Three Cartels battling for Tijuana

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

Subject Matter: Tijuana, CAF, Sinaloa, CJNG
Recommendation: Read this article by BB reporter J on the manta discovery see link

As part of the struggle between criminals for the territory of  Tijuana, the Sinaloa Cartel publicly exposed the Lieutenants of the Cartel Arellano Felix and the representatives of the Cartel Jalisco Nuevo Generacion in Baja California, because of the existence of an internal fracture in the society of these mafia cells.

Click on image to enlarge

Reporter: Zeta Investigations and Cortesia

We reflect of a Police analysis of the executions, confrontations and a manta with a narco message
hung this week in Tijuana. On the 23rd of February,anonymous people located on a foot bridge close to the Parque Morelos, in the Insurgents Boulevard.

He explained in an interview with Zeta:
"In reality there exist a fracture between the Cartel Arellano and the Cartel Jalisco Nuevo Generacion and their associates, provoked by Arturo Gomez Herra, we consider it not to be profound and that they are going to resolve this by eliminating the Lieutenant that provoked it. "El Gross" in whatever moment he will appear dead.

In the manta, one can read, and before the security elements they reiterate:

"Communicated by the pearl for Los Arellano
we are finished with Los Aquiles and Ranas, extortioners, rats and kidnappers
we know who their friends are and members of the plaza they want a new war.
This message is for Los Pilotos
Manuel Lopez Nunez (Don Balas), Crescencio Murillo Beltran (El Chencho), Adan Rodriguez Guevara (Guero Chihuahua), Mario Rodriguez (Compa), Fausto Esteban Nides (Karateca), Arturo Cosme Espinoza (Cosme), Enrigue Jorquera Guerrero (Jorquera), Prospero Medina (Pablito), Pedro Quintero Velazquez (Jaguar 58), Luis Medina Garcia (Focu), Edgar Ruiz (Chore), Roberto Parnas (Paras), Jose Medallo (Mesien), Juan Lorenzo Vargas (Chan).
Signed El Tigre, El JP, El Gross
CTNG-Mencho-CJNG




The consultant for this magazine added:

"Logic indicates that the content of this message is real, what is more probable is that it wasn't hung by the CAF nor those from Jalisco, but a third party in discord, the people of the Sinaloa Cartel that decided to expose the principal Lieutenants of the two groups for the attention, and not to focus on the leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel. They want to move the brand."

Fausto Esteban Nidez Valdez, Oscar Adan Rodriguez Guevara, Mario Rodriguez

For those from Sinaloa, one refers to Alfonso Arzate Garcia "El Aquiles", with order of apprehension for kidnapping, and Rene Arzarte Garcia "La Rana", already detained for assaulting his wife, actually without charges.

The phenomenon of the struggle between the three Cartels, was not analyzed by the Secretary for Public Security of Tijuana with the same dynamics; the declarations of Alejandro Lares Valladares, were an unfortunate event, knowing what the information contained " already we knew that we are behind time", and in respect of which, they have evidently done nothing necessary to combat it.

After a rest, he spoke of the relevance of the threats, related to events at a time of Political elections. Lares, who collected 110,000 pesos per month, which is 17,000 per month more than the Mayor evaded his responsibility of prevention, and forgot that the most likely period these messages appear is end of August and beginning of September 2015, far from the electoral period in Tijuana.

Like other messages from criminal groups, the criminal message is contained in a manta on media more than a meter in height and three in width, written by hand, with perfect lettering and without accent ( words particular to a region ), with red and black letters to highlight particular parts of the criminal message, it has been analysed as a struggle between three cartels that have converged in Tijuana: the CAF, the CJNG and the Sinaloa Cartel.

Suspects without arrest warrants

It is usual when criminals hang a manta and the authorities remove it, it is the that the seconds its hanging that gives it importance or credibility. That did not happen on this occasion. Investigators, both State and Municipal consulted by Zeta, referred to the threat: "Its good" but there are some mistakes."

They emphasized: "The majority of the protagonists in the manta already have been detained and set free and continue being criminals". Effectively, the majority are common suspects.

"In the areas of intelligence that is shared in the interior of the operational groups, in that these men are Lieutenants of some Cartels and continue to be active, but they are not fools, we follow them and its difficult to detain them with drugs or weapons because they operate on another level, crossing drugs to the United States", commented a member of the Counsel for Security.

He detailed that the prosecutors have not built charges against those mentioned, despite them being fingered by other juvenile offenders in various preliminary investigations. "But even when they try to obtain arrest warrants, in the case of Lieutenants, such as "El Gross", the Judge rejects any that we promote."

For example, in recent months the PGJE has solicited four arrest warrants against Arturo Gomez Herrera, all were rejected.

One of the elements from the intelligence section of the Corporation of the Counsel for Security commented: " In some moment we have located in the State, Jose Antonio Soto Gastelum and Manuel Lopez Nunez, but there is nothing judicial against them, but we keep following them in the hope that they will arrive closer to the arms or the drugs, but they haven't done it.

"The truth, some of them we detained for minor infractions for nothing more than to take current photos of them, because there is not much else we can do.

Prospero Medina Avilez, Jesus Ruiz Dominguez, Enrique Jorquera Guerrero

"Also like the majority of those, for security reasons leave the State and take refuge in other States, we are sharing information with the Federal Corporations in order to see the possibility of detaining them outside of Baja California, like we did with Armando "El Gordo" Villareal in July of 2011 in Sonora and with Alfonso Lira Sotelo "El Atlante" in Jalisco, in September of 2014."

Of the errors in the manta, they explained who was second in command of Fernando Sanchez Arellano "El Ingeniero", "El Meisen" is Jose Mellado, not Jose Medallo, and that the nickname of Roberto Parnas is "Parnas" and not "Parna", and that the ex ministerial Policeman Fausto Esteban Nides is not a criminal  Lieutenant identified with the nickname of "El Karateca".

"El Guero Chihuahua" and "Don Balas"

Inside information that they already knew, like the manifested Alejandro Lares, there are various situations that if the authorities knew of them, they have not manifested that publicly. One is the ascending criminal Adan Rodriquez Guevara "El Guero Chihuahua", on whom there is a series of confused messages that the authorities received over the past two months.

His people and subalterns have orders to give erroneous information to the authorities, to say that it is pertinent to a contrary criminal group and that his boss is one of the Lieutenants of the Sinaloa Cartel. "Its one of the bad things that they try," said a policeman in reference to the executions.

The first time that the was detained was in 2004, when the State Preventative Police identified him as head of sicarios, for a group headed by Jose Manuel Nunez Lopez "Don Balas"; with a team of killers nicknamed "Los Omegas".

His most relevant capture was on Friday 26th of September of 2008, when the car in which the Director of the PEP was travelling in was attacked at the top of the Guaycura Fraccionamiento in Tijuana, and all the different Police forces responded with support.

In the zone, the then Secretary of Public Security of Tijuana, Julian Leyzola, detained four men in a vehicle in possession of four firearms, one calibre 5.7 x 28 ( know as the cop killer in Mexico due to its ability to penetrate body armor, and the pistol of choice for many capos and their families), one Colt pistol in .45 calibre, a .38 super and a 9mm.

The detained were Guillermo Chavez Garcia, Andres Ulises Alvarez Baldovino, also Adan Rodriguez Guevara "El Guero Chihuahua"; they were accompanied by whom was first presented as Luis Ernesto Guerrero Bustamante and later was identified as a Lieutenant of the CAF, Manuel Lopez Nunez, known as "Don Balas".

On the 11th of January of 2009, the PGJE release a bulletin that said that the Public Ministry of the Federation executed a penal action against the detained and that Judge of the 3rd District in the State of Nayarit had dictated an auto of formal prison against all of those presumed responsible in organized crime.

But they were set free, the exact date that they left custody is unknown. In November 2011 the local authorities gave account that "Don Balas" was already back in the streets, they had seen him. " There have been rumours that he had been converted into a collaborating witness in the United States, but we could not corroborate that.

Actually, the United States authorities had identified "El Guero Chihuahua" as someone that trafficked large quantities of drugs to their country, starting originally with marijuana, and cocaine and now also crystal, "but he continues to operate with a low profile."

They let "El Tigre" go free

Another fact that is highlighted in the manta, is the incorporation of the nickname of Jose Antonio Soto Gastelum "El Tigre" to the Cartel Tijuana Nueva Generacion, who are allegedly integrated with the Lieutenants of the AFO, identified in the manta as "Los Pilotos" and accountable to the son of one of the Arellano brothers, currently in charge of the cartel.

Soto had been identified as a trafficker from the Sinaloa Cartel for many years, with a presence in Mexicali and Tecate between 2006 and 2010, in which he was aligned in the internal struggle of the CAF, "El Tigre" supported a cell run by Eduardo Garcia Simental "El Teo" that combated against "El Ingeniero".

When some groups saw a reduction in their economic profits as part of the confrontation, the Sinaloa Mafia offered to lend them and supply drugs that they could pass to the United States to recuperate some capital.

EL Cosme                  El Piolin                                El Gross  

Alfonso Arzarte negotiated with Fernando Sanchez Arellano and Jose Soto with "Los Teos", they had no problems, said a Zeta contact and added " he is well connected  and in with the Sinaloa leaders."

After the positioning of the Sinaloa Cartel, they left "El Tigre" the East zone of Tijuana and after starting to loose territory in the plaza wars. In December of 2015 the version that was received by the areas of intelligence in Baja California was "those from Sinaloa released "El Tigre" to his fate, they are killing all his people and already he does not know what to do." For this reason, their alleged affiliation with the CJNG is novel.

The CJNG in Baja California

Until now, the most visible face of a local criminal linked to the CJNG has been, according to intelligence reports from the area, Arturo Giovanni Gomez Herrera "El Gross", who has been previously manifested as "El Volteon" of the CAF and later they said that he was from Sinaloa.

However, in the most recent criminal organogram carried out by local authorities, Gomez Herrero was considered a Lieutenant of fourth rank of the Cartel led by Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes Ramos "El Mencho".

As subalterns of "Mencho" they would be under Jose Lira Sotelo "El Atlante". With this man in prison, the most representative would be his brother Javier Lira Sotelo "El Carnicero" and his sister Alma Delia Lira Sotelo, who collaborates with the administration of exchange, who's agreement is to the Government of the United States, and are under investigation for laundering drug money.

Below those mentioned above, continue two of the signatories of the manta of February the 23rd: "El Gross" and Juan Jose Perez Vargas "El Pioliin" or "El JP", who was born in San Diego, United States was detained in 2010 on possession of weapons for exclusive use of the Army and crimes against health.

In December of 2012 they were captured again in possession of three bales of marijuana and 34,000 US dollars. For March of 2015, the authorities knew that they had been set free and added them to the list of those most sought for his alleged participation in killings, even though his principal criminal activity was transiting drugs to San Diego, with the support of other family members.

CAF, Jalisco and Sinaloa: Relations and Fractures

"El Atlante" and his links with the CAF and relation with Sinaloa is what actually keeps the authorities busy. Basically the analysis of exchange houses that they utilize to launder money.

"There exists new data that reveals the possibility that those exchange houses that are linked to "Los Lira" are in reality the property of Gustavo Rivera Martinez "El Pi", the old Lieutenant and financial operator of the CAF detained in March of 2008.

El Pedro                    El Jaguar 58             El Tigre                   El Chan

As well as investigating that data, it also refferes that Osvaldo Contreras Arriaga and Omar Guadalupe Ayon Diaz( are related with exchange house administration for Los Lira Sotelo, the youngsters detained in August of 2015 in Colombia, as part of a convention with United States authorities, they are related, criminally and in blood with Manuel Lopez Nunez "Don Balas", also a CAF leader.

They were previously presented as being part of the Sinaloa Cartel. The reality is that there are many relations that crumble, said one of the investigators, who remember that the people of "El Atlante" and "El Tigre", who now are apparently on the same side, were in a death struggle against each other since the 11th of May 2013, when they assassinated Jose Antonio Beltran Cabrera "El R4", the right hand man of Jose Soto "El Tigre".

"But we know they are criminals and what is important to them is business".

Without charge or freedom

Of the subjects mentioned in the manta, Jose Mellado, Roberto Parnas Mendez, Crescencio Beltran Murillo "El Chencho" and Mario Rodriguez, are considered Lieutenants of the CAF, they have served no prison time in Baja California.

In the same case one find the ex ministry policeman Prospero Medina, Enrique Gabino Jorquera Guerrero and Fausto Esteban Nides Ayala.

Those who have been captured and released from prison area: Manuel Lopez Nunez, Oscar Adan Rodriguez Guevara, Juan Jose Pedro Quintero Velasquez; also the ex ministerial Juan Lorezo Vargas Gallardo and the ex municipal policeman Luis Arturo Cosme Espinoza.

Original article in Spanish at Zetatijuana