'El Tony', CJNG Plaza Boss in Los Apaseos, Killed by Rival Cartel Members

"MX" for Borderland Beat

Apaseo el Alto, Guanajuato, where El Tony was attacked, is about a thirty-minute drive from Queretaro City, Queretaro.

Yesterday the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) plaza boss in Los Apaseos, Guanajuato, was attack by rival cartel members. He was sent to a hospital in Queretaro where he succumbed to his wounds.

According to security forces, the attack occurred in San Antonio Calichar, a rural community in the municipality of Apaseo el Alto. The victim's name was Antonio Zuñiga Garcia (aged 53), commonly referred to by his aliases El Tony, Tonina, and/or Antonino.

The victim was found by paramedics inside a gray vehicle while still alive. However, he was severely wounded and has a gunshot wound on his dead. He died hours later in the hospital. At the scene authorities confirmed that another person was killed. He was not identified by press time and his body was taken to a morgue in Celaya, Guanajuato.

Local media reports say that El Tony was the plaza boss of Los Apaseos (a name that refers to two municipalities in Guanajuato: Apaseo el Grande and Apaseo el Alto). He ran the plaza alongside Leonardo Navarro Escutia, also known as El Tio, Pollo, and/or Abuelo. Both were responsible for all organized crime activities in the area, including: drug dealing and trafficking, kidnappings, illegal oil extraction, extortions, and vehicle theft.

El Tony (second row) was on the Guanajuato's most-wanted criminals. This list was leaked by Excelsior newspaper last year and reshared by Borderland Beat.

El Tony was classified by the security corporations as one of the main generators of violence in the state of Guanajuato. He ranked second on the list only below Emilio Rosas Martínez, alias El Manitas, who controls Salamanca municipality. El Tony became a CJNG plaza boss during a restructuring carried out by Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, alias El Mencho, the top leader of the cartel.

Reports from the intelligence unit of the Mexican Navy indicate that El Tony was seeking to create a drug corridor that would connect the states of Veracruz, Hidalgo, Querétaro, and Guanajuato with Jalisco, as reported by Borderland Beat.

On 12 March 2019, El Tony was nearly killed in an attempt on his life in Vista Azul neighborhood in Queretaro. Two of his bodyguards were killed in the attack.

Sources: Diario de Queretaro; Notinfomex; El Debate de Sinaloa; Plaza de Armas; Silla Rota; Excelsior