I didnt shoot at the Guzmans and I am a friend of Mayo Zambada says Damaso

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

Reporter: Javier Valdez

The fight between narco groups causes death, pain and torment

The group headed by Damaso Lopez Nunez didn't attack Ivan Archivaldo and Alfredo Guzman Salazar, known as "Los Chapitos" or "Los Menors", neither have they broken with Ismael Zambada Garcia, "El Mayo", affirmed a member of this criminal organization sent by El Licenciado to be interviewed by Riodoce.

He said he was incorrect that this confrontation with Zambada, who he qualified as a fine person, respectable and a pacifier, of crucial importance to the Sinaloa Cartel, and that he was not invited to the meeting that took place on the Saturday the 4th of February, which was attended by the Guzman brothers and El Mayo.

Of this encounter, he found out on Sunday and the first days of the next week, when there were versions of that the gunman of Lopez Nunez had attacked "Los Menores". Unofficial versions indicated that neither Zambada Garcia no "Los Chapitos" were injured, like they said in a letter sent to Ciro Gomez Leyva this past week.

According to unofficial versions, the meeting took place close to the community of Paredones, adjacent to the Jesus Maria sindicatua, where there had been an agreement for a meeting between the 3 grand capos of the Sinaloa Cartel: Ismael Zamabada and the Guzmans, even though initially it had been said that Damaso Lopez Nunez would also be attending.

The date set was the 4th of February, to the North of the Sinaloa State capital. The sources said that to reach the site of the meeting, they had to cross the Humaya river in a panga, accompanied by bodyguards of "El Mayo".

Leading these was one of the security chiefs of "El Mayo", "El Ruso" or "The Russian", who he met and escorted the boat for those attending the meeting. The meeting was at a place where there was a strong presence of the Mexican Army, who after the ambush of September the 30th, in which five soldiers were killed who were transferring a wounded subject from Badiraguatto to Culiacan and a Red Cross medic was injured.

In the operation carried out by the Army in Paredones, which lasted for about a week in at least one of the farms in the area, the military and the Office of the Special Prosecutor for Investigation of Organized Crime (SEIDO) seized 41 vehicles, including five trailers , A camper type camper, 12 horses, a white lion, 278 cell phones, five Rolex brand watches and $ 12,220.

Also four ranches, three houses, a variety of tactical equipment, three AK-47 rifles, three more Barret-type 50 caliber, three grenade launchers, 49 magazines and 66 grenades. The area is known for the tight control of the Sinaloa Cartel, particularly the Guzman forces.

Before the meeting on February 4, there was at least one in which Ismael Zambada insisted that the groups reconcile. During the past year there was a first dialogue and apparently the differences had been set aside and a peace agreement was reached.

Queries

Damaso's envoy, whose headquarters is located in the Eldorado area and part of the San Lorenzo Valley, in this capital city - he also had command in La Paz, Baja California Sur, and Mazatlán - El Licenciado said he does not operate outside the Sinaloa Cartel, because he retains his friendship with Zambada, and clarified that he can not call as enemies the children of Joaquin Guzman Loera, the Chapo , whom he loves and admires.

He said that Los Menores have not respected the agreements and have provoked him violently for about a year, preparing with people and equipment, as part of a coup against Lopez Núñez, "taking advantage of my good faith, with treachery and Advantage, and they have said that the DEA supports me, but it is not true. I have pride and I respect the codes ".

"Did Damaso split with El Mayo ?"

-Of course not. Mr. Zambada is a fine person, who is always respected and respected.

"Is Damaso out of the Sinaloa Cartel?"

"He and the group of leaders are friends with Mr. Zambada, and logic and facts speak more than a thousand words.

"Friend of El Mayo and enemy of Los Chapitos ?"

-Iván, Alfredo and his uncle are sick with power, but it is through abuse that they forced people to support them.They support them more out of fear than because they are right. He (Damaso) is a friend of El Mayo but also a friend of Mr. Joaquín Guzmán. And Mr. Guzman promoted him to where he is now and always valued what support he could provide to him and his children.

"It can not be said that Dámaso is enemy of Ivan or Alfredo, although he knows that they are misplaced and at any moment they can reflect and mature. They do not want Dámaso, but Dámaso has said that he can not be enemy of the children of a person "whom I love and I appreciate".

"Can this be solved?"

"Everything is solved with a good talk. We have only been defended ourselves, but we have never provoked them. They have a year provoking the El Licenciado. Provoking us

He said that the conflict can be ended now, by talking. He warned that it has been painful for innocent people to die and that the families of those involved are suffering and remain in constant "torment".

He said that El Mayo has a crucial role in the Sinaloa Cartel, which for many are suffering a new fracture with the conflict between the group of López Nunez and the brothers Guzman Salazar, backed by his uncle, Aureliano Guzman Loera, Guano.

"Mr. Zambada is a pacifist and he has fought for this to be solved, but the boys and his uncle,Guano, do not obey him and feel they are more than Zambada, and do not respect Mr. Joaquin Guzman Loera's decision to keep Business as they were, everyone in their regions, and having communication and coordination. "

If Dámaso was treacherous, he added, "he would not have the friendship or confidence he has with Zambada."

Blood traces

Versions of the federal government indicate that everything began because both groups, Damaso and Guzman, were strengthened in Culiacán, after the recapture of Chapo and his extradition to the United States.

"The problem was that the people of the Guzman were taking over the market in every way: narcomenudeo, other drugs, gasoline robbery, etcetera, and that did not please Dámaso, who was also grown," said one An official of the federal government, who asked to remain anonymous.

Due to the control of the local market of the drug by the Chapitos or Mentors , he added, the drug known as crystal was scarce and increased its price, from 7 to 12 thousand pesos a pound, in this capital city during February.

The clashes include Villa Juarez, Navolato and El Diez, were between  El Chimalis, a cell of gunmen operating in the south of this capital city and serving Los Menores, and a man nicknamed El Montana on the side of the group of Dámaso López.

Among the clashes, whose death toll is unknown, is the withdrawal of the control that the El Licenciado had of the slot machines and minicasses, in Navolato, last year. The business, despite the bullets and murders, passed to Los Chapitos .

Provocations

The envoy of El Licentiate said that during the early morning of February 4 three vehicles of unknown people entered the community of Sánchez Celis, near Eldorado. As the cells of Damaso could not identify them, they were stopped to identify themselves but instead  shot from the vehicles behind the convoy. The aggression, according to their version, was repulsed.

"A unit of ours made them stop to identify them, since a year ago the people of Ivan, commanded by Pancho Chimal , attacked our people and always they were saying that they were going to finish us," He remembered.

When the next car stopped, he added, the men in the two remaining vehicles began firing and at that moment the aggression was repulsed and the shooting began.

"Neither El Licenciado nor his people were warned that people from the Guzmans and Sánchez Celis would arrive, that they would enter. There is a radio line to maintain a direct communication between them and El Licenciado , but they never used it, and when that aggression occurred, there were already ten cars of them that left El Diez for Eldorado, "he said.

The letter

In a letter sent to journalist Ciro Gómez Leyva of Imagen Noticias, the sons of Guzmán Loera accused Dámaso López Núñez of having tried to kill them, after a supposed meeting that they had allegedly been asked for by Dámaso. Los Menores indicate that they were injured and that Ismael Zambada García also attended the meeting.

The attack would have been on February 4 and the Guzman Salazar reports indicate that it was in the mountainous area of ​​Badiraguato municipality.

"On February 4, 2017, the El Licenciado Dámaso López organized a meeting, inviting Mr. Ismael Zambada and the family of Joaquín Guzmán, on the subject of having evidence that Dámaso López ordered the kidnapping of the children of 'El Chapo ', "the letter reads.

Once in the place, they add in the letter, "they realize that Dámaso López was not there and the confusion began, soon they begin to shoot against the personal escort of the family, being shot dead instantly in the place, when realizing that they were betrayed by El Licenciado Dámaso Lopez when trying to assassinate them, in order to finish with everything from root ".

He also points out: "By getting away unscathed from the attack, Mr. Zambada and the family of Joaquín Guzman fled the place, finding all the way armed people on the orders of Dámaso Lopez, trying again to kill them, Thus getting lost among the mountain, without having a notion of where they were, when traveling several kilometres and coming across a small town and thus being aided by people of the place, since they were injured.

Harassment and burial

Versions close to the federal government indicate that a few days were enough for Dámaso to look for El Mayo again . Through the telephone, he told him that it was time to define: "I will offer support or not," said the head of the criminal group operating in Eldorado and part of the San Lorenzo Valley.Earlier, Zambada would have told the antagonistic groups that it was not in their interests, that they had to get ready but that he was not involved in drug dealing or gas theft.

"Those are not my business, so you have to fix it," he would have warned them.

Almost in parallel, Aureliano Guzmán Loera, brother of the Chapo , went to Rafael Caro Quintero, in the mountainous area of ​​the municipality of Badiraguato, where both maintain operations. Guzman approached with another pretext, but already being in front of the great capo he broached the subject. Caro would have replied that he does not want problems.

Also the Russian , head of gunmen of Zambada, would have received a telephone call from Damaso, after the  encounter. El Licenciado asked for support in the war that already is under way against the Guzmans, to which he replied that he would have to consult with his boss.

The hatred grew when Idalia Romelia Salazar was murdered in Guadalajara , aunt of Ivan Archivaldo and Alfredo Guzmán. The woman was killed while driving a vehicle, on February 9, after leaving a dental office. This assassination was accredited by the Guzman to El Licenciado, as part of the struggles between both groups, since today the deceased was very important to Los Menores ,she financed their activities, since she was the trustee for money of both of them.

"There is no choice. There is no going back: they killed my aunt, "said Ivan Archivaldo.

Everyone left

A couple of days after the confrontation in Villa Juárez, which had an official balance of five deaths - although versions of witnesses indicate that both criminal groups took several corpses - the Sinaloa Cartel leaders in the state began to leave. They left in small planes, through commercial flights or by land in private vehicles.

The goal: to lose oneself , and not to be in the middle of the conflicts between these two great criminal groups, with whom many in the cartel have business, kinship, compadrazgos and friendships.

"If you can get disappear get yourself out. If we know that they have taken sides, stop, support ... if they are armed or fighting, it will go bad for them. They manage, "Zambada would have told the Russian and his people, to prevent Damaso or the Guzmans from involving them in this new stage of war.

"There is a lot of harassment from both sides, which is bringing heat from the government, so they decided to leave, to go to other states," a government source said.

El Mayo doesn't want any part of this conflict and urges both sides to settle their differences and will not take sides against either group.

Original article in Spanish at Riodoce