Escaped Fugitives from Culiacán Prison Reveals Alliance Between Rivals

Translated by Yaqui for Borderland Beat from: LaSillaRota

July 27, 2018
The escape last Sunday of two high-profile criminals from rival criminal organizations ie, Julián Grimaldi Paredes  and Jesus Carlos Salmón Higuera, "El Macaco"  from the Aguaruto Penitentiary Center revealed an alliance between the criminal groups led by Fausto Isidro Meza Flores, "El Chapito Isidro", and Aureliano Guzmán Loera, "El Guano", brother of the leader extradited from the Sinaloa cartel , ie "El Chapo" Guzman Loera as part of the violent fight that is being carried out against the children of Chapo Guzmán.
Since last January, both groups of the Guzmán clan began a violent dispute to obtain control of the growing and transfer of drugs in the mountainous area, where campesinos and farmers say that the men of "Los Chapitos" prohibit selling crops to the people of "El Guano". 

They also dispute the business of fuel theft known as ''huachicol'', a brawl that reached its peak at the end of last April when armed groups made incursions into at least 8 communities of the so-called ''huachicolera strip", and deprived  several young people of freedom.

According to sources consulted of the Public Prosecutor's Office of the State and Public Security, as well as testimonies of investigating agents, Julián Grimaldi Paredes -whose real name is Luis Gabriel Valenzuela Valenzuela- ,  29 years of age, belonged to the ranks of Guzmán Loera , but since  his capture in Los Mochis, Sinaloa , in January of 2016, he remained in the faction that is now directed  Iván Archivaldo and Jesús Alfredo Guzmán Salazar , "Los Chapitos" or "Los Menores".

The investigations indicate that once he was captured by Army elements on February 16, 2018, along with six of his men when they celebrated a birthday in a party hall in the Colonia Colinas de la Ribera, he distanced himself from the clan of the Guzmán Salazar, due to suspicions that his arrest was a retaliatory delivery for the murder of a godson of Chapo Guzmán , which occurred a few days ago in the community of Villa Juárez, municipality of Navolato.

With the freedom of Grimaldi, researchers say, it is possible that the ranks of "El Guano" have been decimated in recent months, allying themselves with "El Chapo Isidro " to add to their criminal ranks.

During his hearings before the judge of control, the lawyers of Grimaldi Paredes or Valenzuela Valenzuela argued that the soldiers who carried out the operation at the party improperly detained the accused, who were accused of carrying firearms for exclusive use and possession of drugs. They also alleged that the time of arrest did not coincide with the one indicated by the military.

"Luis Gabriel (Grimaldi) was extremely upset because they left him alone," a man said, a person who had access to one of the hearings.

CARTEL OPERATOR:
The Attorney General's Office (PGR) officially identified Luis Gabriel Grimaldi (Valenzuela) as the financial operator of the Guzmáns and was one of the alleged participants in the ambush of a convoy of the Mexican Army, which occurred on September 29, 2016, where 5 soldiers died and 11 more were seriously injured. 

NOTE: Check Archives on BB Posts of Military Ambush

After the attack, the Ministry of National Defense and the Criminal Investigation Agency (ACI) secured several of their ranches located in the community of Paredones, located north of the capital of Sinaloa. He was also apprehended, but the PGR failed to impute charges, so he was released.

In the early morning of his arrest, he was with his family and other dozens of guests at the celebration. He carried a false identification as a member of the Presidential Staffand as an employee of a security company. Various testimonies gathered indicate that Grimaldi handled large sums of money and controlled key operations of the Sinaloa cartel .

But neither the money nor the more than 15 lawyers he hired for his defense managed to get him out in the short term, at the end of February he was linked to the process and in mid-April the administrative body of the penitentiary centers made an attempt to send him to the federal prison of Perote, in Veracruz, but an amparo filed in time before the federal judge forced the authorities to keep him in the flimsy Aguaruto prison.

After the scandalous escape of the son of Juan José Esparragoza Moreno, named Juan José Esparragoza Monzón, "El Negro", and four other high profile inmates of the Sinaloa cartel , in March 2017, the government of Quirino Ordaz Coppel decided to contribute a new module to confine the federal prisoners, because the other strategy that followed the authority was to try to send the prisoners considered the most dangerous criminals to federal facilities, something that contravenes the accusatory justice system.

The other escaped prisoners are Jesús Peña González, security chief of Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada; Rafael Guadalupe Félix Núñez, financial operator of Los Ántrax, Alfonso Limón Sánchez, "El Poncho Limón" and Francisco Zazueta Rosales, "El Pancho Chimal."

Of the five, the Navy killed Zazueta Rosales in the rural area north of Culiacán. He had also been accused by the PGR as part of the Army ambush. Both Esparragoza Monzón, Félix Núñez and Alfonso Limón had open extradition proceedings to various US courts. On several occasions, the Directorate of Prevention and Social Readaptation of Sinaloa tried to change them from prisons, but the amparos held back any movement.

THE NEW MODULE:
After the March escape and the public discovery that high-profile prisoners rented luxury units that included satellite television and Jacuzzi, the Quirino government began the construction of the newly created module, which was completed a few months ago. Rodolfo Peña Mayen, Lieutenant Colonel of Military Justice in Retreat, also arrived as Director. Another military  man  to add to the structure that Ordaz Coppel left in the hands of the Sedena.

The module has a special security protocol, verification of inputs and outputs. According to the Ministry of Public Security, throughout the jail they make two list passes to the inmates, one at 6:30 am and the other at 7:00 pm, when the doors of the modules are closed.

The prison authorities decided to segregate those they considered to be the 20 most dangerous inmates. Among them was also Jesus Carlos Salmón Higuera, "El Macaco", one of the hired thugs of El Chapo Isidro , who was prosecuted for the murder of 7 ministerial police killed in an ambush in El Fuerte.

Among other inmates are also front-line operators of the Sinaloa cartel , such as José Carlos López Alanís, "El Cali Ántrax", who was the leader of Los Ántrax, the armed wing of "El Mayo" Zambada; Jesús Rodríguez Owner, "El Rino"; Jorge Alberto Salas Gastélum, "El Furcio", both sicarios for  Los Chapitos, and others considered highly dangerous.

According to testimonies, Peña Mayen and Juan Carlos Campos, director of Prevention and Social Readaptation, exercised an iron command inside the prison of Culiacán, which caused discomfort in the inmates, more accustomed to be able to bribe there way out. In addition, conjugal visits were prohibited in this module and family members could only go to see them under surveillance.

According to a source close to the investigation of the leak and photographs revealed by La Silla Rota in the report , that's why "El Macaco" and "Grimaldi"  left written messages on the walls with black the morning they fled due to the inconvenience they had against the director of the prison.

A source from the SSP confirmed to La Silla Rota that days before the evasion, which took place on Sunday, July 22,  Director Peña Mayen requested permission to be absent for a few days and go on vacation. At the time of the crisis, ie the escape of these prisoners , he was not in the city, but arrived back in town the next day.

THE LEAK, THE THREAT AND THE BURLA:
The authorities assured that with the new module there would be no more escapes of relevant or violent inmates, but the dawn of Sunday the escape report was given at 3:40 am, according to statements by the Secretary of Public Security of the state, Brigadier General Fermin Hernandez Montealegre , who barely had been a week since he had taken the position to replace the retired general Genaro Robles Casillas.

At a press conference, Hernández Montealegre admitted that the escaped prisoners infiltrated the security system and managed to escape dressed in guards' uniforms. They passed through 6 security filters until they reached the street, helped by two guards who according to the investigations were the ones who provided uniforms to El Macaco and Grimaldi.

The custodial elements were identified as Edwin Alejandro Gutiérrez Ramírez and Fredi Martín Sarmiento Márquez, the first of them with the rank of commander. The two had been assigned to the prison of Los Mochis, Sinaloa and just months earlier the board approved their the change to Aguaruto.   According to a consulted custodian, at this time of the escape no one is allowed to enter or leave the module of new construction, so other colleagues on duty had to be aware. Each exit and entrance must be registered.

After the escape, the two custodians also disappeared into the night as well as the inmates. Behind them, "El Macaco" and Julián Grimaldi left messages on the walls, where they threatened the director Peña Mayen, the deputy director and the director of Prevention and Social Readaptation in Sinaloa, Juan Carlos Campos.

Officially, according to the SSP, the investigations are in charge of the PGR and the Office of the Prosecutor, to determine the responsibilities of the security personnel. Meanwhile, the escape revived the debate of transfer of inmates to federal prisons, which has led to a wave of shelters for inmates to avoid being transferred to other prisons.

Another Link HERE same story, no pics.