The capture of "R-2" damages the leadership of Los Rojos

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

Subject Matter: Cartel del Golfo, Marco Antonio Haro Rodriguez "El R-2"
Recommendation: see link to article on R-2 capture by BB reporter Lucio R

This past week Marco Antonio Haro Rodriguez was detained, leader of  the armed wing of the Cartel del Golfo, and to whom is attributed a great part of the violence in Tamaulipas and the North of Veracruz.

Reporter: Ignacio Alzaga
Altamira* The Federal Police have affected the structure of the command and operations of Los Rojos, the violent armed wing of the Cartel del Golfo, whose members were identified as allegedly responsible of the kidnapping and homicide of the father and son of Cinema Director, Alejandro Gomez Monteverde, in September of 2015.




The Federal Government gave out an intelligence report that Milenio had access to, in which it indicates that one of the principal objectives of the authorities is to degrade the cartel and its group of sicario's, to whom they attribute a large part of the violence in Tamaulipas and the North of Veracruz, together with Los Zetas.

They estimate that Los Rojos control the major part of the earnings obtained by drug trafficking and other crimes perpetrated by the Cartel del Golfo.

The document details the capture of the leader of this group of gunmen, Marco Antonio Haro Rodriguez, "R-2" or "Tonin", and his two Lieutenants, registered this past week in Altamira.

R-2 operated principally plaza boss of the South zone of Tamaulipas and the North Zone of Veracruz; was arrested together with Eloy Fernando de Angel Hernandez, R-7, allegedly in charge of ordering kidnappings and extortion.

According to the Federal Government,  the latter participated in a direct manner, in the planning and assassination of Juan Manuel Gomez Fernandez and Juan Manuel Gomez Monteverde, father and brother of the Cinema Director, on the 4th of September last year.

Also apprehended was Omar Garcia Torres, "Cabo R-12", "El Panzon" or "Netas", security chief for Marco Antonio Haro Rodriguez.

Tuesday, the three members of Los Rojos were transferred to the installation of SEIDO in Mexico City, then to Cefereso #14, in Durango.

They will face charges before a Federal Judge for the crimes or possession of firearms, illegally detaining someone in the modality of kidnapping and being members of organized crime, among other charges.

Intelligence work

According to investigations and intelligence work of the Federal Police, the detained were part of the leadership of the armed wing of the Cartel del Golfo, Los Rojos control a major part of the illicit product profits of drug trafficking to the United States, kidnappings, extortion, business extortion ( cobro de piso) of business and impresarios, as well as pipeline hydro-carbon theft from Pemex.

The aliases and nicknames of these three subjects corroborate to the level of command that they occupy inside the structure of Los Rojos, of whom they identify with the letter R, followed by a number that assigned according to their criminal activities.

According to the report, after the capture and extradition of Osiel Cardenas Guillen, who was the top boss of the Cartel del Golfo; and the death of his brother Antonio Cardenas Guillen, Tony Tormenta, and the later arrest of Eduardo Costilla Sanchez, El Coss, the criminal organization has registered a fracture that has prolonged for years.

This situation has led to a series of confrontations between antagonistic groups, as well as the separation of Los Zetas, who were their armed wing before they formed their own cartel.

In the South zone of Tamaulipas and its frontier with Veracruz ( from Villa Manuel to Panuco ), there operate no less than six different criminal groups. They are "Dragones", "Calimanes", "Freisitas", "Camellos", "Escorpiones" and "Los Rojos".

Silvestre Haro Rodriguez, R-1, or "El Chive", brother of R-2, has achieved taking command of five of these organizations, except "Dragones", who since 2014 have sustained violent conflicts for control of criminal activities.

R-1 operates as plaza boss of Tampico, Altamira, Ciudad Madero, Miramar and Gonzalez, in Tamaulipas; as well as Pueblo Viejo, Tampico el Alto and Panuco, in Veracruz.

He was captured by Federal forces on 14th of August of 2015, and his place has been filled by Marco Antonio Haro, detained with his two accomplices on 8th of April of this year.

The arrest was made in an operation in which participated elements from the Intelligence Division of the Federal Police, with support from the Marina as well as the PGR.

The authorities confiscated two pistols with eight magazines of different calibers, and AR-15, a fragmentation grenade, four telephones and a Wrangler Jeep with circulation plates of XHM1517.

Investigations link R-7 with the planning and murder of the family members of Cinema Director, Alejandro Gomez Monteverde, Director of the film "Bella", that had left the International Film Festival in Toronto, where it won "Peoples Choice". He also directed the film "Little Boy", as well as producing films for the actor Eduardo Verastegui.

The two were kidnapped by and armed group and their remains were found days after they asked for and received part of a million dollar ransom.

They were kidnapped after leaving their house in Tampico, their bodies were found on the waste ground of El Chachalaco, Pueblo Viejo, in the North of Veracruz.

Original article in Spanish at Milenio