'El Charro', Notable Cartel Member Operating in León, Guanajuato, Arrested

"Itzli" for Borderland Beat

Francisco Javier Muñoz, alias "El Charro", alleged drug trafficker of the Cártel de Los Durangos which is related with the Sinaloa Cartel (CDS), was detained in the state of Querétaro in Mexico.

According to the investigations, this subject, in addition to being leader of the Cártel de La Unión that operates in León, Guanajuato, was a person that ordered his subordinates to kill his rivals while he watched them do it.

Francisco Javier was linked to a homicide warrant for ordering the kidnapping of a man identified as Cristián “N”, which his subordinates acted upon on August 18, 2018 on a lot on Eucalipto street in the Las Huertas colonia.

Two days later, the dead body of Cristián was located.  The delinquents threw him in an abandoned well on the dirt road between San Bernardo and San Jerónimo, in Purísima del Rincón.

In a second warrant for the crime of homicide, "El Charro" ordered another subject who is now detained, nicknamed El Chelo, to kidnap Francisco "N" and José "N" on July 9, 2018.

The victims were assaulted first in the interior of a house in the Medina de Alfaro colonia and afterwards they were transferred to a dirt road in Arroyo de Alfaro, between Golfo Pérsico and Golfo de Tehuantepec, in the Azteca colonia of this city, where "El Charro" ordered El Chelo to kill them. It was there that Francisco died from gunshots in the head while José Antonio was taken to the General Hospital where he lost his life due to his injuries on July 23, 2018.

The Attorney General of the state of Guanajuato informed that "El Charro" was imputed for his probable responsibility in the homicides of at least three people for which he was linked to a warrant for arrest and is currently being held in prison.

La Unión de León, to which "El Charro" belongs, is a group formed by various local criminal cells, among those the Cartel of Los Zetas, which once controlled the criminal activities in the region.

In addition the Cártel de La Unión de León was allied with the Cartel de Santa Rosa de Lima (CSRL), led by José Antonio Yépez Ortiz, alias "El Marro", in order to fight against the Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG).

According to investigations spanning over a decade, La Unión de León sold drugs in Guanajuato coming from the Sinaloa Cartel through Ignacio "Nacho" Coronel and his criminal cell identified as Los Ántrax.

Meanwhile Los Durangos, the group to which "El Charro" belonged, operated with merchandise brought from Sinaloa and thus controlled another part of the sale of drugs in the municipalities of Guanajuato.

Borderland Beat analysis

I debated back and forth on presenting this article intact versus using it as a source along with other information as there are parts that seem somewhat inaccurate, such as Los Ántrax being a cell of the Sinaloa Cartel once led by "Nacho" Coronel.

The name Francisco Javier Muñoz Ramírez, alias "El Charro", appears in an Excelsior article from June 28, 2012 reporting the arrest of 7 members of the CJNG operating in León and San Francisco del Rincón.

Furthermore, I found the following within a Vanguardia article from August 18, 2020, detailing the plaza heads the CJNG had in Guanajuato:

"According to reports in the areas of Armed Marines of Mexico (Semar), National Defense (Sedena) and National Center of Intelligence (CNI), the CJNG has an alliance with the local organizations of the municipality of León known as "Los Durango" and "La Unión de León".

The local organization known as "Los Durango" are led by Antonio Javier Pérez García and the brothers Erick, Raúl and Noé Ayón Avilés; while La Unión de León” is led by Juan Gonzalo Serrano Paredes, alias “Gonzalo”, “Mario” or “Rata” and Fernando Galván Ramírez, alias “Fernando”, “Tío Fernando” or “Cuca”.

“Los Durango” and “La Unión de León”, receive orders from Ana Fabiola Mata Alfaro, considered the head of plaza for the Cártel de Jalisco in the municipality of León, who with their cell composed of Francisco Javier Muñoz, alias “Charro”, Güero” or Javi, Mario Israel Ciénega Rocha, alias “Grande”, “Cuatro Culos” or “Judas”, Rafel Castro Pérez and/or Rigoberto Castro Patiño, alias “Michigan”, “Cuco”, “Chava” or “Tío” and Ricardo Iván López Álvarez, alias “Morado”, control the traffic of drugs, extortion, charging piso fees and robbing freight transports.

Based upon all available information my current understanding of things (which could change pending additional information) is that La Unión de León first operated in León in association with "Nacho" Coronel and has operated in alliance with Los Durango for some time now.  

Early in the article about the arrest of "El Charro" it names him as leader of La Unión de León and towards the end it states that he is a member of Los Durango.  However the other two articles I present place him within the CJNG and the later specifically names him as part of the cell of Ana Fabiola Mata Alfaro.  I am inclined to believe this information is more accurate and the arrest article conflates his activity alongside La Unión de León and Los Durango with membership, as well as inaccurately reporting these groups former association with CSRL.  

However, there is always the possibility that La Unión de León and Los Durango have shifted back and forth between CJNG and CSRL and/or "El Charro" has moved from being a CJNG cell member to a leadership position in La Unión de León.

Source: La Opinion; Borderland Beat analysis