'El Charly', Former Gulf Cartel Boss in Monterrey, Sentenced to 69 Years in Prison

 "MX" for Borderland Beat

Juan Carlos Ovalle Landeros (alias El Charly) was one of the top Gulf Cartel members in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, in the early 2010s.

Juan Carlos Ovalle Landeros (alias El Charly), former regional boss of the Gulf Cartel in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, was sentenced to 69 years in prison. He was found guilty of organized crime involvement, illegal possession of firearms, kidnapping for ransom, and drug trafficking. His brother Cesar Humberto was sentenced to 74 years for the same charges.

El Charly was the plaza boss of Monterrey in the early 2010s. He was arrested in October 2012 by the Mexican Federal Police in San Nicolás de los Garza, a suburb of the Monterrey metropolitan area. When he was arrested, the police discovered that El Charly had two people captive at the house where he was hiding.

Authorities said that El Charly was responsible for arranging the payroll of members of the Gulf Cartel, including some local officials who helped the cartel in the municipalities in the Monterrey metropolitan area, including: San Nicolas de los Garza, General Escobedo, Apodaca, San Pedro Garza García, and Guadalupe.

He also reported to David Rosales Guzman (alias Comandante Diablo), the former head of the Gulf Cartel in Nuevo Leon. Many of the kidnappings and murders committed by Comandante Diablo's faction are also attributed to El Charly.

One of the most notable crimes attributed to El Charly occurred in 2011, when local television comedian Jose Luis Cerda Melendez (alias La Gata) was abducted and killed in Monterrey.

Mugshots of El Charly and his brother Cesar Humberto in 2012. Their brothers Cesar Humberto, Rodolfo (alias El Gordo / El Oso) and Jose Angel (alias El Calilla) were also involved with the cartel. All of them were arrested.

His body was dumped along with his cousin Juan Roberto Gomez and an independent cameraman from Coahuila, Luis Emmanuel Ruiz Carrillo. Investigators say that La Gata was a former drug addict that was involved in social work but that the Gulf Cartel believed had ties with Los Zetas.

Other notable crimes that El Charly was involved in:

• August 8, 2012 - The murder of two men who were hanged from a pedestrian bridge between the limits of Monterrey and San Nicolás de Los Garza, Nuevo León.

• August 8, 2012 - The murder of three people who were in a taxi outside the "Makiavelo" bar in Monterrey.

• August 14, 2012 - The mass murder on the bar "Matehuala" in Monterrey, where 9 people lost their lives and three more were injured.

• August 20, 2012 - The attacks on the bar "Azul Tequila", bar "Jarros 2" and the bar "Eternidad", where a female lost her life.

• August 28, 2012 - The murder of a person in San Bernabé, Monterrey.

• August 29, 2012 - The murder of 4 people who were found dead in the vicinity of Río Danubio Street in Colonia Mitras Centro, in Monterrey.

• August 30, 2012 - The murder of a man in Escobedo municipality.

• September 4, 2012 - An attack with explosive devices against elements of the Nuevo León Civil Force.

• September 10, 2012 - The homicide of a person identified as "El Borre", on Texcoco Street in the Arco Vial Agropecuaria neighborhood, Monterrey.

• September 11, 2012 - An attack on a service business named El Mirador, where one person lost his life and one more was injured on Chapultepec avenue, on the limits of Guadalupe and Monterrey.

• September 12, 2012 - The mass murder of three male persons in the San Bernabé neighborhood, in the northern sector of Monterrey.

• September 14, 2012 - The unsuccessful attack in the Topo Chico Prison that was neutralized by authorities.

• October 5, 2012 - The attack against three inmates inside Topo Chico Prison.

• October 13, 2012 - The murder of a male individual and the kidnapping of two other people at the premises a business named "Harem" in Monterrey.

• October 16, 2012 - The murder of a 37-year-old male named Esteban Salazar in Monterrey. 

Sources: Milenio; Zocalo Saltillo; El Manana; El Circo; TVNotas; Borderland Beat archives