Who Are "Los Demonios" ?

Yaqui for Borderland Beat from: Vanguardia and InSightCrime

      "Los Demonios" are the new and bloodthirsty criminal cell of the Sinaloa Cartel charged with                                                                            "Dirty work''
April 12, 2019

The appearance of this cell is relatively new, and although it does not appear in the list of splits of the Sinaloa Cartel, it is one of the most important for this criminal organization.

Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada has strengthened the power of the Sinaloa Cartel , with cells loyal to the criminal group, one of them is "Los Demonios" , as well as the sons of Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, who is in a prison American, as highlighted in an InSight Crime report .

"Los Demonios" acts as the armed wing of the Sinaloa cartel , the publication highlights. Plus, after the arrest of Juan Guadalupe Jacobo Regalado, alias "El J3" or "El Chepa" , leader of the criminal cell, an important route of drugs and weapons operating between Nogales Sonora and Phoenix, Arizona has been discovered.

The authorities in the United States have been alerted of movements of the Sinaloa cartel and their with criminal cells.

"We are here for what belongs to us" as the Sinaloa Cartel intensifies the offensive against the CJNG, who has become the most powerful criminal organization in Mexico.

"El Chepa",  was heavily guarded by elements of the Secretariat of National Defense (Sedena), the Federal Police and the Criminal Investigation Agency (AIC) of the General Prosecutor's Office of the Republic (FGR).

The uniformed, heavily armed and hooded authorities took him from his home in Culiacán, Sinaloa , boarding  him onto an AIC vehicle for the  transfer to the FGR facilities in the state when he was arrested April 4. 

After the revelation of  the arrest of ''El Chepa'' it was confirmed that his operations center is located in Nogales, Sonora, in Mexico; while in the United States he operates in Tucson and Phoenix, Arizona.

     "Los Demonios" responded particularly to the orders of Joaquín Guzmán Loera, "El Chapo" .

Currently, the Sinaloa cartel is commanded by Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada , who takes the leadership of the criminal organization out of the shadow of "El Chapo".

Zambada García has divided the cartel into four wings: the first one led by himself, one more commanded by Jesús Alfredo and Iván Archivaldo Guzmán Loera, "Los Chapitos"; the third one headed by Aureliano Guzmán Loera, "El Guano"; and the last one directed by an old acquaintance of organized crime: Rafael Caro Quintero, "El Narco de Narcos".

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In May 2018 three members of Los Demonios were arrested , including the second in command of the group, but they were not included in the Sinaloa Cartel cell list published by the authorities around the same time.

These cells act mostly as armed arms of the Sinaloa Cartel, offering security against threats from rival groups in specific territories, or controlling criminal economies, such as drug trafficking and extortion.

Some of these cells also seemed to respond directly to specific Sinaloa leaders. While it is believed that Los Demonios are loyal to "El Chapo", the new leader, Ismael Zambada García, alias "El Mayo", is close to "Los Cabrera", a band led by a family from Durango.

It has been difficult to know the specific formation of these cells. For example, there is contradictory information about whether one of these groups, the "Cartel del Poniente", is still affiliated with the Sinaloa Cartel, or whether it was changed sides and linked to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG).

Given that "El Chapo" has left the scene, "El Mayo" has become the new leader of the Sinaloa group , with the support of the children of Guzmán Loera, known as "Los Chapitos".

But the revelation of the reach of "Los Demonios" in the United States, even though little was known about them before the arrest of "El Chepa", indicates that the Sinaloa Cartel continues to depend on specific cells in charge of territories or criminal economies, which respond to a central command.

After the fall of "El Chapo" , the Sinaloa Cartel has managed to project a unified image of control under the leadership of "El Mayo", maintaining a strong structure, while other criminal groups have fragmented .

Ensuring the continued loyalty of these cells, each in its own fort, has been key to the permanence of "El Mayo" in power.