How Damaso moved around Mexico City, and how they caught him

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

Subject Matter: Apprehension of Damaso Nunez Lopez
Recommendation: See previous article on his capture.

His code name was "Cereza" or Cherry in English, his persecution started a year and half ago, after they seized his compadre Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman. Why "Cereza"? Because Damaso Lopez Nunez, is known as "El Licenciado", would be the icing on the cake for Federal officials who sought to degrade the Sinaloa Cartel, and El Chapo informally told them after his recapture that Damaso would not be caught.

Over time, the Federal Governments intelligence agencies came to believe that "El Licenciado" was consolidating himself as the leader of the cartel, and that in order to defeat the children of El Chapo in the struggle, he had tried to ally himself with the CJNG, in actuality the most powerful cartel in the country.




A Suzuki Swift vehicle was their first clue. It was the vehicle that, used by an assistant, served Damaso Lopez Nunez to move through the city of Mexico without attracting attention.

According to intelligence information to which I had access, this car was picked up at the Mexican Airport of the emerald zone in Atizapan de Zaragoza and went on secondary roads and part of the Chamapa - Lecheria highway to arrive at Santa Fe.

Notwithstanding, sometimes "El Licenciado" rented a helicopter to transfer him to a buildings in the Interlomas zone, from there he arrived at Santa Fe, which is allegedly shared for control by the Sinaloa cartel and CJNG.

Damaso had found in Santa Fe, a place where his family could live without attracting attention. A nice apartment, luxury cars, a pleasant life, but nothing that stands out from the socio-economic level of the area.

According to those responsible for pursuing him, Lopez Nunez almost never slept in the family home, he frequented a doctor at the Angeles del Pedregal hospital, sometimes staying at the Camino Real hotel next door, changing vehicles, and his meetings were held in private residences or low key restaurants.

Since he stopped being number two in the Puente Grande maximum security prison, Damaso Lopez Nunez had lowered his profile, but grown his portfolio. He left the public service, was put under the orders of El Chapo, he was the godfather of his son Damaso Lopez Serrano alias El Mini Lic, and there was no photo of El Licenciado for more than 15 years.

However, the war he waged against the children of El Chapo for control of the Cartel, made him lower his guard and break the golden rule that kept him in the shade. The Federal Intelligence reports reflect that he was allied with CJNG and undertook a war on social media to blame Guzman Salazar for the violence in Sinaloa.

A hacker who became a double agent managed to record a video that allowed the Government to have a current image of him. Following this the operation to capture him was launched to capture him int he Polanco area of Mexico City. The cherry on the cake.

The Atizapan aerodrome is also used, according to the same sources, by the likes of Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes "El Mencho" who used helicopters to travel to Interlomas and Santa Fe, where part of his family lived.

Original article in Spanish at El Debate