Hector 'El Guero' Palma's Sister-in-Law and Niece Found Dead in Sonora

 "MX" for Borderland Beat

Maria Jimena Palma Romero (left) and Cintia Mercedes Romero Verdugo (right). The latter was once the romantic partner of Marcos Tinoco Gancedo ("Coronel"), a man linked to the Sinaloa Cartel and a ring of kidnappers.

The family history of Héctor 'El Güero' Palma is one of the most tragic in the world of drug trafficking. A few days ago, the Sonora's Attorney General's Office (FGJ) confirmed the discovery of the bodies of María Jimena Palma Romero and Cintia Mercedes Romero Verdugo, Palma's niece and sister-in-law. Both women had been missing for over a year. According to the investigations, they were abducted by four people in Ciudad Obregón, Sonora, in December 2019.

In a surveillance camera video of a shopping center, the authorities were able to notice that María Jimena and Cintia Mercedes left through the main door of the business and are forced to walk at gunpoint before they were taken. Their relatives, realizing that it was 8:00 p.m. and that both of they did not return home, headed to the shopping center and found their vehicle abandoned at the parking lot.

Investigators were able to confirm their identities through fingerprints, their physical body description (tattoos), and by analyzing their personal belongings.

Previous tragedies

When Palma was head of the Sinaloa Cartel, conflict between his criminal group and the Arellano Félix brothers rose. The brothers, who were related to the former leader of the Guadalajara Cartel Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo, felt that Palma displaced them under the new arrangement. His rivals dispatched a Venezuelan man named Rafael Clavel to infiltrate Palma's operations. Clavel wooed Palma's wife and ran off with her and his two children.

One day, a package arrived at Palma's house and he opened it. Inside was the severed head of his wife Guadalupe Lejia. About a week later, the tragedy worsened; Clavel sent a video to Palma where he threw his two children from a bridge in Venezuela. Jesús (aged 5) and Nataly (aged 4) were killed.

Palma erected a headstone with their faces in Jardines de Humaya cemetery in Culiacan, Sinaloa. The construction was valued at over US$420,000. In the ceiling is a painting of his wife and two children.

Far from appeasing the conflict, things would not stop there. In revenge, Palma ordered the murder of nine friends and relatives of Félix Gallardo, including his mother-in-law. These incidents marked the beginning of the change in the code of conduct among drug cartels.

Aftermath 

In 1995, he was arrested while heading to a wedding on his private jet. While flying his jet suffered engine problems and he had to do a forced landing near the Jalisco and Nayarit state borders. His arrest confirmed what many Mexicans had long known: in Mexico, the police are for sale and drug lords are purchasing them.

When Palma was arrested, most of his entourage were active members of the Federal Judicial Police (PJF). Palma was imprisoned at the Federal Social Readaptation Center No. 2 ("Puente Grande"), the infamous prison where El Chapo escaped in 2001. In Mexico, Palma won several appeals and had his charges dropped multiple times.

However, in 2007, Palma was extradited to the U.S. and sentenced for his drug trafficking involvement. He was deported back to Mexico in 2016 and was re-arrested by Mexican authorities who were waiting for him at the border crossing. He was imprisoned for his outstanding charges in Mexico.

He is currently facing trial for murder and is currently imprisoned at the Federal Social Readaptation Center No. 1 ("Altiplano"), a maximum-security prison in the State of Mexico.

Sources: Infobae; Silla Rota; Borderland Beat archives