"Chapo Isidro" Free on 5,000 Peso Bond

Translated by Yaqui for Borderland Beat from Riodoce By: Alejandro Mojardin for Riodoce
Historical Background: Borderland Beat Chapo Isidro History and Chapito Isidro recognized 

Fausto Isidro Meza Flores

In July 2014, agents of the United States Department of Justice and the Mexican Marina stepped on the heels of the cell leader of Los Mazatlecos, Fausto Isidro Meza Flores. "El Chapo Isidro"  managed to escape but his pursuit sparked a series of clashes for four days that left 12  hitmen dead and one DEA agent injured.

Three years later, the operator of the Beltrán Leyva Cartel has an amparo/ suspension by a judge which prevents him from executing an arrest warrant issued by the district court in Los Mochis, Sinaloa. The cell leader, sought the protection of federal justice on August 25th.

To grant the suspension of issuing the arrest warrant , the judge requested a deposit of 5,000 pesos or approximately $280 US Dollars.

With this measure, El Chapo Isidro can not be stopped until such time as the judge which granted  the amparo ends it. Meanwhile, Meza Flores is required to appear in a district court in Washington DC USA. The US government presented an indictment which includes "El Chapo Isidro's" uncles, Augustin and  Salome and Panfilo Flores Apodaca. The three are accused of drug trafficking on US soil.

Some Catpured Members of Los Mazatlecos and their Arsenal

"El Chapo Isidro" is accused of leading Los Mazatlecos, the armed wing of the Beltrán Leyva cartel in the northern Sinaloa. Authorities name Guasave as operation center of "El Chapo Isidro".

The group sowed terror among the population in the northern part of the state when a dispute over territory began with the Sinaloa cartel whom "El Chapo Isidro" was formerly allied with. The cell also waged war with the State Ministerial Police, then led by Jesus Antonio Aguilar Iniguez aka " Chuy Tono", who had the backs of CDS.

On the " Chuytoño" side  dozens of officers were killed in ambushes committed mainly in Guasave and El Fuerte. Between March and July 2011, Los Mazatlecos ambushed police officers twice and killed 18 of them.

Comandante Aguilar aka "Chuy Tono"
Sinaloan State Ministerial Police

Jesus Antonio, "Chuy Tono", was named head of the State Ministerial Police in 2011 thanks to former Sinaloan Governor "Malova". "Chuy Tono" was a police  officer with a long career, who passed no certification exams in matters of security and whose name appeared on the PGR/ Fiscalia's 2010 People Most Wanted  list for ties to organized crime.

On several occasions, the criminal group, Los Mazatlecos, hung narco mantas with messages accusing Governor López Valdez and  his  police forces to pledge solidarity with the Sinaloa Cartel, even claiming that Governor "Malova" had a secret meeting with "El Chapo" Guzman and  Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada at the Quila Trade Union where the two drug lords convinced the Sinaloan Governor to appoint Jesus Antonio Aguilar to the Chief of Police post.

In June of 2013 Riodoce published a video in which the Governors escort confirmed the meeting.

Javier Valdez, the Riodoce journalist murdered in front of their offices in May of this year, himself, pointed out that Chuy Tono was indeed " a career police officer but not a public servant; not the type ofmperson who uses any scientific application of the law, much less respects human rights and many people who are detained are victims of extorsion, tortured, disappeared and assassinated."

Former Governor  Mario Lopez Valdez
Appointer in Chief

In that year Sinaloa's Governor Mario Lopez Valdez , known as "Malova", put faces and names to the criminal group that plagued the northern entity, spreading images of the group's  members and  the structure of the organization.

The Chapo Isidro faction allegedly operated under the protection of the municipal police in the north of the state ,whom, according to authorities, were paid thousands of pesos monthly.

In January 2013, the US Treasury Department froze the assets of  Meza Flores and his wife Araceli Chang, his parents, Fausto Isidro Meza Angulo and Angelina Flores; those of his sister Angely Meza Flores; and his uncles Augustine, Salome and Panfilo Flores Apodaca.

From the family of El Chapo Isidro:  two of his uncles were already arrested and extradited to the United States. Augustine, alias Bellaco , was arrested in Guasave, in July 2012 and extradited in October 2015. Panfilo also captured in Guasave in April 2015 and extradited to the United States in October 2016. Salome, remains free awaiting an extradition order.

The Flores Apodaca  brothers are charged in Federal Court for the District of Columbia of the commission of the crimes against health, conspiracy and the use and possession of firearms.

The US government said that "El Chapo Isidro" is known to distribute large quantities of methamphetamine, heroin, marijuana and cocaine to the United States. The drug trafficker has been operating since 2000 from the municipality of Guasave, Sinaloa.

In 2014, a series of shootings between July 10 - 14 in the municipalities of Guasave and Sinaloa broke out. Clashes between elements of the Navy, ie, Marinas and criminals left 12 members of Los Mazatlecos dead.

Later it was learned from US newspaper sources that the operation, in addition to the DEA agent who was injured, were other DEA agents participating dressed in Mexican Marinas uniforms. The operation was planned by members of the FBI, the DEA and the US Marshalls along with Marina personnel working together with the goal of capturing Meza Flores.

The operator of the Beltrán Leyva Cartel escaped with the protection of his henchmen who braved the authorities forces. "El Chapo Isidro" had escaped before, but he was reportedly or thought to have been  killed by the rival group.

In October 2011 a gunfight  erupted which began in Guamúchil and ended in the second town of  Tamazula. That skirmish killed three gunmen and also killed three people of Los Mazatlecos riding in a vehicle where they faced off.

According to the authorities present,"El  Chapo Isidro" was in one of the vehicles of Los Mazatlecos.