4 Salazar Gunmen Arrested In SLRC & 7 Chapiza Arrested in Santa Clara, Sonora

"HEARST" for Borderland Beat 

Some curious footage of non-uniformed men participating in the arrest of four alleged Los Salazars gunmen in the city of San Luis Río Colorado, in the state of Sonora was released online. Seven alleged Chapiza were arrested by Army soldiers while they were gun smuggling in the Gulf of Santa Clara, Sonora.

4 Salazar Hitmen Arrested in SLRC

At approximately 7:52 pm on the night of Monday, June 6, 2022, police officers in the city of San Luis Rio Colorado reportedly spotted a recent model vehicle speeding on 26th Street, heading north.

The officers drove behind them and signaled for the SUV to pull over, but the SUV’s driver ignored them and a car chase ensued. The officers requested backup and multiple patrol vehicles responded to the request. The officers managed to intercept the SUV and force it to stop at an Oxxo gas station in 26th street, near the corner with Libertad street. 

As the officers approached the SUV, they noticed that the men inside were armed so they surrounded the vehicle and told the men to drop their weapons. The occupants of the vehicle complied and were arrested. The moment when one of the men from the SUV, who has his hands up in surrender, is approached by an officer and handcuffed was captured on video in the clip seen below. 

The video contains no graphic content. Video Sources: Sonora Informativo & GAFEs y Militares

At 0:15 seconds into the video, a non-uniformed armed man wearing a white shirt steps out of a pickup truck marked “Police Municipal” and approaches the hitman who is already surrounded by officers and kicks him.

Meanwhile, another no uniform armed man can be seen checking the inside of the hitmen’s SUV, then turning to walk away between 0:22 to 0:24 seconds into the video, with the officers clearly not perceiving him as an enemy. 

Whether these were off-duty officers, undercover law enforcement agents in plain clothes, or cartel hitmen working in coordination with the officers is unclear at this time.

Another video of some of the law enforcement vehicles at the Oxxo gas station can be seen below. 

The video contains no graphic content. Video Source: Calvarie Locus

The four men from the SUV were arrested and their firearms, along with ammo, 5 bags of drugs, and 6 cell phones were seized. Both Sonora Informativo and GAFEs y Militares have alleged the four men were members of Sinaloa Cartel’s Los Salazars. Calvarie Locus on twitter has alleged that the “GNS” seen on the baseball cap seized from the men stands for Gente Nueva Salazars.

They have been identified as the following: 

Francisco Eduardo "N", 18 years old, from Nogales, Sonora

Francisco Javier "N", 24 years old, from Hermosillo, Sonora

Luis Gilberto "N", 39 years old, from Hermosillo, Sonora

Christian Miguel "N", 43 years old, from Guasave, Sinaloa

All four were taken to the municipal police station. Shortly after they arrived, State Police officers and FGR agents were observed protecting the police station and guarding the detainee’s later transport to the Attorney General’s office. 

All police personnel stationed in San Luis Rio Colorado were put on alert and instructed to intercept any suspicious vehicles and search said vehicles. According to newspaper Tribuna de San Luis, these instructions were given due to “the possibility that accomplices of the armed men may intend to carry out an attack.”

Whether these are routine procedures implemented for any organized crime related arrest or if this indicates the police estimated the detainees were especially high-ranking within the cartel is unclear.

7 Chapiza Arrested in Gulf of Santa Clara

On Wednesday, June 8, 2022, the Army (SEDENA) announced they had arrested seven people two days earlier, on Monday, June 6, 2022 in the town of Santa Clara, located within San Luis Rio Colorado municipality.

The seven were allegedly involved with firearm smuggling and they were caught with a shipment which included a large collection of various weapons. Details on how they were caught, such as whether they were in the act of transport when noticed or they were caught while they stayed at a safehouse have not been detailed in the SEDENA press release. 

However it was reported by Tribuna de San Luis that “since Monday a house in the town of Golfo de Santa Clara is being guarded by a large number of elements of the Secretary of the Navy and the Secretary of National Defense.” Sonora Informativo alleges the seven detainees are “Chapiza”.

Based on photos of the seizure that were published by Expreso, a number of firearms wrapped in clear plastic film and/or bubble wrap were located by soldiers in the backseat of a SUV vehicle. Other firearms are photographed in both the backseat and the driver’s side front seat. These unwrapped firearms were presumably the personal weapons of the smugglers and intended to be used in order to protect their shipment.

They listed out what they seized from their possession as the following: 

• 1 Barrett 50 caliber rifle 
• 4 machine guns ("ametralladoras")
• 4 rifles 
• 2 pistols
• 2 grenade launcher attachments
• Ammo
• 4 vehicles 

SLRC Arrest Sources: Tribuna de San Luis, Sonora Informativo Post 1, Post 2, GAFEs y Militares, Calvarie Locus, Reporte 653, Columna Ocho

Gulf of Santa Clara  Arrest Sources: Expreso, Sonora Informativo, AFN Tijuana, Archy Worldys