BLO: Clara Elena From Beauty Queen to Organized Crime Leader

Chivis Martinez Borderland Beat from La Silla Rota

When everyone thought that the Beltrán Lyeva Organization would fracture into criminal cells, a woman took over command.

Four brothers, Arturo “El Barbas”, Hector “El Ingeniero”, Alfredo “El Mochomo” and Carlos created the organization known as BLO.  BLO was an important organization within the “Federation”, an umbrella formed by several cartels and led by El Chapo,  El Mayo Zambada, Juan Jose Esparragoza Moreno “El Azul” and Ignacio “Nacho” Coronel.

However, the arrest of “El Mochomo” in Culiacán, Sinaloa in 2008, caused the split by BLO from the federation.  The dispute was with El Chapo, who they accused of delivering Mochomo to federal authorities.

The war against El Chapo, as well as the persecution of federal authorities, caused the decline of BLO.

“El Barbas” was killed in 2009 by federal forces in Cuernavaca, Morelos; Carlos was captured that same year in Culiacán Sinaloa; followed by Hector in 2014 in Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato.

When everyone thought the cartel was finished and would fracture into criminal cells, a woman took over command.

Top left clockwise, Chapo, Mayo,  Nacho and Azul

It was the wife of Hector, Clara Elena Laborin Archuleta. Clara was born in Agua Prieta, Sonora on February 19, 1964.

Before marrying Hector, she was crowned as the most beautiful in her state, winning the “Miss Sonora” contest.

In the nineties, she joined forces with former television host,  Guillermo Ochoa, arrested in 2010 for money laundering.

With Ocana’s help, Clara made powerful contacts, including diplomats, artists and society people.

Within the world of entertainment, Clara made a name for herself in both Mexico and Spain.

She accumulated a fortune which caught the attention of the U.S. Treasury Department who concluded she was laundering money for BLO.

The following year, in 2010, she was abducted outside her home in Hermosillo, Sonora.  Thirteen days later she was left lying near the University of Sonora, with hands and feet bound, blindfolded and with a  message.

[Message reads: "We are going to teach you how to be a man and to respect family, murderer of children. Here is your wife, which you refused to answer for. I hand her back to you healthy and safe so you can see and learn that for us family is sacred. We do not kill women or children, we are only going after `El Hache´ and `El Dos Mil,´ as well as several police officers working for Hector Beltran Leyva and Francisco Hernandez Garcia."

The kidnapping was attributed to the Sinaloa Cartel, in revenge for the murder of Alejandro Coronel 16, the son of capo Ignacio Coronel.

Clara did not want to be an “adornment” as typically how capos use women, she always was involved in the business.

In 2014, “La Señora” took the reins of the cartel.

The gangs connected to the cartel respected her, including Isidro Meza Flores, aka “El Chapito Isidro”, [left] who currently heads the Meza Flores organization and is a high standing member of BLO.  He is in an ongoing territorial dispute with Sinaloa Cartel, especially “Los Chapitos”.

The only faction that interposed her power was the Independent Cartel of Acapulco [CIDA] that operates in Guerrero.  She managed to keep BLO operations going in Morelos, Chiapas, Querétaro, Sinaloa Jalisco, Quintana Roo, Tamaulipas, Nuevo Leon and the State of Mexico.

 She strengthens alliances with other groups with the common enemy, Sinaloa Cartel, like Los Zetas, CJNG, and Cartel de Juárez.

The reign of  “La Señora” lasted only two years, when she was arrested on September 16. 2016.