CJNG Possibly Challenges Los Rusos In Midst Of Their Fights With Salazars In Mexicali

"HEARST" and "Sol Prendido" for Borderland Beat 

In the midst of an escalating war between Los Rusos and Los Salazars in the border city of Mexicali, in the state of Baja California, a new cartel entity has announced their arrival in the area. The message is believed to be signed by "El Felipón" who was last known to be from the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG).

Update 11/6/2021: There is evidence to suggest that El Felipón is actually communicating in the narco message sign that he now serves Los Chapitos. Please see bottom of the story for further details.

Quick Review 

The border city of Mexicali has seen a spike in violence within the last year due, in large part, to Sinaloa Cartel’s Los Rusos faction, who fall on the El Mayo side. Los Rusos are allegedly led by Jesús Alexander Sánchez Félix, alias “El Ruso” or “El Russo”.

In August 2021, there was a wave of executions of small-time drug dealers and human smugglers from certain neighborhoods within Mexicali. The running theory posited by Zeta Tijuana Weekly was that Los Rusos were now forcing small-time criminals who used to not pay a fee to do “business” in the area to start paying their fee and that Rusos were being met with some resistance by these independent operators, hence the wave of executions. For more details, please see this story. 

Los Rusos are primarily contested by a different faction with the Sinaloa Cartel, Los Salazars, who are Los Chapitos aligned. Los Salazars dominate the northwestern side of the neighboring state of Sonora. The city of San Luis Rio Colorado is often used as a launching point for Los Salazar attacks on Rusos cartel members.

According to government intelligence reports in early March 2021, the historic Mexicali crime family Los Garibays formed an alliance with Los Salazars, giving them much needed intel on the specifics of the region that only a local family could know. For more details, please see this previous story.

The Announcement

Two narcomantas (narco message signs) were discovered in Mexicali on the morning of November 3, 2021.

The first narcomanta was found in the center of the city, in the Ejido Zacatecas neighborhood. It was placed on a pedestrian bridge over Lázaro Cárdenas Boulevard, near Nochistlán street. The second narcomanta was found a little more north of the first one, in the Ferrocarrileros neighborhood. It was placed on López Mateos Boulevard, near Independencia avenue. 

Both signs had the same message professionally printed on them which read as follows, as translated by Sol Prendido:

Felipón is in charge here. I’m at the order of the Jesus Maria mob. 

I’ve been tasked with purging Mexicali and San Luis Rio Colorado. Therefore, every operative who’s with El Ruso needs to fall into formation. Otherwise you faggots will die.  

 

Sincerely, 

Felipón Olea

Both banners were removed by members of law enforcement. The message is signed by “Felipón Olea” which may refer to Jesús Felipe Olea Sepulveda, alias "El Felipón". Felipón has not been spoken of in cartel news coverage for many years. The earliest known criminal incident involving El Felipón, who is one of the Olea Sepúlveda brothers, dates back to February 23, 2010, when he was briefly detained by State Police officers.

"Agents of the State Preventive Police (PEP) arrested a subject in possession of a firearm while he was driving a vehicle in the Los Portales I subdivision. (...) A subject who said his name was Jesús Felipe Olea Sepúlveda, 36 years old, got out of a gray 2004 Titan pick-up vehicle and was searched. The agents found a gray .32 caliber pistol with a magazine and 26 useful .32 caliber rounds in his waistband.”

Then in 2016, a Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG) operator named Pedro Stanley Herrera Jelinek, alias “El Peter”, was arrested by State Police alongside his father Pedro Herrera Estrada, alias “El Viejon”, another alleged cartel drug trafficker. 

Shortly after El Peter’s arrest, law enforcement authorities reported that Peter had revealed to them the structure of the CJNG subgroup he worked under and they released the chart he created during his interrogations showing the key players. 

The chart released in 2016 by Baja authorities.

El Peter reported that he was working under the aforementioned El Felipón, at the time of his arrest. El Peter told officers that El Felipón used to be a close associate of Tijuana leader Alfonso Lira Sotelo, alias “El Atlante”. 

He also detailed that the three main lieutenants working under El Felipón were himself (El Peter), Juan José Pérez Vargas, alias “El Piolín” and Arturo Giovanni Gomez Herrera, alias “El Gross”. All three of these lieutenants would go on to be major CJNG figures within the Tijuana scene in the years after 2016, each gaining headlines for their groups exploits. 

In 2018, a Zeta Tijuana article named El Felipón as the second in command under Jesús Alfonso Trapero Ibarra, alias “El Trapero”, who was leading a CJNG group in the Tecate-Ensenada area.

Then, in February 2020, a Facebook group called “Soy Neutral Tijuana” reported that a couple of arrested Mexicali cartel members reported that they worked under the Olea Sepúlveda brothers, including El Felipón, who they said now worked under Los Rusos. 

In contrast, a different Facebook group called “It’s Our Time Tecate” claimed in July 2020 that El Felipon was still with the CJNG and in fact was the plaza boss for the El Hongo area of Baja California, which famously houses the large prison known often as simply “El Hongo”. 

Both Facebook groups also allege that El Felipón’s brother is Rosario Olea Sepúlveda, the municipal delegate who served within the cabinet of Tecate Mayor Zulema Adams. They claim Rosario goes by the criminal alias “El Chayo” and he had an existing criminal record prior to becoming the municipal delegate. “It’s Our Time Tecate” writes that El Felipon financed his brother’s political career in order to have an “in” with the Tecate mayor. 

This assertion is partially supported by the reporting of columnist Victor Islas Parra, writing for El Mexicano newspaper. He writes that Rosario Olea Sepúlveda was a puppet placed in her cabinet by the Suarez family and that he was swiftly dismissed due to a public drunkenness incident. 

Now in November 2021, El Felipón has resurfaced by signing the Mexicali narcomanta, claiming the “Jesus Maria” mob is going to clean the city. It is unclear if “Jesus Maria” is the first name and middle name of El Felipon or if this refers to another person.

It is also very interesting that there is no outright mention of the CJNG that El Felipon is believed to serve, leaving open many possible motives behind the narcomanta.

Update 11/6/2021: Commenter WA has pointed out that Jesus Maria is a Sinaloa town heavily associated with Los Chapitos, making the potential message that El Felipon is announcing he now works under them.

In fact, Chapo got married to his first wife Alejandrina Salazar in 1977 in the town of Jesus Maria. Alejandrina is notably the mother to both Ivan and Jesus. Source

After Chapo’s 2015 prison escape, he was said to be spending time and partying in Jesus Maria. Following his escape, a teleSUR article wrote that they spoke to Julio Martinez (‘El Tio’) who told them, “El Chapo is already in Jesus Maria with his wives and children. El Mayo and Aquiles are also there. El Mayo also has family in Jesus Maria. They are partying.” Source

Added photo of El Ruso and sentence: Los Rusos are allegedly led by Jesús Alexander Sánchez Félix, alias “El Ruso” or “El Russo”.  

Narcomanta Sources: Zeta Tijuana, El Imparcial, Valor por Tamaulipas

2016 Sources: Ensenada.net, Zeta Tijuana, La Silla Rota

2018 Source: Zeta Tijuana

2020 Sources: Soy Neutral Tijuana, It’s Our Time Tecate, El Mexicano