CDMX/Iztapalapa: Targeted Attack Leaves Seven People Dead

Oaxaqueño for Borderland Beat from Animal Political images from Sol 

On Sunday morning at around 03:45 hrs, seven people were shot dead while four others were wounded (two of them seriously and two others minorly). The armed attack occurred in Iztapalapa’s Los Reyes Culhuacán colonia, at the corner of the streets Benito Juárez and Cuitláhuac, situated about ten kilometers southeast of Mexico City’s Zócalo. Most reports indicate that the attackers, said to be up to ten people (reportedly at least three people), were travelling in two vehicles and immediately opened fire upon arrival. The victims, who were gathering next to vehicles and drinking alcohol at the time of the assault, were shot at more than 20 times with three different caliber weapons. Out of the deceased victims, six (five men and one woman) died on the spot, including local neighbors identified as one 18-years-old and two 24-years-old men, while the seventh’ victim, a 25-years-old woman, later succumbed to her wounds.

Graphic images on following page

Oaxaqueño Analysis:

Please note that meanwhile, there are plenty of local reports regarding this incident available. However, some of them contradict each other, so I tried to sum things up as good and reasonable as I could. Initially, neither the attackers’ affiliation nor their motive was known, although surveillance cameras captured the armed assault. However, the latest reports suggest that the target of the attack was Manuel Rubio Hernández, known as “El Mene”, who was supposedly a well-known local drug dealer. He, alongside with his girlfriend who accompanied him, is among the victims. 

All the other people who were present at the time of the attack were, according to an El Universal report, just collateral victims and therefore not targeted in the first place. Reportedly, they were only there to drink alcohol with the purported prime target of the attack. However, besides this statement, the El Universal report did not reveal in what exact relation the other victims and “El Mene” stood to each other. In contrast, other reports indicate that “El Mene” and his girlfriend, who were driving a Volkswagen Gol taxi, were pursued by their killers and arrived at the crime scene just moments before they were shot dead. These reports suggest that they stopped the taxi they were riding at the gathering, rashly disembarked and tried to run away but were caught up and shot dead, alongside with the people who have gathered there to drink.

Letting aside the exact circumstances of the crime, the perpetrators’ affiliation has meanwhile been found out and confirmed by solid evidence (following the examination of the weaponry and vehicles used in the assault). The perpetrators belong to a criminal group called Los Molina, headed by the brothers Juan Carlos and Noé Molina Plascencia, 29 and 30 years of age, respectively. Reportedly, they were actively involved in this assault. The target of the attack, “El Mene”, was working for a criminal group named Los Panchos. Having said that, “El Mene” was originally affiliated to Los Molina but switched side to their rivals in August 2018. In addition to that, he allegedly owed hundred thousand Pesos to Los Molina for drugs which he did not pay up for sufficiently. Presumably, this has caused Sunday’s attack.

Both groups, Los Molina and Los Panchos, are working under the umbrella of larger criminal organizations. While Los Molina maintains an alliance with Los Pitufos, Los Panchos is linked to Los Rodolfos, also known as Cartel de Los Rodolfos.

The origins and interconnections between these criminal actors will be covered in the course of my upcoming articles about CDMX. Considering the significant recent uptick of violence in southern CDMX, further such major targeted assaults as well as tit-for-that killings in Itzapalapa and the adjacent boroughs can be expected in the upcoming days and weeks.