The Death of El Moreno

By Buggs for Borderland Beat

On March 30, 2020 Edgar Guzman Lopez El Moreno would be celebrating his 34th birthday. El Moreno was born from the marriage of Griselda Lopez Perez and the famous El Chapo Guzman. Edgar Guzman Lopez was known as the son of El Chapo in Culiacan as well as Ivan Archivaldo Guzman Salazar, who were part of a Culiacan group known as narcojuniors, sons and heirs of a drug trafficking dynasty in Sinaloa.

Edgar Guzman became involved in the criminal activities of his father. He was born in the ranch of Jesus Maria where he started with a group of sicarios under the command of his father, Joaquin Guzman. He was known for his humility and his calm demeanor. It was normal to see him personally at meetings of the cartel in Culiacan, Sinaloa.

The Death of Edgar Guzman.

His short life was the result of merely being the son of El Chapo Guzman. El Moreno was one of the oldest, most beloved sons of El Chapo. This is what led him to be a target of revenge of his father's enemies.

22-year-old Edgar Guzman was executed on May 9, 2008 in an attack in a supermarket parking lot in Culiacan. Guzman came to the supermarket to buy groceries for celebration of Mother's Day. He was talking outside the premises when he was caught off guard by a group of sicarios who shot him more than 500 times. They also used a bazooka in the attack. The objective was to kill Edgar Guzman.

Edgar Guzman was left laying in a pool blood. Also killed was his cousin Cesar Loera Guzman and Raul Meza Cazares, son of the Empress, Blanca Margarita Cazares, an associated of El Chapo Guzman and Mayo Zambada. Frida Muñoz, Edgar's wife, lived because she was inside shopping. Using such force to end his life made Culiacan live moments of terror.

Two cars were left at the scene, an armored Ford Lobo where El Moreno was traveling in and a gray Toyota FJ Cruiser. The 15 sicarios were traveling in three late model vehicles who participated in the incident.

The large spread of spent casings and the impact holes caused by the bazooka was only a sample of what was being lived by the drug war. The military withdrew to their barracks because there was a threat that violence would unleash after the death of the El Chapo's son.

The Possible Causes of his Death.

• One of the causes of his death was related to the war that held by the Sinaloa cartel against the Juarez cartel. The wave of violence in Culiacan and Navolato showed the violent chapter of the war waged by these groups.
  
  
• It was also said that he was killed by mistake since the Sinaloa cartel waged war against the Beltran people, the order was to kill Israel Rincon El Guacho part of the Beltran's clan. The person who executed the order was El Macho Prieto chief security officer Mayo Zambada, but he hit the wrong target and executed Edgar Guzman by mistake. It was noted that the weaponry used to kill El Moreno was similar to that used by El Macho Prieto.
  
  
• Another option that has more credible possibility is that Arturo Beltran Leyva and Hector Beltran Leyva ordered the hit on the most precious son of El Chapo Guzman in retaliation for the arrest of Alfredo Beltran Leyva El Mochomo. It is said that Arturo accused El Chapo of treason in the arrest of El Mochomo. This would be just a small sample of the war that was looming in the state due to the war between the Sinaloa cartel and the Beltran Leyva Organization.

The Funeral and Grave of Edgar guzman.

Edgar Guzman's private funeral was held in Culiacan, the most striking thing of the event was the arrangement that his father Joaquin Guzman sent him to his funeral. The arrangement consisted of 50 thousand red roses, which left the city without roses for the celebration of Mother's Day in Culiacan. From there, the body was transported to Jesus Maria for burial. Band music and only close family were allowed during the funeral of El Moreno.

Months later they constructed an imposing mausoleum where El Chapo's brother, Arturo Guzman El Pollo was also held. The construction was worth around 1,200,000 pesos (55,00 dollars), the memorial has all the luxuries and finished by the high-cost architectural look. The huge memorial is surrounded by a fence and palm trees, shows how impressive the place is. This ensures privacy and security for the family.

The grave is visited by the family where they celebrate Edgar Guzman with parties and bands who play music that liven up the place.

A Monument to Built for Edgar Guzman.

Also a cenotaph was erected in the place where Egdar Guzman was executed. The monument has a plaque with the initials in memory of the three fallen in the attack. The monument is decorated with special dates like Christmas, birthdays, the day of the dead, etc. There you will find arrangements, decorations, lights and gifts in memory of Edgar Guzman. The people who created the memorial and place the gifts are said to be the families of the deceased.

 The government has tried to destroyed and removed the monument for representing a sign of drug trafficking, but the memorial is guarded 24 hours a day by men in cars who take care that no one vandalizes the memorial.

Threats Against El Chapo's Children.

During the time El Chapo Guzman remained a fugitive and leader of the Sinaloa cartel, his children got threats for being heirs to the Guzman empire. The last name brings them power but also many enemies.

• The first of them, Ivan Archivaldo Guzman, was arrested in 2005 in Zapopan, Jalisco at the Federal Center for Social Readaptation Number 1, but was released in 2008 after the a judge ruled that there was not enough evidence against him.
  
  
• As has been mentioned was the execution of Edgar Guzman Lopez in May 2008, most likely at the hands of the Beltran Leyva Organization.
  
  
• In September 2010, Marcial Fernandez, son of Marcial Fernandez Valencia El Animal, a partner of El Chapo and El Mayo was ambushed and executed after leaving a bar in a white Ferrari. Nothing was known of the incident until days later when some comments were made that said that he was executed by mistake because the car belonged to Ivan Archivaldo and was the objective of the target.
  
  
• Another cause is that Marcial was executed out of jealousy of Israel Rincon El Guacho who had a relationship with Aislin Araujo daughter of Gonzalo Araujo El Chalo Araujo, partner of El Chapo and El Mayo. Alfredo Guzman called El Animal to tell him that they had El Guacho. El Guacho appeared in a tortured video and was later found in a state of decomposition in November 2010, he had been missing since October 2010.

• In a 2014 police operation inside a restaurant in Culiacan, Ivan Archivaldo Guzman escaped through the kitchen, thus avoiding being captured.
  
  
• In August 2016 Jalisco Ivan and Alfredo Guzman Salazar were kidnapped in Puerto Vallarta from inside a restaurant. A group of sicarios arrived at the restaurant, threatened and kidnapped them. Days after the kidnapping, they were released. There were two reasons why they were released. One is that Mayo Zambada interceded for them with El Mencho Oseguera, Mayo's message was that if something happened to them, an intense war would come against El Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion, to which El Mencho chose peace. It is also said that Mayo paid a large sum for their release. The other is that El Chapo from jail sent a messenger to release his children or the same thing that happened to them, they were going to do it to Ruben Oseguera El Menchito who was detained.
  
  
• In 2017, a war broke out for the leadership of the Sinaloa cartel, between the sons of El Chapo, Ivan and Alfredo against Damaso Lopez El Licenciado. In a letter sent to the national media, they said that El Licenciado attempted to execute the sons of El Chapo and Mayo Zambada. Los Chapitos accused Damaso of ordering the kidnapping in Puerto Vallarta and trying to make an alliance with El Mencho to gain control of the Sinaloa cartel.
  
  
• In October 2019, after a failed operation against Ovidio Guzman Lopez, brother of El Moreno, there was a confrontation between sicarios and military elements to release Ovidio Guzman. Culiacan experienced a wave of violence, shootings, deaths, blockades and fires, and the attack on military barracks, as well as the kidnapping of military families, resulted in the release of El Chapo's son.

El Chapo who was already detained was extradited to the United States. Today he is serving time in one of the maximum security prisons in the United States, while Los Chapitos maintain the leadership of a faction of the Sinaloa cartel which maintains an internal war with the other leader, El Mayo Zambada.

It is said that the war is at a high point and is possible weakening the cartel while others mark as the hegemony to the growth of the cartel in a new generation of capos faithful to Los Chapitos and the debacle of Mayo Zambada.