The Third Fall Of "Wicho" Garibay

“Ivan” for Borderland Beat 

Alfredo Garibay Felix 33 years old 

Considered one of the main generators of violence in Mexicali and to which are awarded several homicides, Luis Alfredo Garibay Félix would have his last moments of freedom, after a gunfight that occurred the night on Monday, January 31 against personnel of the Secretariat of National Defense in the well-known ranch of Los Garibay, the mythical group whose criminal lineage dates back to the 1980s in the Valley of Mexicali. Since 2020, "El Wicho" is identified as an ally of assassins linked to Iván Archivaldo and Alfredo Guzmán Salazar, known as “Los Chapitos”

Luis Alfredo Garibay Félix alias "El Wicho" -innocent until his responsibility is determined by a judge's sentence, according to Article 13 of the CNPP-, had been recognized and identified as one of the leaders of the Los Angeles criminal syndicate for more than ten years. Garibay, a cell related to Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, but which previously collaborated under the protection of the Arellano Félix brothers in the Mexicali Valley during their years of absolute power.

The native of Santa Marta, California, but a resident of Yuma, Arizona, was identified as conflictive, but tried to keep a low profile for several years. However, that did not prevent elements of the extinct State Preventive Police (PEP) from capturing him on two occasions: once in possession of firearms in 2012, through an operation in Tijuana; and the other, after an operation carried out on the family's ranch in Ejido Chiapas III, south of the Mexicali Valley. On that last occasion, "El Wicho" had to be admitted to the facilities of the Mexicali General Hospital, because he was intoxicated during the arrest; he was not turned over to the investigating authorities. 

On the night of January 31, 2022, Garibay Félix was accompanied by four armed subjects and wearing tactical equipment -including a vest that showed the legend "National Guard"-, preparing for what appeared to be an attack against his staunch rival, Jesús Alexander Sánchez Félix, better known as “El Ruso”, a preponderant criminal structure in Mexicali, which controls practically all illicit activities. 

What his team never expected is that elements of the National Defense Secretariat (Sedena) had spent several days carrying out patrols in the area with the intention of locating the behavior of the alleged members of the criminal cell.

Jesús Omar Pina Barraza, 52 years old, from Ensenada / Manuel Antonio Díaz Osuna, 23 years old, from Ensenada / Luis Mario, “N”, 17 years old, originally from Culiacán / Pablo Antonio Mendoza Rodríguez, 21, born in Tijuana

That day, again at the Ejido Chiapas III ranch, they were surprised and secured after a confrontation between the military squad and five alleged criminals.

Garibay Félix is ​​one of the main generators of violence in Mexicali, becoming an important piece for the intentions of Iván Archivaldo and Alfredo Guzmán Salazar -known as "Los Chapitos"- to increase their criminal influence in the Cachanilla Valley.

This is the second criminal leader and priority target arrested in just over a month, since Felipe Eduardo Barajas Lozano alias “El Omega”, a member of the “Los Rusos” structure, was only apprehended on December 27, 2021.

His capture was a fortuitous act, since it originated after an emergency report denouncing people shooting long weapons in the Golden Zone of Mexicali; The capture was in charge of elements of the Municipal Police.

The "narco war" between "La Chapiza" and "Los Rusos" with their respective cell leaders, have left a number of homicides never seen before in Mexicali, where only in the previous two years, around 500 murders in total were documented, and, in the first month of 2022, it reached 34 deaths, that is, more than one a day.

THE RAID

Luis Alfredo Garibay Félix, 33 years old, was born in the United States, but has had a marked criminal presence in Mexicali and Sonora, where he felt comfortable and sure that he could not be captured for following the same scheme as his uncle, Manuel Garibay Espinoza and all his mafia.

The scheme was nothing to write home about, since he committed crimes in San Luis Río Colorado, Sonora -he even got close to Sonoyta- and returned to Mexicali, where he hid in the same ranch, or else, in some house of security.

His connection between both municipalities was privileged, they avoided traveling by road and instead traveled through the gaps that join both municipalities, a route that only residents of the South Zone of the Mexicali Valley know.

On the night of Monday, January 31, "El Wicho" crossed the border once again -as he has done throughout his life- and temporarily took refuge in his family's ranch. Intelligence personnel versions state that four vehicles entered Baja California, but only a late-model, black Ford F150 with California license plates was located on that ranch.

Military carried out a review in the area and confirmed the criminal presence in the place, for which they requested support from the security forces; At that moment the confrontation broke out.

The group of soldiers was not too many, few, but enough to fight the alleged assassins of Garibay Félix, who could not sustain the fight for long and finally laid down their weapons.

Of the six detainees, three presented injuries, but only "El Wicho" was on the verge of death, after receiving several impacts from high-powered weapons on the body and amputating a finger due projectiles.

As soon as it resumed scene, soldiers took everything and withdrew from the place due to the possibility of a response from criminal groups.

Three of those involved were transferred to the facilities of the Attorney General's Office (FGR) for the crime of carrying weapons for the exclusive use of the Army; the other three remained under care at the facilities of the Mexicali General Hospital, where they received care due to the seriousness of their injuries.

Since that night, the General Hospital has been under an intense military surveillance operation, given the possibility that armed groups would come to rescue the dangerous target. A fact that was confirmed by the State Secretary of Health, Adrián Medina Amarillas, who on Wednesday, February 2, during the morning of the State Government, asserted that this measure was taken due to the rumor that an armed conflict could be generated.

 THE LINE OF INVESTIGATION

According to sources from the Security Tables for the Construction of Peace, the reason why Luis Alfredo Garibay Félix was in Mexicali preparing a violent operation is that he planned to respond to the attacks by "El Ruso", committed in days past.  Both Los Salazar and "Los Chapitos" have tried to enter Mexicali in recent years, but have been stopped by the defense of their former allies identified, such as "Los Rusos".

Between November and December 2021, two violent events occurred that shook criminal activity in Mexicali. The first occurred on November 1, when heavily armed gunmen gunned down Jesús Eduardo Garibay Salazar "El Pechocho" while he was traveling with his partner and a friend of his in an all-terrain vehicle through the dunes of "Cuervitos" in Valle from Mexicali.

The descendant of the Garibay family was killed and his crime was attributed to "Los Rusos", due to the struggle they have been having for more than a year, although this link was never officially confirmed.

The second event occurred just on December 27, after the arrest of Felipe Eduardo Barajas Lozano alias "El Omega", one of the main operators of "El Ruso". In this context, on January 25, Julio Alonso Blanco Heredia “El Flacaman”, 50 years old, was taken from the outskirts of his home in the Satélite neighborhood of Mexicali and later tortured.

 The body was found four days later, near the area known as "El Doctor" in the Gulf of Santa Clara in San Luis Río Colorado, Sonora, along with a green cardboard with the following legend:

"SAVE YOURSELF PLEBES LOOK WHAT HAPPENED TO ME BETTER RUN YOU COULDN'T SAVE ME "CHOLO" I WAS THE FLACAMAN AND BASTOS NEXT".

Little is known about this character identified as "El Cholo", but according to close sources and victims, this individual has directed several criminal acts such as uprisings in the communities of the Mexicali Valley located near the border with San Luis.

There are several interpretations by the authorities of what happened in this incident, but the main line of investigation is that "El Flacaman" was an operator of "Los Chapitos", who was discovered by "Los Rusos" and killed, to later be dumped precisely in the Gulf of Santa Clara, one of its bases of operation.It was possible to identify that it is part of the register of fishermen who received support from the Federal Government during the administration of Enrique Peña Nieto, due to the ban implemented by his administration for the protection of the vaquita marina.

The document held by ZETA states that during the second quarter of the PRI government, Blanco Heredia received 48,000 pesos as compensation for the restriction of fishing in the Upper Gulf.

In response to the murder of one of his bishops, Garibay Félix, who was protecting the Gulf and San Luis, was sent to Mexicali to respond to the attack, authorities estimate. However, they were caught before committing the crime.

THE ACCUSATIONS AND ARRESTS OF THE “WICHO”

In the next few days, Garibay Félix will face accusations related to the crime of carrying weapons for the exclusive use of the Army and the possibility of attempting to commit homicide against members of the military is being framed.

However, the most severe accusation originated from a crime committed in the early hours of February 23, 2021 in the Colima and Chiapas I ejidos, where a command of at least five units with heavily armed individuals broke into two houses to murder and kidnap several people.

In a home they shot Enrique Martínez Camacho, 46 ​​years old, and injured his partner Araceli Muñoz Aguilera, 24, in addition to subtracting three brothers of the deceased, named Aarón, Alonso and Ángel, 41, 48 and 45 years of age, respectively. It is presumed that one of them managed to escape, however, until the closing of the edition, Thursday, February 3, his whereabouts were unknown.

At the scene, the thugs left a black cap and dozens of 7.62×39 and 9-millimeter shell casings, which were collected by experts from the State Attorney General's Office.Not even five minutes had passed since the Emergency reports when they broke into another home located in Ejido Colima to murder José Fidencio Granados, 47 years old, and injured his son, named José Yael, 6 years old, to later leave the the scene.After committing the second crime, they fled to San Luis Río Colorado, where they continued their violent action and attacked another home in Estación Riíto in the San Luis Valley, where they blasted a house.

Reports from the state authority indicated that the criminals continued their escape towards Sonoyta, for which they even stole vehicles. A witness to the events managed to observe the escape of the members of the convoy and identify Luis Alfredo Garibay Félix and René Ledesma Jáuregui as two of the members of the armed group.

It is the third time that "El Wicho" has been arrested since he was identified as an important piece in the criminal sociogram of Mexicali. The first dates from 2012, when he was traveling aboard a vehicle in the company of his escort Jorge Luis Mora López "El Chinto" -murdered on October 14, 2020 in the Ejido Colima- through the streets of Tijuana. 

That day he was arrested by elements of the PEP in possession of a .9-millimeter caliber weapon, but he was released almost immediately. While "El Chinto" was held responsible for the murder of three people, including a girl, during an armed attack. After spending a few years in prison, he regained his freedom thanks to an appeal for review before the federal court filed by his private attorney, which saved him from a 50-year prison sentence.

The second arrest occurred in November 2018, during a confrontation between "El Wicho" and some of his alleged assassins at the same ranch where he was arrested a few days ago. On that occasion, Garibay was transferred to the General Hospital due to "poisoning" that he suffered at the time of his capture; At that time, he claimed an alleged allergic problem, derived from his contact with fertilizers at the time of his escape. This fact could never be verified and days later he was released by the FGR.

ZETA TIJUANA