"HEARST" for Borderland Beat
CJNG operator El Flaco was arrested in northern Oaxaca. He may be a part of the CJNG cell that was led by the son of PRI legislator Gustavo Díaz Sánchez, who beheaded a local journalist for covering cartel news in 2020.
The Arrest of El Flaco
The Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG) operator Erick N., aliases "El Flaco" and "El Loco", was arrested in the town of San Juan Bautista Tuxtepec in the northern part of the state of Oaxaca, near the border with the state of Veracruz. He was reportedly part of a CJNG cell that operates in the Papaloapan Basin region of Oaxaca, as well as in regions in Veracruz. He is 24 years old.
The operation which led to his arrest involved the state police, municipal police as well as soldiers from the National Guard and the Army (SEDENA). Almost no other details about what led to his arrest have been released to the public, not even his arrest date. He was found to be in possession of a 9mm handgun and ammo.
He is allegedly being investigated for more than a dozen executions, kidnappings and extortions in the area. The Oaxaca Public Security Secretariat (SSPO) said as part of their press release that “In his criminal record, he is considered highly dangerous and could be related to the violent events in San Miguel Soyaltepec, as well as the armed raid on the facilities of the municipality of San José Independencia."
El Pino, The Politician’s Son & Journalist Killer
It is likely that El Flaco used to report to Gustavo Abigaíl Díaz, alias “El Pino”, who was said to be the leader of the CJNG cell active in the Papaloapan Basin and Istmo de Tehuantepec regions of Oaxaca. El Pino was arrested less than a month ago, on March 31, 2022, while he was hiding out in the town of Amozoc, Puebla by agents of the FGE.
El Pino is the son of Gustavo Díaz Sánchez, alias “El Gato”, who is a former PRI deputy. El Gato is currently serving time in federal prison, having been charged by the Oaxaca Attorney General’s Office on two counts of homicide. El Pino’s brother is José Alberto Diaz Lopez, alias "El Pelón", another noted CJNG operator.
The head of the SSPC said that El Pino is “charged with extortion and is a generator of violence in the region. He is also linked to crimes such as oil theft, human trafficking, drug trafficking and the theft of cargo transportation.”
"Gustavo Abigaíl, known as 'El Pino', is directly related to the murder of journalist Julio Valdivia Rodríguez, correspondent of the newspaper El Mundo in Córdoba, Veracruz".
Julio Valdivia Rodríguez was a journalist who worked for El Mundo for seven years, covering general news. Due to an increase in violence within Veracruz, Julio began working on “nota roja” stories – which encompasses news related to crime, accidents and natural disasters. Julio lived and reported out of Tezonapa, which sat right along the border with the state of Oaxaca, across from the Oaxacan town of Cosolapa.
On September 7, 2020, Julio filmed a segment (linked here) which covered a shootout between municipal police and cartel members in Cosolapa, Oaxaca. This ended up being his last report for El Mundo.
On September 9, 2020, Julio was found decapitated on train tracks near Tezonapa. His head was placed across the tracks. Nearby sat his blue motorcycle, which featured the logo of the newspaper he worked for.
Julio had a wife, Guadalupe, and three children - ages 2, 4, 6 and 10 years old. Guadalupe reports that on the morning of September 9, 2020, Julio could not sleep and he paced nervously, listening to the cars moving outside, concerned about the movement outside. At 12:30 pm that day she reported that her husband’s cell phone rang. After speaking on the phone briefly, he put on his gray shirt with the logo for El Mundo and went to work.
At 1:30 pm, a colleague called Julio in order to discuss a story. The colleague reports “He said that he was fine, that he was in Tezonapa and that we would see each other later in Cosolapa, in Oaxaca."
By 4:00 pm, Julio’s wife was told that her husband had been found dead and gruesomely an electric saw had been utilized on his remains.
Sources: El Universal, Frontera Al Rojo Vivo, Zona Roja, NVI Noticias, Dialogos Oaxaca, La Opinion
Sources El Pino: Proceso Article 1, Article 2, El Sol de Mexico, Estado Actual
Sources Julio Valdivia: El Pais, Washington Examiner, RSF, Voces del Periodista, Piede Pagina
I can take an el crapo bigger than el flaco. Everyone appears tougher holding a gun. The subjected and dejected are the scariest because they lack the mental capacity for reasoning. And it’s nurtured, not simply by nature. We love you Mexico. Godspeed.
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