"El Michoacano" Prisonbreak: An Overview & Update

"HEARST" for Borderland Beat 

Last week an armed group of men used car bombs and a truck to battering ram open a prison gate in the town of Tula de Allende, in the state of Hidalgo. They did this as part of their operation which aimed to free a regional cartel leader, who escaped along with 8 others. 

Every day since the prison break, there has been a slow drip of information coming out which details how the group planned and executed the jail break, along with updates on some of the escapees getting rearrested. Here, in one article, is a brief overview of what has been reported.

Who is behind the operation? 

The group “Los Emes”, a subgroup within “Pueblos Unidos” is believed to be behind the breakout operation. 

Los Emes, or in English “The Ms”, refers to the first letter of the surname of the crime family  who lead the group, the Maldonados. The family originally hails from Pachuca, Hidalgo.

The four Maldonado brothers who are known to be involved in leading the organization are: Mariano, alias “El M1”, José Artemio, alias “El Michoacano”, Lucio , alias “El Jabalí” and Gerardo, alias “El Shrek”.

Two sisters, Sara and Reyna, are also allegedly involved in the business along with Sara’s son Salvador Alcázar Maldonado "El Chava".

Who were they trying to break out of prison? 

Reportedly the two prisoners that the operation primarily sought to free were José Artemio Maldonado, “El Michoacano” and his brother Mariano Maldonado Mejía, alias “El M1”. Seven other prisoners escaped, making a total of 9 inmates who were let out by the operation. 

El M1 had been in Tula prison, which is located in the state of Hidalgo, since 2018 on kidnapping charges related to migrant abductions that occurred in Mexicali, Baja California. 

El Michoacano was arrested in November 2021 after Hidalgo law enforcement requested authorities in the State of Mexico detain him on their behalf. They made this request after gaining intelligence that suggested where Michoacano was hiding out in Texcoco de Mora municipality, within the State of Mexico. 

His arrest was executed by State of Mexico authorities on November 16, 2021. Michoacano had suspected involvement in acts of kidnapping, extortion, intentional homicide, and drug trafficking.  

El Michoacano had only been in Tula prison for 5 days before an operation from Los Emes sprung him and his brother out.

What happened?

The timeline of the operation which freed the group, as reported now, goes as follows:

4:00 am

At approximately 4:00 am in the early morning hours of December 1, 2021, Tula authorities received a report of a vehicle explosion that had just occurred. The bomb exploded in a breach in between two roadways, in front of the General Hospital.

Photos of the car bomb used at the General Hospital taken on the morning of the attack

Photos of the car bomb used at the General Hospital taken on the morning of the attack. 

Photos later taken of the car bomb used at the General Hospital. 

Photos later taken of the car bomb used at the General Hospital.

4:15 am

At approximately 4:15 am, several pickup trucks and a box truck full of armed men arrived at the Tula prison. Four armed individuals dressed in black, military style clothing exit their vehicle, then three more men exit theirs.

Hitmen in front of the prison, as seen on surveillance video

The total of seven armed men approaching, dressed in black clothing, began opening fire at the prison guard watchtowers from their position. The driver of the box truck turned his vehicle around and waited for a signal.

After several minutes of shooting, a signal was given and the box truck was driven into the gateway entrance of the prison, using the vehicle as a type of battering ram. Video footage of the moment the gate was rammed seen below.

Source: Milenio

The gateway fell down and the hitmen entered the facility behind the truck. The first group of four men set fire to one of the entrances and then went upstairs to rescue the inmates inside the facility.

Photos of damage to the gate taken following the attack. 

Photos of damage to the gate taken following the attack. 

4:25 am

After ten minutes of intermittent shootouts which were occurring while guards were rushing to contain the fire started, the attackers got the prison guard to comply. Nine inmates were released from their locations in the prison. Whether all nine were individually picked out and their release sought after by the attackers, or if some of the nine were just in the right place at the right time is unknown. 

Just as the group of inmates and attackers were about to leave the prison, driving in vehicles, a second car bomb was set off to the east on the on the Tula-Michimaloya highway, suggesting that either the explosion had a remote detonation device, a timed detonation device or a second group of hitmen were working in tandem with the attackers in the prison.

Remnants of a car bomb used on the highway. 

It is worth noting that in some publication these car bombs are referred to as simply “vehicles on fire”, leaving open the possibility that the vehicle were simply set aflame similar to traditional narco-blockade construction. 

However, Ignacio Rojas Martinez, the director of Civil Protection of Tula, explained that at around 4:00 a.m. they received an emergency report of two vehicles on fire and, “according to preliminary reports, the fire was started by two explosions.”

4:35 am

At approximately 4:35 am, the convoy of vehicles fleeing the prison sped in the direction of the  El Crestón-Xochitlán highway however they were intercepted by a group of State and Municipal Police officers who were responding to reports of the prison break. The gunmen inside the vehicles shot at the officers who returned fire. A chase began but police were unable to make the vehicles stop. Two officers were injured by the gunfire, one state officer and one municipal.

4:45 am

By 4:45 am the gunfight was over and the attackers vehicles moved onto Arco Norte Federal Highway M40D. Within five minutes, the attackers vehicles switched onto the Mexico-Queretaro freeway. 

Two of the vehicles from the convoy were seen on surveillance footage going through the Atlacomulco toll booth, at 5:10am. 

Is this the same Pueblos Unidos organization that is working in Michoacán? 

Yes. It is believed that the Hidalgo Pueblos Unidos group (Los Emes) comes from the same overall organization that the Michoacan Pueblos Unidos group comes from. It appears Pueblos Unidos (PU) has multiple subgroups within it, spanning across multiple states, and each subgroup has their own set of alliances/rivalries, as well as targeted criminal endeavors.

Whether there is an overall leadership structure that all the PU subgroups report to or if the subgroups actually function more like a loose federation of independent factions is unclear. 

The Los Emes subgroup made their first appearance on June 14, 2021 when they announced themselves in a video claiming that they were a “citizen self defense” group and would be “hunting” huachicoleros. For Borderland Beat’s coverage of the new group, click here. 

Still from the June 2021 video. 

In the video, they especially denounce huachicoleros, saying “We all have something in common: the loss of a child, a cousin, a brother, a father, a friend, because of these huachicoleros,”

Los Emes allegedly has a prior criminal history of migrant kidnapping for ransom near the Baja California border, in the city of Mexicali. Their current stronghold is allegedly in the town of La Loma, in the municipality of Tepetitlán in Hidalgo. 

Within Michoacan, the PU faction is believed to be a subgroup working under the Carteles Unidos (CU), in alliance with other CU groups like Los Viagras and Cartel de Abuelo. The Michoacan group has much less of an emphasis on huachicoleros. 

Who was re-arrested? Who is still a fugitive?

On December 2, 2021, Hidalgo police reported the rearrest of three of the group of nine who escaped from the prison. 

Those recaptured were identified as Román Farfán Sánchez, Juan Valentín Rangel Albor and Abel Millán Gaspar. In addition, three other people who were allegedly a part of the group that helped the prisoners escape were arrested, one of them in Texcoco, State of Mexico.

Sources: El Sol de México Article 1, Article 2, Article 3, La Silla Rota Article 1, Article 2, El Imparcial, Zeta Tijuana, Milenio, UnoTv, La Jornada, Vice