Shootings Reorganize the CAF

Translated for Borderland Beat from a Zetatijuana Special Report by Otis B Fly-Wheel

The restructure of the Arellano Felix Cartel and its dispute with the people of the Sinaloa Cartel for certain plazas; the betrayals inside the cells with hit men looking to raise the ranks, and debts for drugs seized to independent traffickers.

They are the causes of assassinations and gun battles in Tijuana, according to analysis of the Authorities and of Alejandro Lares Valladares, Secretary of Public Security in Tijuana.

Zeta Investigations

What is happening? asks the Secretary of Public Security for Tijuana, Alejandro Lares Valladares, in relation to the resurgence of criminals with rifles, and of battles in public areas in the middle of the day, the functionary said.

He spoke with intent about the criminals of the Arellano Felix Cartel (CAF) reorganizing, with a confrontation between them and the Sinaloa Cartel, and of social decomposition.

Also in his charge is the area of intelligence and of the Special Operations Group (GOES) Carlos Gomez, Lares Valladares explains that the head of the CAF detained and freed have returned to their illicit activities. He gave some names, Manuel Lopez Nunez "El Balas", the ex-Ministry Enrique Jorquera Guerrero, Pedro Quintero Velazquez "El 5-8", "El Jaguar", alias "Pedro", and Juan Lorenzo Cargas Gallardo, who is good in areas of intelligence , and so will be at the head of restructuring.

He also mentioned of confrontations with the Sinaloa Cartel, headed by "El Chapito Trejo", who operates with Dailia Rodelo"La Prima" and Julian Lopez "El Chino", "El Elias", "El Cabezon" and "Clave Marlon" alias "Alejo". He insists that the brothers Alfonso and Rene Arzarte, continue giving instructions from some point in Sinaloa.

What is happening repeats Lares? and replies:

"That now its very easy for the people to go out and kills somebody, its social decay. What happened with the death of the woman, her stepson under the influence of Crystal meth asks her for money, when it was not given, he attacked and killed her, these events occurred in the Linda Vista colonia on September 11th 2014."

"Its social decay its living and is derived from the drug trade in Crystal Meth."

In respect of the resurgence in rifles, a recent case was heard, on 12th of December 2014 when two AR 15 rifles were used when a group of men tried to kill another man in the parking lot of Carl's Jnr fast food restaurant in Soler. This man himself had been in a previous shoot out, which occurred on 29th November, in the interior of the Restaurant Cabanna, in an exclusive area of La Mesa delegation.

Rifles have always been in Tijuana, that is very clear, recognized Lares, but if we see a chronology there has always been rifles. There is the confiscation of weapons from State Police at Altabrisa. On December 21st 2014, PEP said two rifles and 352 rounds of ammunition were recovered from a house.

He said "Recently we have detected on facebook, arms for sale, pistols for 500 pesos."

Also they who carried rifles in the streets, they were imprisoned CAF members, are now free, said Carlos Gomez responding to the Secretary of Security.

Lately on the other side, is the Sinaloa Cartel, who have the rifles to stop those who are trying to rise in the ranks.

For the Authorities, until now the difference with the worst years of insecurity in Tijuana, is that Rifles they have, but they are lacking in equipment. They carry magazines with only 10-15 rounds in, they are searching for the cohesion to become a more effective team.

Before we saw former Police Officers, in the videos we see now they are tattooed hit men, exposed the authorities. In terms of attacks in public places and central locations, the opinion of the Police is that they happen because the criminals start to hang around in these areas, where there are many Forces Patrols, thinking that their enemies will not dare to try and kill them there, but they do come and attack them and manage to flee.

The resurgence of the Arellano Felix Cartel

Completing the phrase, Lares and Gomez detail:

"If there exists a reorganization  or an intent to reorganize the Arellano Felix Cartel, as it has always existed.... wanting to carry this out, are the men they are releasing from prisons."

"They are free, but to do what? Nothing? some of them stay straight for a while, like Manuel Lopez Nunez "Don Balas", who was a business man but returned to drug related activities.

But they say that all of the ex prisoners affect insecurity, the CAF had 2,694 who were imprisoned for theft or violence in Tijuana in 2014 have been released.

"Is it a fight between those of the CAF who have left prison and the Sinaloans?" asked Zeta

"For us yes"

"In all of the city?"

In certain zones where they are reorganizing, if you review the clashes, they are in the areas that were formerly controlled by CAF: Playas, Soler, La Cacho. In all these places we have to accept their intent to reorganization, because they are leaving prison and do not know how to do anything else than to be a criminal.

As an example:"Only 5-8 (Pedro Quintero Velazquez) has 14 or 15 properties in Rosarito, people come from San Luis to sell them, we have just detained one of his accomplices. Speaking of him, they have no arrest warrant and he is a fundamental part of the CAF, he has been working with many people from "Los Surenos" and "Paisas", ex convicts from the prisons in California.


We had a well founded fear, that the CAF will recruit from deportees as cheap labor, if you look at the majority of the arrested, or those captured in video images, they have gang tattoos, you check with the United States and they have been imprisoned for murder, robbery with violence, drugs, and do not know how to do anything else, all the tattooed people are not given jobs here.

Some of the ex prisoners who are CAF members that are causing problems of insecurity and gun battles are:

Juan Lorenzo Gallardo "El Chan", detained in December of 2010, freed in august 2014.

Manuel Lopez Nunez "El Balas" captured in September of 2008, and given freedom in November of 2011.

Pedro Quintero Velazquez "El 5-8", "El Jaguar", alias "Pedro", apprehended in September of 2012, freed, recaptured 25th August 2013 and freed the following day.

"El Chan"carries the baton, "El Balas" left long ago, he was an entrepreneur, but rejoined the organisation, Jorquera is already active with them, "El 5-8" was in San Luis, but has already returned.

Subalterns are identified by the alias "El Gros", "El Alejo", "Pit Junior" and "Giovanni", also known as "El Sotol".

What are you doing in this regard?

We are locating them, to make structures and stop them.

As regards the structure of the Sinaloa Cartel, headed by the brothers Alfonso and Rene Arzate "Los Aquiles". In Otay there is a mentor, Elias, all of the detained say that he is the voice of Sinaloa, "El Cabezon" in the east zone, "El Alejo" and "El Chapito Trejo", who has control of them all, the people of this group want it this way according to the testimony of the detained.

Betrayals and debts as reasons for killing

Consulting both Alejandro Lares Valledares, like Carlos Gomez, and the assistant attorney general for State Public Security Jose Maria Gonzalez Martinez agree that, if they are to be arrested and not receive any help from their criminal bosses, the dealers refuse to keep selling and in some cases change their cell phones, and this almost always ends in an assassination. In some cases even the refusal to keep selling is enough to get them killed.

"We have seen cases about, where distributors , intending to kill dealers because they believe the dealers were contemplating leaving, or they get shot because they were going to change their mobile phones, or they set them up so their competitors kill them", said Gonzalez Martinez.

"Also there are cases of people who are dedicated to crossing drugs into the United States, but something went wrong and the load was seized, if they cannot pay, they get killed", argued Gomez.

Other have personal vendettas between drug dealers, with access to guns and drugs. The municipal Police gave an account of a shooting that occurred on the Tuesday 27th of January, the injured man was Sanchez toboada, they said that people identified as "El Perro" and "El Chito", met the injured man and shot him because "El Perro" was told that the man had slept with his wife who was also a drug dealer.

Another example is the homicide of Jonathan de Jesus Barraza Izaguirre, his corpse was found located on the 8th of January, on the federal highway of Cuota Playas, with gunshot wound in his chest. Eduardo Llamas was wounded n the same location. The investigation lead to the capture of Hector Hugo Fregoso Ornelas "El Chemo", a drug dealer of crystal meth, who declared that he killed Barraza because Barazza wanted to expand his zone, and he had received orders to kill Barazza from his boss, known as "El Unico, already nobody enters his territory without his permission. They deceived them by telling them that were allowed to sell drugs and were being shown their territory.

Also the case of Cesar Hernandez Aguilar, "El Tartamundo" who on January 23rd 2014 killed Francisco Javier Aguilar Robledo by shooting him in the chest several times, he was a drug sales boss , but when he was detained by the Police his boss would not pay his bail, he refused to keep selling, which led to his death.

In a likewise manner, are the small shop drug dealers said the Attorney General for Tijuana Gilberto Cota Alanis, when they are attacked they do not want to give information on their attackers, or why they were attacked, and they never want to give statements.


Less murders

Regarding the gun battles and the homicides, the State Attorney General, Jose Maria Gonzalez Martinez, stated that 2015 had started with a reduction.

We mentioned that there is a decrease that is not historical, for the better rate. In January 2012 there were 43 homicides, 42 were committed in 2013, with 47 in 2014, and this year by January 2015 we have 28, he said.

In all of Baja California there have been 41 culpable homicides, 27 in Tijuana, 10 in Mexicali, two in Rosarito, two en Ensensada and none in Tecate, according to the official figures of the PGJE.

In terms of statistics, in January of 2014, there were 1.2 homicides per day, meanwhile in January of 2015 there had been an average of 1.4 homicides per day.

I know they killed a man in a cafe in the colonia Cacho, then a double homicide in Tijuana made too much noise, but in general the numbers are down.

"I saw it coming, and admit the table has to be swept clean, said Gonzalez Martinez in reference to the captures made by the Federal Police of Alfonso Lira "El Atlante" and Luis Mendoza Uriate "El Guero Chompas," but specifically to combat that which is deemed narco trafficking in the terms of the PGJE."

"We are not going to see the end of narco trafficking, possibly we can forge ahead to decrease what is visible, we went from people who operated in the shadows ten years ago, to people on the street selling product, for this reason we have increased to more than 500% in Police searches related to narco trafficking."

"We went from 12 raids throughout the state throughout 2013, to 88 searches in 2014" ( Otis: it could be a thousand raids, but if the targets of the raids are advised beforehand, the numbers don't matter).

In addition, we doubled the number of detainees recorded before judges in 2014 to 1,500 which is double the figure from the previous year, " you take them from circulation and the figures reduce," said the state official.

"On this subject we have been clear in hitting all the drug selling groups, I told them don't ask me, make it clear to everyone we are coming, because we have found colonias where neither the Municipal Police or the PEP are made available to anyone, there are colonias where they never see a mobile patrol, but here their instruction is not to give information about future searches so they investigate do their job and inform us."

"I am very interested in hitting the people of "El Aquiles", of "El Atlante", that to me is the best cure. Historically we see that, you never hit so and so or that location."

"Its clear that we come from incredible passivity previously on the part of the police, with search warrants month to month only amounting to 90 per year. Now the PGR have released all the dealers in the past year, they were left with 60 percent of the cases, we ordered six secretaries and they already arrived to help with administration."

In respect of the groups that are trafficking and killing, the Attorney General mentioned the usual suspects of "Los Arzarte", the people of Mendoza Uriarte, Don Cuco, the people of "El Atlante", and "El Chapito Trejo".

"Who and why are they killing?"

In general terms, narco trafficking continues in Tijuana. the difference in the wars for territory, is that there are many internal conflicts happening.

Jose Maria Gonzalez Martinez added the problem posed is that of the released. He remembers how in conversations before 2008, Raydel Lopez "El Muletas" and Filiberto Parra "La Perra", came and went from prison, the PGR data records possession of 30 wraps, a kilo of Marijuana, etc. and after release they staged one of the worst periods of insecurity in Tijuana. We process so many, but we must make sure not to grow these people into worse criminals, we have to take them out of circulation, he warned.

In this category the authorities consider are: Javier Hernandez Flores "El Javi" or "El Lentes", and Dalia Rodelo "La Prima", Julian Lopez "El Chino", they are sought for the homicide of the ex-director of the Municipal Institute of Sport, Arturo Hachadur Kaloyan, which occurred on the 16th of December 2013.

In respect of the constant release from prison of criminals, the Attorney General is limited to say, " its a question for the Courts, we do what is within our remit. But "El Javi" is the best example of what is happening at the moment, he has an outstanding arrest warrant for possession of weapons, but was set free."

The same occurs with other narco traffickers.

"It is not easy to convince the Judges of Criminal Courts, we process them for possession with intent to supply, where the intent to supply is considered a more serious crime, we show they have no work or other source of income, but the judges reduced his charge to possession. So we ask for bail in the region of 12,000 to 20,000 pesos, but the judges lower that to 3000 pesos, so along comes a relative and pays the sum, and they are at liberty" again concluded Jose Maria Gonzalez Martinez.

Original special report in Spanish at Zetatijuana

Categories: CAF, CDS Cartel de Sinaloa, tijuana