Mencho's Wife Arrest Updates: Only Ten Soldiers Guarding Rosalinda, Attorney General Public Pleas with Narcos & More

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In the wake of the arrest of Rosalinda González Valencia, the wife of Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación kingpin, law enforcement officials are making public statements making clear they did not know about the plan to arrest Rosalinda. Milenio newspaper reveals only ten soldiers were sent to guard the prison where Rosalinda is being held.

Background 

As previously covered by Solcalj, the Army announced the arrest of Rosalinda González Valencia, who is the wife of Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, alias “El Mencho”, on the morning of Tuesday, November 16, 2021. She was arrested 

Rosalinda González Valencia, alias “La Jefa”, had previously been arrested in May 2018. Shortly after this 2018 arrest, she paid her bail of 1.5 million pesos (approximately $72,321 USD) and was released from custody on the condition that she must appear for biweekly check-ins before a judge. 

Her re-arrest, which took place on the night of Monday, November 15, 2021, was predicated on La Jefa having failed to appear for one of these required check-ins. There is no official word on when she missed her appearance before a judge or if this was the first incident in which she missed an appearance. 

Stills from 2018 video related to her original arrest

Cartel retribution by members of the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG) for the arrest of La Jefa was anticipated. Law enforcement and military personnel were put on high alert in Jalisco, a state which is the stronghold of the CJNG, as it is common for cartel members to unleash acts of violence, such are narco-blockades and shootings, on security forces and the general population in response to the arrest of an important figure within their organization. 

The last known location of the two Marines who have gone missing

On Monday, November 15, 2021, even before her arrest was officially announced, two members of the Marines (SEMAR) reportedly went missing in the city of Zapopan, Jalisco. For more details on their disappearance, which the CJNG is suspected of perpetrating, please see this previous story.

State & Local Law Enforcement Make Public Pleas with Narcos 

The mayor of the city of Guadalajara, Pablo Lemus Navarro made public statements to reporters saying that the metropolitan municipal authorities (such as himself) were not informed about the operation to arrest Mencho’s wife ahead of time. 

Mayor Pablo Lemus Navarro speaking yesterday, November 16, 2021

Additionally the state’s Attorney General, Gerardo Octavio Solís Gómez, is making public statements trying to make clear that security forces in Jalisco were not aware of the operation to arrest La Jefa and that they were only put on high alert after the arrest was achieved. 

"These types of operations, due to their delicacy, are carried out with extreme secrecy,” Solís Gómez said. 

Attorney General Gerardo Octavio Solís Gómez

He clarified that the Jalisco state government was not notified ahead of time about the operation, which was carried out by three federal level government entities: the Army, the National Intelligence Center (CNI), and the Federal Attorney General's Office (FGR). 

He stated that he, himself, had only found out about the capture through the media coverage and the official announcement. "We already knew that the operation had concluded. There was no other way to be aware of it, until after it was over." 

And only after it was over were they able to tell “security areas to readjust the patrolling and surveillance scheme, preparing to expect any type of reaction.” 

Personnel on high alert in Zapopan 

Photos which allegedly show Army personnel circulating throughout part of Zapopan were uploaded to twitter yesterday. Solís Gómez told reporters that “We are prepared. All the areas are already under a patrol schedule that is different from the ordinary; the day to day."

She is Not Being Investigated for Homicide of Sandoval

Later in the same press conference, Attorney General Solís Gómez was asked by a reporter if La Jefa was being investigated for any involvement in the homicide of Aristóteles Sandoval Díaz. 

Aristóteles Sandoval Díaz

Aristóteles Sandoval Díaz was the governor for the state of Jalisco from 2013 to 2018. Two years after he left office, he was gunned down in a bar in Puerto Vallarta. 

El Financiero journalist Eduardo Guerrero Gutiérrez has posited that Sandoval Díaz was killed by members of the CJNG because he was hindering their ability to curry favor with and secretly sponsor politicians. For more details on this alleged motive, please see this standout El Financiero story, translated by Yaqui. 

Responding authorities near the crime scene of the 2020 Sandoval assassination

Over 11 people have already sentenced for their involvement in the murder of Sandoval Díaz. It is not uncommon for high ranking leaders of an organization to be investigated over what may be only a tangential connection to a high profile crime simply as a way of bringing them to justice or holding them in custody. 

For example, the CJNG bosses Carlos Andres Rivera Varela, alias “La Firma” and Francisco Gudiño Haro, alias “La Gallina”, had their bank accounts frozen by the Financial Intelligence Unit because they were “linked to two high-profile hits on politicians”: the murder of Aristóteles Sandoval and the attempted murder of Mexico City's police chief, Omar García Harfuch.

It is with this context in mind that reporters questioned Attorney General Solís Gómez about if La Jefa was being investigated for the homicide of Aristóteles Sandoval. He responded by saying "I do not recall that she has been linked to the murder of the former governor". Adding that she does not have any pending investigation in the common law (state level investigation as opposed to a federal investigation).

Milenio Newspaper Says Only Ten Soldiers Are Guarding Rosalinda 

On the same day that La Jefa’s arrest was announced, Milenio newspaper published exclusive information about the prison in which she was being held and the security surrounding it. Journalist Gaspar Vela wrote that she was being kept in Federal Women’s Prison #16, which is located in Coatlán del Río, in the state of Morelos. 

Exterior of Federal Women’s Prison #16 in Coatlán del Río, Morelos Source

He writes that only two Army vehicles were spotted near the entrance to the prison and only “about 10 military personnel with long weapons guarded the vicinity,” when the vehicle transporting her arrived. 

The ten soldiers were evidently aware of why they were sent to the prison because “they looked a bit uncomfortable right before the arrival of a black Suburban van with two people on board, which parked in front of them.”

Video of the outside of Prison #16 after Rosalinda’s arrival, posted on twitter by the author of the Milenio article, Gaspar Vela Source

"It arrived in the early hours of the morning, there wasn't much commotion, it was quiet," commented one of the military personnel who was present. The article further adds that the prison did not seem to change its daily security protocols with visitors, according to prison staff consulted by Milenio. 

Interior photo of Federal Women’s Prison #16 in Coatlán del Río, Morelos Source

Federal Women’s Prison #16 is currently housing other famous female inmates such as Esperanza Rodríguez, who murdered two Isreali men in the Artz Shopping Plaza in Mexico City in 2019. As well as  “Doña Lety”, the leader of a criminal organization that controlled drug dealing and extortion in Cancun. 

Sources: Zeta Tijuana, Proceso, Milenio Article 1, Article 2, Insight Crime, El Financiero Article 1, Article 2, Notisistema

Photo Credit: CÓDIGO NEGRO MX

Further Reading: 

Motive Behind Sandoval’s Assassination 

Mencho’s Wife Arrested 2021

Two SEMAR Disappear in Zapopan