Cuautla/Morelos: Several Fatalities in Presumed Attack Against CJNG Plaza Chief

Oaxaqueño for Borderland Beat

On Saturday, the 13th of April, around 17:30 hrs, an armed attack occurred in the restaurant “Los Estanques”, located the northwestern outskirts of the municipality of Cuautla, in the community of El Hospital. Four people, including a 24 years old man, a 63 years old woman, as well as two minor girls aged 8 and 9, died on the spot. Another two people, a 54 years old woman and a 5 year old boy, later succumbed to their severe wounds in the hospital. In addition to that, nine people were wounded in the shooting. Reportedly, roughly eight hit-men arriving in two cars staged the assault. After the attack, the sicarios fled the scene. However, arrests including two men who are believed to have participated in the attack have been made.

Oaxaqueño Analysis:

There have been plenty of articles and official statements by different authorities regarding the incident, some of them contradicting each other. Having said that, it seems clear by now that the prime target of the attack was Raymundo Isidro Castro Salgado “El Ray”, who is the alleged plaza chief of CJNG in the eastern region of Morelos. 

At the time of the assault, he was together with two doctors and their families in a separate area of the restaurant. Meanwhile, it has surfaced that “El Ray” had some sort of relationship (which still remains rather unclear) to one of the doctors and his wife. Namely, to the former director of the General Hospital of Cuautla, Guillermo Domínguez Muñoz, who was injured in the assault. His daughter was one of the two girls killed at the scene. The second of the assaulted two families was the one of Dr. Alejandro Elizalde Hernández, whose daughter and mother-in-law were killed on the spot while his minor son later succumbed to his wounds in the hospital.

Although the family connections of the murdered 24 year old male has not been revealed so far, it seems likely that he was a relative of one of the two families as well it is known that he was working in a hospital. To sum this up, all of the deceased victims were part of either one of the two families, disqualifying initial rumors that the hit-men were shooting indiscriminately at the visitors of the restaurant.

Reports indicate that the eight hitmen upon their arrival split into two groups in order to attack the area were “El Ray” and the two families were located from two sides. Despite the direct attack, “El Ray” was obviously able to flee the scene thanks to his guards (whose number remains unclear) who allegedly engaged in a firefight with the attacking hitmen. Consequently (or simply due to the crossfire of the split-up hitmen), two presumably attacking sicarios were wounded and later put under arrest in the hospital where they are currently treated for their injuries. However, their affiliation still remains unclear. 

Therefore, it cannot be exactly determined at the current stage which criminal group was conducting the attack.

Generally, several organized crime groups are operating in the state of Morelos. The battle between them has caused a major increase in violence in Morelos in recent time. However, the main dispute is said to be between Los Rojos, headed by Santiago Mazari Hernández alias “El Carrete” or “El Señor de los Caballos”, and CJNG. While the former is supported by La Familia Michoacana cells, the latter has an alliance with other local groups such as Guerreros Unidos and the so-called Tlahuica Cartel. Consequently, it seems highly likely that either Los Rojos or a cell affiliated or allied to them perpetrated the deadly assault.

When it comes “El Ray”; he has an extensive criminal record, including kidnapping and extortion, which dates back to 2010. Once a leader of Guerreros Unidos, he is said to have temporarily left the state just to return again under the CJNG banner in order to control the eastern part of Morelos, which is a known hotspot for drug distribution. In the course of the violent struggle for control of the region, he was also named to be responsible for a number of criminal incidents. 

These include the murder of Romualdo Ixpango, union leader and promoter of self-defence groups in Morelos, whose corpse was found in the community of El Hospital (where the latest incident took place) on 31 July 2018. In addition to that, “El Ray” is held accountable for the murder of a man found decapitated in Yautepec as well as the lethal armed attack on the “Bull” bar in Cuernavaca in the end of February 2019.

When speaking about bars and restaurants, it is noteworthy that an unusually large number of recent deadly armed attacks in Morelos have been staged in such establishments, with Saturday’s assault being the latest in this series. Therefore, further tit for tat killings (possibly continuing to highly affect bars/restaurants and potentially uninvolved civilians), including a likely revenge attack at the hands of “El Ray”, can be expected in the upcoming weeks in the state of Morelos.

Source   Source   Source   Source