Girlfriend of La Unión Tepito Gang Member Killed in Mexico City

"Morogris" for Borderland Beat

WARNING: GRAPHIC VIDEO 

A few days ago, two people were executed in the streets of Venustiano Carranza, a borough in Mexico City. The victims were Jesús Rangel Barragán ("Leónidas") and Karen Nalliby Mustafa Estrada, the suspected girlfriend of member of La Unión Tepito, a criminal group based in Mexico City.

Hours later, a surveillance video that captured the murder began to circulate on social media. In the video, the two victims were observed walking on the sidewalk next to each other. From their right a gunman approached them and shoots them in point-blank range. Immediately, two more men arrive from the front and shoot at them too. The attack did not last more than 10 seconds. Investigators confirmed that the victims were shot more than twenty-five times.

The assassins were three men who were riding motorcycles driven by three other suspects. Two of those vehicles were found that same day by the Mexico City police in a neighborhood near the crime scene. Mexican journalist Carlos Jiménez released the video and described that Karen Nalliby was helping Barragán to walk because he was blind from an attack he suffered in 2019. 

Previous attack

Barragán, the male victim in the video, was shot in the face on 13 November 2019. He did not die but was permanently blinded. Barragán was at a party with Valeria Díaz, the suspected girlfriend of Alexis Martínez Martínez ("El Alexis"), a high-ranking member of La Unión Tepito.

"El Alexis" is reportedly responsible for cloning credit cards for the criminal group to carry out illegal activities. In 2019, "El Alexis" and his girlfriend were arrested but they were released shortly thereafter.

After spending two months in the hospital, Barragán was released. Doctors told him he would never see again. People close to Barragán stated that Díaz invited him to the party so others could kill him. The motives for Barragán's attempted murder were not established.

Murder

Death caught up to Barragán last week when he was murdered in broad daylight along with Karen Nalliby.

Karen Nalliby was 30 years old and had a twelve-year-old son. She ran a nail salon in Mexico City. Sources outside of law enforcement confirmed that Karen Nalliby was one of Las Novias de La Unión ("The Girlfriends from La Unión"), a group of girls who date members of the criminal group.

According to investigators, both Barragán and Karen Nalliby had visited Samantha, another girlfriend of a member of La Unión. However, when they left Samantha's house, they were already being watched by their assassins.

Barragán died at the scene. Paramedics took Karen Nalliby alive in an ambulance. However, she died shortly upon arrival at a nearby hospital. No one went to claim Barragán's body. Karen Nalliby was buried the following day.

Gangsters and their girlfriends

Karen Nalliby is not the first girlfriend from a member of La Union that has been killed. In December 2018, Karina Itzel Morales Baltazar went missing in Tlalnepantla, State of Mexico, after going to a music concert with "El Alexis" and Brayan Mauricio González ("El Pozoles"). "El Pozoles" was responsible for the murder of several women, including an Argentine and Venezuelan. These deaths were covered by Borderland Beat (see here and here).

Atzin Molina Salinas ("La Medusa") went missing in Cuauhtémoc, Mexico City, in February 2019. Morales was dating "El Manzanas", a high-ranking member of La Unión who took control of the criminal group after the arrest of Roberto Mollado Esparza ("El Betito"). She was last seen with "El Manzanas" at a bar the night she disappeared.

Mexico City authorities are offering a MXN$2 million reward for anyone that provides valuable information that leads to the whereabouts of both women.

Source(s): Radio Formula; C4 Noticias; MSN Noticias; Excelsior