"HEARST" and "Sol Prendido" for Borderland Beat
Municipal Police officers from the border city of San Luis Rio Colorado, Sonora, have allegedly been caught on video taking bribes from the Sinaloa Cartel subgroup Los Salazars.
Even more intriguing, a number of these police officers who are allegedly in league with Los Salazes were attacked by unknown individuals while they were working in San Luis Rio Colorado (often shortened to SLRC).
This just adds further fuel to the fire that some unknown group is actively fighting Los Salazars within their home base city because, as previously covered, a series of homicides of alleged cartel operators has also occurred. But who is behind these attacks that contest Los Salazar's control?
The Video
The local Facebook group Sonora Informativo has published a video which shows alleged footage of two municipal police officers taking bribes as well as going over the recent attacks on SLRC officers alleged to be in league with Los Salazars.
This particular Facebook group has a decent record of reliably and accurately covering cartel news from Sonora, with their information having been covered by Buggs in articles from 2020, such as this one.
Video Sources: Sonora Informativo, Yaqui_23472138
Video translation by Sol Prendido:
This here is a municipal policeman in the hands of Los Salazar. They [the policemen] are the ones who receive money from the criminal group Los Salazar as extortion or an arrangement so that the municipal police in San Luis Rio Colorado, Sonora will work in the service of this organization.
Marcos Salcido is a nephew of Daniel Salcido Zamora aka El Chapo Salcido. Edgar Salcido is the brother of Chapo Salcido, he’s also an active policeman in San Luis Rio Colorado. He receives money from organized crime in the name of the municipal police.
In the interrogation of Jose Alberto Montaño aka El Guasón released in September of this year, 2021. He narrated which authorities receive money from Los Salazar, the same organization to which he belonged.
Due to the corruption and nexus that exists among elements within the municipal police. Along with the groups inside organized crime. The deadly attacks against at least 3 ex agents in this past month have been attributed to this.
Jose Maria, 33 years of age was executed on November the 14th. Oscar Mendoza Brizuela was killed on November the 12th. And Daniel Salcido Zamora aka El Chapo Salcido was assassinated on November the 23rd. His name was mentioned in the interrogation of El Guason [alternative spelling, El Wason] back in September of 2021.
The violence continues in San Luis Rio Colorado. In addition the government will continue to support criminals as long as they’re receiving money from the principal cells, the Gente Nueva Salazar. Supported by the sons of El Chapo, Los Chapitos. Who are in turn against Los Rusos, which are being supported by Ismael ‘El Mayo’ Zambada.
The Timeline
Along with the video, a number of other attacks against active and former officers were alleged in text that was uploaded along with the video. For the sake of clarity, the timeline of events, in chronological order, is:
August 2, 2021
Location: Progreso neighborhood, San Luis Rio Colorado, Sonora
A family driving in SLRC are shot at by alleged Salazar hitmen. The wife and young toddler of the family die as a result of the attack, with the father surviving; more details here. Two Salazar hitmen are accused online of being involved: “El Wason” and “El Oakland”.
September 21, 2021
Location: Somewhere in San Luis Rio Colorado, Sonora
Video footage of Los Salazar member Jose Alberto Montaño Mercado, alias “El Wason” (alternatively spelled El Guasón), being interrogated is uploaded online. To see the full video and an English translation, please see Sol’s story here.
In the interrogation Wason is asked which law enforcement or military groups are currently in league with Los Salazars. El Wason responded by saying the State Police and Municipal police are currently paid off, and they are paid $80,000 pesos ($3,761 USD) every Tuesday.
He also stated that the Army (SEDENA) is also paid off and they are paid $30,000 pesos ($1,410 USD) every Friday. Additionally, he said that the National Guard are paid off but the footage ends before further details are given. El Wason is later dismembered and his remains were left alongside a sign however, mysteriously, neither the video nor the sign makes clear which organization is behind Wason’s abduction.
This event is the first major incident in which a Los Salazars member is attacked within their stronghold territory of SLRC.
September 22, 2021
Location: Sinaloa Avenue in San Luis Rio Colorado, Sonora
Los Salazars hitman “El Oakland”, the same man who was suspected in the attack on the family, is shot and killed.
November 12, 2021
Location: Highway to Mexicali, a few meters away from the Lateral San Luis highway, San Luis Rio Colorado, Sonora
Former municipal police officer Óscar Mendoza Brizuela was shot and killed.
November 14, 2021
Location: Ejido Avenue and 22nd Street, San Luis Rio Colorado, Sonora
Former municipal police officer José María "N" (who resigned from his position) was shot and killed.
November 14, 2021
Location: Puebla Avenue and 22nd Avenue, San Luis Rio Colorado, Sonora
Later, four alleged hitmen were arrested who were allegedly involved in the homicide of former officer José María "N" earlier that day.
November 23, 2021
Location: 17th Street and Quintana Roo Avenue, San Luis Rio Colorado, Sonora
Former municipal police officer Daniel Salcido Zamora, alias 'El Chapo Salcido' was shot and killed.
November 27, 2021
Location: Unknown, likely within San Luis Rio Colorado, Sonora
Video of active duty Municipal Police officer Edgardo Salcido and Marcos Salcido counting a large number of bills which are laid out on a table in front of them was released. It was subsequently covered by local cartel-centric Facebook groups, exposing the alleged identity of the two Municipal Police liaisons who handle the Los Salazars bribes.
Of note, Marcos Salcido, who can allegedly be seen in the video wearing a gray shirt, is a nephew of Daniel Salcido Zamora, alias 'El Chapo Salcido'. Meanwhile Edgardo Salcido, who can be seen in the black shirt, is the brother of El Chapo Salcido.
During the same time that these Salazar police officers were being executed, a number of either Los Chapitos hitmen or Los Salazars hitmen were executed, starting on November 24, leading up until November 28, 2021. The timeline of those hits has been omitted from this article for the sake of brevity, but the full list of incidents can be found here in this previous story.
Summary
Keeping track of the specifics of each event can get overwhelming so to summarize: In September 2021, some unknown group interrogated a Los Salazars’ operative about which hitmen are active and which police officers were being paid off. Two Salazar hitmen were killed by an unknown group.
Then, a number of police officers who were allegedly on Los Salazar payroll were killed throughout the month of November 2021, while two other officers were recently named and exposed online in anonymously-uploaded video footage.
In the last week of November 2021, a number of Los Salazar hitmen were allegedly killed, as well as a number of Los Chapitos hitmen. All of these events occurred within the border city of San Luis Rio Colorado, Sonora.
What Does This Mean?
But who is behind these attacks that contest Los Salazar's control?
It could be their longtime ally Los Chapitos, who are rumored to have recently split with them. It could also be by the El-Mayo aligned Los Rusos from nearby Mexicali or Rafael Caro Quintero’s Caborca Cartel. For a more in depth overview of these three possible perpetrators, please see this previous story from earlier this week.
As a side note, in the interrogation El Wason was asked about the recent murder of a man, a women and a young toddler that occurred in SLRC.
At the time of the murder, it was rumored that Los Salazar regional boss Eduardo Molina Flores, alias “El Zabe”, “El Sabino”, or “El Sevas”, had planned the attack. It was believed to involve “El Oakland”, who Sonora Informativo had previously described as the head of hitmen under the command of El Zabe.
El Wason said that the attack was ordered by “El 21”, from Los Salazars. He said a subordinate of El 21, “El Max” planned out the specifics of the attack and his hitman “El H” carried out the actual deed. El Max would later be accused online of being behind the murder of Los Chapitos operative El Cuate.
Because of El Wason’s interrogation, we know that El Max is an established, active head-of-hitmen-type character who carries out Los Salazars’ executions within SLRC. However, whether or not El Max was actually behind the El Cuate hit is still unknown and still very key to determining whether Salazars and Chapitos have truly split.
It is interesting to note that during the El Wason interrogation he is asked:
Sicario: What’s the total amount of individuals that the Los Salazares have to fight, in other words how many hitmen?
Captive: Anywhere from 30 to 40 persons.
Sicario: How many sicarios do Los Chapos have in San Luis?
Captive: Anywhere from 40 to 50 individuals.
Sicario: What types of armaments do you guys Los Salazares have in San Luis?
Captive: We have AR-15, AK- 47 rifles, and shotguns.
Sicario: Which rifles do Los Chapos carry?
Captive: They carry AR-15, AK-47 rifles, and shotguns as well.
Although Los Chapitos and Los Salazar have always been two distinctly separate entities, within areas such as the border region around SLRC, the two groups have worked so closely together in the last few years that the two blurred together.
With this in mind, the sicario asking El Wason about each group in separate questions, with the benefit of hindsight, seems important. The phrasing indicates the possibility that, within the cartel underworld, it was known that there was a need to distinguish the two from each other. In retrospect, the naming of each group may have been our first clue as to a potential crack in their long-standing alliance.
Sources: Sonora Informativo, Tribuna de San Luis, Zeta Tijuana, previous Borderland Beat stories listed below and their attributed sources
Further Reading:
Los Salazars Execute Man, Woman and Young Toddler In SLRC
El Wason Interrogation And Murder
Los Salazars' El Oakland Murdered in SLRC
Timeline of Los Salazar and Los Chapitos Homicides in SLRC
Mexico is irretrievably lost. Sad.
ReplyDeleteMunicipal police caught in the act, they sure work together.
DeleteI would love to hear from you guys about who you think was behind the kidnapping of El Wason.
ReplyDeleteAlso, who do you guys think was behind execution of those former officers?
i think rusos are trying to make it seem like chapitos and salazars are going at it. if you notice rusos always try to push a narrative. if you noticed there has been alot of killing in mexicali aswell but it more low key over there
DeleteThank you for answering. That's definitely one of the possibilities that I see as well.
DeleteI understand the idea behind this kind of traditional "heat up the plaza" strategy is the hope that a law enforcement crackdown will occur and that it will hurt the strength of the cartel who currently holds the territory.
I do wonder if there is any additional motive to sow distrust between the two groups (Chapitos and Salazars). Or are the lines of communication between the two groups so open that people within the organizations would never mistake this narrative as anything other than a rival's ploy?
The very intriguing question that this possibility leads to is: if Rusos were behind this misinformation campaign, is Mayo aware of it/ did he sanction it?
Its like that in every corner 8n mexico. Cops are the xecitioners and sucariis
ReplyDeleteDidn’t La Tuta film some of his meetings a few years ago?
ReplyDeleteYea when he paid the local government for protection but got betrayed and had viagras cartel's back.
DeleteEven vuagras went against him but they had a truce, viagras and local GOV had diferent plans
It amazes me that there are these many bodies being thrown around like cigarette butts for this one border Town. It's all heated up now. Whichever cartel wins the plaza or whatever can't possibly think they're going to move anything across the border after all of that heat. Obviously that's a weak point in our border and they are exploiting it. It must be worth a s*** ton of money for all these people to be dying left and right. Mexico my God I pray for you.
ReplyDeleteThose check points are pointless because the local cartel g3t free pass and drive around with guns and drugs.
DeleteWell BB follower I to pray for you. That Chicago suburb, has been seen many Homicides. Fighting over drug sales, on the turf. Even kids are getting killed.
Delete