wrote. She said Rodriguez’s guilty plea to the cocaine and money laundering charges was based exclusively on that co-conspirator’s criminal activities, not any actions Rodriguez personally engaged in.

“Mr. Rodriguez never bought or sold drugs for the TCO,” Foster wrote. “He never laundered or transported any money for the TCO … He never committed a violent act on behalf of the cartel. He never built tunnels or flew planes or drove trucks for the TCO.”

But Sutton urged U.S. District Judge Andrew Schopler to not take Rodriguez’s conduct lightly, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a statement that Rodriguez and his co-conspirators supplied the Valenzuela organization with .50-caliber rifles, submachine guns, grenade launchers and “assault style rifles,” as well as tens of thousands of rounds of ammunition.

“The majority of firearms and ammunition trafficked into Mexico — including high caliber and assault weapons — are shipped from the United States,” Sutton wrote. “… These weapons and ammunition empower drug cartels to intimidate local communities, challenge state authority, and expand their deadly drug trade back into the United States. Tragically, some of these weapons and ammunition have been used against Mexican security forces bravely seeking to capture cartel leaders.”

Another man who admitted to supplying guns to the Valenzuela organization was sentenced in 2023 to 15 years in prison. Rodriguez’s lengthier sentence was based in part on his criminal history, which included two domestic violence convictions and qualified him as a “career offender.”

The leaders of the Valenzuela organization have pleaded guilty but not yet been sentenced. Jorge Valenzuela is scheduled to be sentenced in April while Wuendi Valenzuela is scheduled to be sentenced in June.



SOURCE: THE SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE 


Thursday, January 16, 2025

Mexico Offering Gun Buyback Program

"Socalj" for Borderland Beat
From a CBS News Article


Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Friday officially launched a campaign to crack down on the number of weapons on the country's violence-wracked streets.

The plan, called "Yes to Disarmament, Yes to Peace," will offer cash to those who anonymously leave weapons at designated drop-off locations, including churches.

Gun owners will get 8,700 pesos ($430) for a revolver, 25,000 pesos ($1,200) for an AK-47 rifle and 26,450 pesos ($1,300) for a machine gun. The firearms are then to be destroyed.

Clash in Costa Rica was between armed civilians; 2 military personnel injured: Sinaloa. JANUARY 15, 2025

 "Char" for Borderland Beat 

This information was posted by LOS NOTICIERISTAS

WRITTEN BY: DIANA CRUZ 

JANUARY 15, 2025


Culiacán, Sinaloa - The confrontation that took place in the Costa Rica syndicate on the night of Tuesday, January 14, was between armed civilians and left 2 military personnel wounded for repelling the attack, informed Verona Hernández, spokesperson for the Secretariat of Security.

The spokeswoman explained that the shots were reported by the population to 911 and the first to arrive were military personnel.

For his part, the Secretary General of Government, Feliciano Castro Meléndrez, explained that at around 11:00 p.m. military personnel arrived at the scene of the confrontation, when they were attacked and responded to the aggression, leaving two soldiers wounded.

“Around 11 o'clock last night in Costa Rica, where defense personnel received an aggression, they responded to this aggression and two members of the military forces were wounded, fortunately slightly,” he said.

The Secretary informed that the military personnel who were wounded in the attack are not seriously injured and have already been discharged.

Following this confrontation, two vehicles were secured in the area; however, the armed men fled the area.

It should be recalled that the first information was that this confrontation was between civilians and the authorities.


FOLLOW-UP 
BY: CHAR 




Wednesday, January 15, 2025

US Prosecutors In Talks with El Mayo for Plea Deal in New York

 "Socalj" for Borderland Beat


U.S. prosecutors said Wednesday that they’re discussing a potential plea deal with Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada. Mayo also expressed his desire to retain his lawyer Frank Perez despite a possible conflict should Vincentillo Zambada be a potential witness in a future trial. Perez had defended Mayo's son before.

Assistant U.S. attorney Francisco Navarro said the plea discussions with Zambada, a leader of Mexico’s powerful Sinaloa cartel, haven’t borne fruit so far, but prosecutors want to keep trying. A judge scheduled an April 22 hearing for an update.

Zambada’s lead attorney, Frank Perez, declined to comment on the discussions.

Singer Natanael Cano Cancels Concerts After Being Threatened by Los Mata Salas in Hermosillo, Sonora

"Socalj" for Borderland Beat


The performances in Jalisco were cancelled after the narcomanta was found in Hermosillo, Sonora on January 5. The group Los Mata Salas accused the artist and other singers of financially collaborating with Los Salazar, a breakaway cell in conflict with the Los Chapitos faction of the Sinaloa Cartel.

Family of 'La Familia Michoacana' Leadership Distributes Toys In Palos Altos, Guerrero

 "Enojon" for Borderland Beat 

Amy Katilia Hurtado Hernández (daughter of ‘La Familia Michoacana’ (LFM) leader Johnny Hurtado Olascoaga ‘El Pez’) distributed toys to local residents on January 6th as part of the Día de los Reyes Magos celebrations at a school in the Palos Altos town of Arcelia, Guerrero. 

Through her social media Hernández would publish a recording of her giving out toys from a station set up at the school’s basketball court alongside her son–Olascoaga’s Grandson–stating she’s “showing him to share”. Although she did not disclose where the event was held, we confirmed where it occurred after searching regions where La Familia Michoacana is known to have a presence. Finding a school whose infrastructure matched what was shown in the recording. 

(Censored image of the event published by Hernández)

Tuesday, January 14, 2025

Signal Jamming Systems to be reinforced in Jalisco prisons

 "Char" for Borderland Beat 

This information was posted by INFORMADOR.MX 

Lemus announced that the inspections will continue in the state's prisons, as was done in recent weeks in Puente Grande and Puerto Vallarta.

By: Marck Hernández

January 10, 2025 - 8:15 PM



The governor of Jalisco, Pablo Lemus, recognizes that there are multiple irregularities in the prisons of Jalisco, among them, in the signal jammers.

The governor announced that there will be a purchase of this equipment, noting that they detected that those located in some penitentiary systems such as Puente Grande are not working properly.

“We are already buying the signal inhibitors to avoid that, at least from our prisons, these extortion calls do not go out (the inhibitors) are not working properly and that is why we are going to put these new signal inhibitors to prevent these calls from being made”.
Lemus said that the inspections will continue in the state's prisons, as was done in recent weeks in Puente Grande and Puerto Vallarta.

On the other hand, the governor highlighted that some good results have been achieved in security matters, for example, with the arrest of the two assailants of a public transportation truck in Tonalá, the arrest of municipal police officers from Poncitlán accused of forced disappearance or the re-incarceration with federal forces of a prisoner who escaped from Puente Grande.


SOURCE: INFORMADOR.MX

Extortions from Puente Grande: Jalisco

 "Char" for Borderland Beat

This information was posted by INFORMADOR.MX

By: Jaime Barrera

January 14, 2025 - 03:50 am


Some years ago, based on public denunciations and journalistic works, the high levels of corruption in the state prisons of the Puente Grande penitentiary nucleus were pointed out, due to the criminal self-government that has controlled them for years and that we will have to see to what extent it persists at present. A high-ranking police chief confessed to me, disconcerted and irritated, his impotence to control the use of the signal inhibitors and thus put an end, in addition to the wave of extortions that began to be committed against the population from the prisons, to the communication to the outside, with which detained criminal leaders continue to orchestrate their gangs in their various criminal activities.


“It takes me longer to go out to the free highway to Zapotlanejo, after supervising and leaving on all the signal inhibitors in the different penitentiary centers so that no one can make use of the cell phones that are introduced irregularly, when they stop working again,” he admitted to me in a clear recognition of the powerful and great web of corruption and government complicity that allows the prisons, with extortion and other abuses with people deprived of their freedom, to become an inexhaustible source of resources that strengthens criminal groups.

Given all this background, the announcement made last week by Governor Pablo Lemus that all signal jammers will be renewed is not an underage matter, after the new commanders of the General Directorate of Prevention and Social Reinsertion (DGPyRS) detected, barely a month into his administration, that telephone extortion has been registered from inside the Puente Grande prisons.

To put an end to this criminal activity, which is a whole illegal industry that leaves them juicy profits, in addition to renewing the jammers and entrusting them to officials who are not part of this corrupt scheme, they should also investigate whether or not the so-called “aunts' rooms”, which are nothing more than a kind of “call center” that they have inside the various prisons, are still functioning or not, in which they operate fixed telephones from where the inmates co-opted by the mafias randomly call families pretending to be their “nephews” so that they deposit money, or in the worst case, extort them for the kidnapping of a loved one they deceived of having one of their own captives.

If these actions succeed in combating and eradicating extortion from these prisons, the Lemus government could also be taking a big step towards recovering security in the state, retaking control of the prisons in Puente Grande.




Two civilians deprived from freedom freed and five men arrested with arsenal in Mazatlán: Sinaloa

 "Char" for Borderland Beat 

This informatiion was posted by RIODOCE 

Author | Editor

Date | January 13, 2025

Time | 8:31 am


Local and federal authorities achieved the release of two people who had been deprived of their freedom and the arrest of five men who were seized with an arsenal, drugs and armored vehicles in Tecomate de la Noria, in Mazatlán, during surveillance patrols.

Sunday, January 12, 2025

FOLLOW-UP: "El Ceviches” was tried for four federal crimes; he will be in the Metropolitano prison from which he escaped: Jalisco

 "Char" for Borderland Beat

This information was translated and reposted from EL OCCIDENTAL 

He will remain in the Metropolitano prison from which he escaped in the middle of Christmas.


Elizabeth Ibal

César Fabián “N”, alias “El Ceviches”, will be remanded in custody after a federal judge sentenced him to trial for four federal crimes.

The crimes for which he was prosecuted were possession of a firearm, possession of cartridges for, against health and use of false public documents.

This, after he was captured last Friday on Benito Juarez Street, in the Centro neighborhood of Tonala, allegedly in possession of a 9 millimeter firearm, cartridges, methamphetamine and a false voter's credential.

The judge decided that César Fabián must remain in preventive prison for the duration of the process, for this reason he was interned in the Metropolitan Prison, from which he escaped last December 25.

During the early hours of the morning, Cesar Fabian was transferred again to the Puente Grande penitentiary complex, aboard an armored Rhino type vehicle belonging to the State Security Secretariat, to be placed at the judge's disposal.

“El Ceviches” was arrested in 1999 but escaped for the first time in 2001 after being arrested; in 2020 he was captured again for the crime of aggravated kidnapping and organized crime.


Follow-Up: Under heavy security, “El Ceviches” Of The "CJNG" Cartel was transferred to Puente Grande, from where he has escaped twice.

 "Char" for Borderland Beat

This information was translated and reposted from EL OCCIDENTAL 

The Public Prosecutor's Office will request his transfer to a maximum security prison to prevent him from escaping again.

SATURDAY JANUARY 12, 2025


Elizabeth Ibal

Cesar Fabian “N”, alias “El Ceviches”, was transferred to the Puente Grande penitentiary complex, from where he has escaped on two occasions, most recently last Christmas.

Saturday, January 11, 2025

It was fake news! Authorities rule out the arrest of José Ángel Canobbio, alias “El Güerito” in Sinaloa. El Guerito Principal Adviser Of Ivan Archivaldo Guzman Salazar Leader Of La Chapiza Cartel.

 "Char" for Borderland Beat 

This information was posted by LOS NOTICIEIRISTAS

WRITTEN BY: ERNESTO GUTIERREZ 


Culiacán, Sinaloa.- Although the rumor of the arrest of José Ángel Cannobio Inzunza, alias “El Güerito” has been circulating in the last few hours, the authorities have ruled out his capture.

The spokesperson for the Government of the State of Sinaloa, in matters of security, Verona Hernández, reported that neither the person arrested in the Zapotillo, Mocorito incident nor the one captured in the Limón de los Ramos incident were a priority target.

“It is not possible that this person who is indicated in some media as being arrested as part of these events is the person. From the Secretariat of Public Security we have no information so far of a priority target who has been arrested in this event,” she said.


For his part, the Secretary General of Government, Feliciano Castro Meléndrez, also ruled out the capture and asked for the publication of unverified information.

“There is no such arrest, this information is totally false. Let us promote the truth, there are many speculations, many inventions,” he said.


Who is José Ángel Canobbio Inzunza, alias ‘El Güerito’?



The United States Department of Justice points to ‘El Güerito’ as one of the operators in the criminal organization Los Chapitos, the faction of the Sinaloa Cartel led by the sons of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán.

He is accused of coordinating logistical activities for drug trafficking and security as head of “Los Chimales,” an armed protection group for the organization of Guzmán Loera's sons.



FOLLOW-UP
BY: CHAR 

JOSE ANGEL CANOBBIO INZUNZA 
EL GUERITO 
EL 90











Katana Sword secured with a 50-caliber Barret in Zapotillo, Mocorito, had blood stains: Sinaloa

 "Char" for Borderland Beat 

This information was posted by LOS NOTICIERISTAS

WRITTEN BY: EDUARDO PEÑA

JANUARY 11, 2025



Culiacán, Sin.- Among the weapons seized during the operation deployed by federal security forces in the community of Zapotillo, Mocorito, a Katana with blood stains was found, reported Verona Hernández Valenzuela.

The spokeswoman for the State Public Security Secretariat commented that the weapon was located in the same place where a lifeless person was found.

“It is an instrument that was found in the place where the body of a lifeless person was found, one of the kidnapped people who was in the home and this instrument was found with blood stains,” she explained.

In addition to the Katana, two Barret 50-caliber rifles and a Browning 50-caliber machine gun were seized at the site.


SOURCE: LOS NOTICIEIRSTAS 

Friday, January 10, 2025

Former Wagner Group Mercenary Arrested Illegally Crossing Rio Grande

"Socalj" for Borderland Beat 


US Border Patrol arrested a former Russian mercenary, Timur Praliev, in Texas as he waded across the Rio Grande. He was carrying two passports (one Russian and one Kazakh), $4,000 USD, 60,000 pesos, and a drone.

Timur Praliev, 31, was detained by US Border Patrol agents on January 4 near the border town of Roma, Texas, after crossing the Rio Grande into the United States and told the agents he was a citizen of Kazakhstan, U.S. federal court records show. It is against Kazakh law to have dual citizenships, as evidenced by his Russian passport and a recently received veterans ID in Russia.

Thursday, January 9, 2025

63 bags with human remains in Lomas del Refugio grave, in Zapopan: Jalisco

 "Char" for Borderland Beat 

This information was posted by EL OCCIDENTAL 

On Wednesday, 15 bags were located

WEDNESDAY JANUARY 8, 2025 

Román Ortega

Agents from the State Prosecutor's Office and experts from the Jalisco Institute of Forensic Sciences resumed excavation work this Wednesday at the clandestine grave in the Lomas del Refugio neighborhood, in Zapopan, where 63 bags with human remains have been located since it was located on December 13 by members of the Luz de Esperanza (Light of Hope) collective.
Hector Flores, founder of the collective, said that they were working until December 24 because there was no more backhoe, which was needed for this work.

“It was necessary to ask the Chief of the Cabinet of the State of Jalisco, through him, the Secretary of Agriculture lent a backhoe so that they could continue the work today.”
Héctor Flores indicated that today the State Government finally provided the heavy machinery so that the agents of the State Prosecutor's Office and the experts of the Jalisco Institute of Forensic Sciences could continue with the search work.

He indicated that as a result of this Wednesday's work, 15 bags with human remains were found, for a total of 63 since the work began last December.
“Today 15 bags and one bone remains were found and in total there are 63 bags, tomorrow the work will continue in the grave here in Lomas del Refugio, in Zapopan”.
The discovery occurred on December 13 in a property located at the intersection of Ameca and Matamoros streets, where the members of the collective arrived to search for buried human remains, according to an anonymous tip they received through their social networks.
According to data from the Special Prosecutor's Office for Missing Persons, 20 clandestine graves had been accounted for between January and November of last year.