Mexican Marines arrested Gamaliel Aguirre Tavira, alias "El Guero Huetamo, alleged leader of the drug cartel belonging to Edgar Valdez Villarreal, aka "La Barbie," He was arrested in Acapulco along with three of his accomplices, this according to the Secretary of the Mexican Navy.
The arrest took place on Saturday in a home located on the street Granjas del Márquez de Acapulco, an important beach town located in the southern state of Guerrero, where the Marines were patrolling the area.
The soldiers saw two men armed with rifles that were travelling in a car that was being parked in the driveway a house and attempted to hide when they saw the presence of the soldiers, said the Semar through a statement.
In the house were arrested "El Guero Huetamo, 35, Hermilo Aguirre Flores, 35, Antonia Aguirre Flores, 33, and Jaqueline Jennyfet Nava Soberanis, 23.
The Semar went on to said that in the home of the arrest they also confiscated six rifles, a grenade launcher, five handguns, eight grenades, 41 magazines from firearms of different calibers, four drums with a capacity of 100 rounds each, 2,000 rounds of various calibres and more than 140,000 pesos.
In addition, the Marines seized 10 grams of cocaine and 50 grams of marijuana.
The detainees were transported to Mexico City aboard a Mexican Naval aircraft and were made available to the Deputy Attorney Specialized in Investigation of Organized Crime.
The cartel of Edgar Valdez Villarreal, aka "La Barbie", has a presence mainly in Mexico City and the states of Mexico, Morelos and Guerrero.
"La Barbie" was lieutenant Arturo Beltran Leyva "El Barbas", but after the death of the Beltran, the Beltran cartel belonging to the Beltrán Leyva brothers splintered into two opposing factions, one led by Hector Beltran Leyva, "Ele H" and the other by Valdez Villarreal.
La Barbie has seemed to have taken many hits (loses) the past couple of months...any thoughts to how this my affecting his cartel & business
ReplyDeleteI think he's pretty much done and whatever is left of his cartel is gonna do him in and join the federation.
ReplyDeleteValdez seems to be fighting an uphill battle against "El H" for control of the Beltran-Leyva Cartel.
ReplyDeleteI read an article out of Mexico in May that stated that the arrest of Gerardo Vasquez "El Indio" was a substantial hit to Valdez's attempts to wrest control of the BLC from Hector Beltran. El Indio controlled the groups finances and was well connected with other traffickers in Latin and South America. This is important because there is a large contingent of prominent traffickers in Mexico that won't deal with Valdez because they view him as an outsider. Valdez does not descend from a "traditional" drug trafficking family and he has no familial ties to any of the prominent capos. His only connection to the Sinaloa cartel power structure was through his boss and mentor Arturo Beltran who recruited him to the cartel in 2001.
La Barbie's meteoric rise through the Sinaloa cartel ranks was a consequence of his relationship to Arturo Beltran. He derived his power through Arturo. The death of El Barbas coupled with the arrest of El Indio has contributed to an even greater isolation that Valdez is now experiencing in his quest to control the Beltran Leyva Cartel.
The article stated that Valdez has been moving almost constantly since El Indio's arrest in April and that this constant moving has further disrupted his business and contributed to a reduced cash flow. He was reported to have spent some time in Tepic, Nayarit earlier in the year.
Despite the obstacles Valdez faces, he is a man who has high level contacts in the Mexican government and he has managed to retain some big guns who worked for him while he was operating Los Negros and Los Pelones. While he appears to be losing some ground in his battle with "El H" it would not be wise to dismiss him completely. Valdez is still one of the most prominent figures in the Mexican drug war and will remain so as long as he is able to maintain his political contacts.
They've been declaring the death of the Juarez cartel and they still seem to be putting up a fight albiet not at the same capacity as the 90's. Perhaps this is also the case with La Barbie's cartel.
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