Seven Los Huertas Hitmen Arrested in Sonora and Baja California, Police Director Says They Are Linked to Chapitos

"HEARST" for Borderland Beat 

Eight hitmen from the regional cartel group called Los Huertas got into a series of car chases and gunfights with municipal police officers that ended with one hitman dead and seven arrested in the border region of Baja California and Sonora.

The police director of Mexicali gave a press conference where detailed that Los Huertas are “linked to Los Salazars and Los Chapitos”, two prominent Sinaloa Cartel groups.

The Shootings & Car Chase

At approximately 4:07 pm during the afternoon of Saturday, May 21, 2022, Mexicali municipal police officers were sent to patrol the small town of Chiapas because the emergency phone line received a call about hitmen being seen in the area. Chiapas is located within Mexicali municipality in the state of Baja California but it lies to the far east, near the state border with Sonora. 

The officers spotted two SUVs full of armed men who matched the description the caller had made. When the hitmen saw that they had been spotted by police, they opened fire on them. The officers returned fire and requested backup on radio.

One of the SUVs was a sand-colored Chevrolet Tahoe and the other was a black GMC Yukon. The SUVs tried to escape the area after a few rounds were exchanged, speeding off towards the south.

The officers followed them and this led to a car chase which lasted over 45 minutes. Intermittently the vehicles exchanged gunfire with the officers. According to Mexicali police director Pedro Ariel Mendívil García, at one point one of the SUVs made a U-turn and the vehicle faced the patrol car head on, the hitmen inside opening fire. 

"The agents were in grave danger. At one point the attack was frontal, the shots could be heard over the police radio. We were very worried about them," said director Mendívil García. The officers returned fire, causing the hitmen to turn around and the chase continued. 

The emergency phone line received reports of gunshots being heard in several neighboring towns, moving south from Chiapas Uno to Chiapas Dos to Veracruz Dos. Other police vehicles were able to link up with the officers and aided them in the chase.

More gunshots were exchanged within the town of Guadalupe Victoria, which is often called “Kilometer 43” by locals. Here, near the outskirts, the SUVs hit a patch of rough terrain, causing the sand-colored Tahoe to crash into a small irrigation ditch.

Meanwhile the black GMC SUV kept driving, managing to cross the dry riverbed of the Colorado river and enter the state of Sonora.  A Mexicali municipal officer alerted the SLRC authorities of the incoming black SUV that had just crossed over police radio. 

The hitmen inside the Tahoe SUV fled the area on foot after the crash, splitting up, and forcing the pursuing officers to fan out and search for them. The area was said to be very rugged and muddy, making the search difficult but an armored “Ryno” vehicle was brought in by state level forces to help with the search. All four hitmen that were inside the vehicle were located by officers and arrested. 

Then in Sonora, the SLRC officers began their search for the black SUV. Officers spotted a similar vehicle parked in the town of Pozas de Arvizu, just off of Highway 40. When they got closer to the vehicle, they saw a number of bullet puncture marks on the SUV, confirming that the vehicle had recently been damaged in the fight.

Hitmen spotted the officers and another gunfight broke out. This time one of the four hitmen was killed and the other three were arrested. Various firearms and ammunition were seized from the vehicles. 

The Detainees

The Sonora detainees are Jesus Armando "N.", 23 years old, Eric "N.", 19 years old, and Javier "N.", 22 years old. The hitman who was killed was later identified as Salvador "N.", 32 years old, who was originally from Manuel Doblado, Guanajuato.

Meanwhile the Baja California detainees are José Alfredo "N.", 37 years old, Genaro "N.", 22 years old, José Domingo "N.", 40 years old and a 16 year old minor, identified as Misael. 

Normally minors are never identified however Misael currently has an arrest warrant out for him, on charges of homicide from a case that occurred on April 29, 2022, in the same town of Guadalupe Victoria.

Video Source: Columna Ocho Somos

During that incident, a victim had been gunned down near a car wash in the Chivas Brava neighborhood. Someone merely passing by at the wrong time was then chased down by the gunmen for being a witness to the car wash murder. The witness managed to survive and escape but he ended up crashing his car into a school in the process. 

An arrest warrant was put out for Misael for being one of the suspected gunmen. The charges being pursued against him include not only the car wash victim’s murder but also the attempted homicide of the witness. 

Video Source: PeriodismoNegro.Mx

The police director, said the following at the press conference, as translated by Itzli: 

We are going to observe the presentation. This group belongs to the family Huerta, a family behind criminal incidents in the Chivas Bravas or the 14 area. It is an armed group linked to Los Salazars and Los Chapitos. 

 

[…] 

 

The most relevant is that one of the detainees is a minor who has an arrest warrant for a homicide that occurred on April 29th within ‘Kilometer 43’ where thanks to the coordination we also have with Fiscal Central of the State, with an exchange of information with the Fiscal Central Rafael Orozco we could obtain, obviously, this information that he is precisely linked to this homicide that was committed April 29th where not only Misael but all the family…ehh… his direct family is linked to this homicide. 

 

[…] 

 

Finally this incident is linked to this family that everyone…ehh…we know are located in the small town known as Chivas Bravas or the 14 and they have an arrest warrant for various homicides, especially one that occurred April 29th which I referred to. 

 

[…] 

 

Our commander Leonardo Gutiérrez, with the authorization of the Fiscal Central Rafael Orozco, this incident in which the minor is linked, it is not only him that is linked but more members of his own family, it is an event that occurred in the 43 where...ehh…ehh…killed at a car wash and tire shop business called El Carpa, where they killed a person and a person that was passing the place observed a criminal group and they chase him trying to obviously kill him because he was a witness of the action. Fortunately this person is alive.

 

Additional Photos 

 

Sources: El Universal, Debate, Proceso, El Imparcial Article 1, Article 2, Article 3, Zeta Article 1, Zeta Article 2, IV Press Online, La Voz de la Frontera, AFN Tijuana, El Vigia, Periodismo Negro, Excelsior