11 Men Close to El Chueco Arrested & Former Mayor Caught With $2.5 Million Cash During Manhunt

"HEARST" for Borderland Beat 

The manhunt for priest-killer El Chueco continues. Law enforcement has arrested 11 men connected to El Chueco in the Sierra Tarahumara region of Chihuahua, including Chueco’s grandfather and his cousin. 

11 Men Arrested With Alleged Ties to Chueco

On Thursday, June 30, 2022, during the morning presidential press conference, Undersecretary Ricardo Mejía Berdeja announced the 11 arrests along with a number of other arrests as part of the Zero Impunity update which is given every Thursday. 

Between around timecode 28:45 - 30:55 on the official video, he said the following about the manhunt for El Chueco: 

The Army [SEDENA] became involved, in collaboration with the local authorities of Chihuahua, especially the local prosecutor's office and this led to a permanent troop deployment [in the area]. This allowed, first of all, the recovery of the bodies of the victims. But as the President instructed us, this does not mean ceasing the investigation, or in any way ceasing the search to find those responsible. 

As a result of these [search] operations, from June 25 to June 28, eleven people who are linked to the criminal cell of Jose 'N', aka 'el Chueco', have been arrested, three of them direct relatives.

The search continues for José 'N', aka 'el Chueco', in order to clear up this case, to ensure that there is no impunity and that those responsible are punished. Of course, the search and location of the perpetrator is still in force, and there is also a reward of five million dollars from the Chihuahua Prosecutor's Office.

In addition to the detainees, we have been able to secure high caliber weapons, vehicles, explosives, tactical vests, among other criminal equipment throughout the region of Urique and the area near Sonora.

Roberto Fierro, the State Attorney General of Chihuahua, was asked questions about the 11 detainees by reporters and he said he didn’t have many details because "These 11 people arrested were placed at the disposal of the Attorney General's Office of the Republic, they were not placed at the disposal of the State Attorney General's Office.”

He was able to clarify that the 11 men arrested have not been indicted on charges related to the homicide of the two priests and tour guide. The men were brought in instead of firearm possession charges. He detailed that the items seized included "Eight weapons of different calibers, 30 magazines, 532 bullets and 2,066 trays of beer have also been seized."

“We have found people that we have found to be in possession of weapons, drugs, and contraband of that type, at different checkpoints. It does not mean that those 11 people are involved in the homicides", he emphasized.

He was asked by reporters if it was confirmed that three of the 11 arrested were relatives of El Chueco and he said that it was confirmed that at least two of them were related.

He said "One of them is a cousin of El Chueco and the other is his grandfather.” He added that they are investigating whether each of the 11 are a part of the cartel group which reports under El Chueco.

Based on the photos presented on the slide from the press conference, the cousin the Attorney General references is the same cousin who was previously covered in this story.

Former Mayor Arrested with Backpack Full of Money

National Guard soldiers have been erecting checkpoints along roads in southwestern Chihuahua and bordering areas of Sinaloa as part of the manhunt for El Chueco. This can sometimes lead to unanticipated results.

At roughly 7:00 am on Tuesday, June 28, 2022, José Lindolfo Reyes, the former mayor of Choix, Sinaloa, tried to pass through one of these checkpoints which had been erected outside Choix. 

As the soldiers gave his Toyota Sequoia SUV a cursory search, they discovered large bundles of cash hidden within a black backpack in the back of the vehicle. Once counted, the cash added up to $2.5 million pesos or $123,510 USD. 

The soldiers questioned him about the cash and Lindolfo Reyes claimed that he had it on hand because he was “engaged in commerce”. However the mayor could not provide proof of the source of the income so he was arrested by the soldier and taken to the nearest federal Attorney General’s Office which was located in Los Mochis, Sinaloa.  

The charge being levied against him is the “crime of resources of illicit origin”. This charge means that Lindolfo Reyes has 48 hours to provide evidence of the legal source of the cash to authorities. 

Between the periods from 2005 to 2007, Lindolfo Reyes was mayor of Choix. From 2011-2013 and later from 2017-2019, he was a representative in the local congress. He is also known to work within the cattle ranching business and owns several fuel service stations and two supermarkets in Choix.

On Thursday, June 30, 2022, Lindolfo Reyes was released from custody but the investigation into him is said to be ongoing. 

Two Presidents Battle Over Homicide of Priests

On June 21, 2022, the former President of Mexico Felipe Calderón tweeted the following:

"Have we hit rock bottom yet? Will this unprecedented event be forgotten in the days to come? Will the indifference of the authorities or the comical and sardonic smile of AMLO prevail when the massacres are presented?" Executions of priests, in front of God's eyes. 

Which includes a direct quote from this Omnia article which Calderón also linked to in his tweet. 

During the morning presidential press conference of June 22, 2022, President López Obrador responded to Calderón’s comment. Starting at timecode 1:23:55 on the official video, he said: 

This thing in the mountains of Chihuahua -which hurts so much- this did not arise just now. This kind of thing comes from long ago, when there was a complete collusion between the authorities and the criminals. Or has this gentleman [Chueco] just started his criminal career? No, and surely it was allowed.

And the Jesuits know this very well. And those who live in Urique know it very well, and those who live in Chinipas and in Creel. They know perfectly well in Batopilas, in Morelos.

They know very well how this whole organization was created and of the collusion with the authorities. So, it is a process. Much progress is being made, but there is still a long way to go. [...]

Because even Felipe Calderón dares to blame us, in the height of cynicism, of hypocrisy, because that is how the right wing is, we have already said it many times, its true doctrine is hypocrisy.

A few hours after the press conference, former President Calderón tweeted the following: 

Failure to confront crime means leaving communities abandoned to their fate, in the hands of criminals, without the force of the State to protect them. This is the context in which the Jesuits were murdered. Those who commit crimes know that they will be embraced and not punished.

Then during the presidential press conference of June 29, 2022, a journalist asked President López Obrador if the federal government could start investigating narco-politicians and narco-prosecutors. 

As part of his response to the question, he said the following at timecode 1:23:00 on the official video: 

This latest murder of the priests in Chihuahua deserves a thorough explanation from the local authorities, because how is it possible that this person with an arrest warrant could move so freely - that he was a sponsor of a baseball team and that everyone knew what he did and they did not touch him? Why? What was his status? There had to be collusion with the authorities.

And here previously we have talked about the subject.  Many times this perverse coexistence or this collusion arises from the support given in political campaigns, states that completely broke down. Because in order to impose themselves and to commit fraud, they [politicians / officials] made agreements with crime groups and created monsters. And a whole network of complicities, of compromises.

So, yes, you are quite right, but we must also be confident because progress is being made. There may be campaigns of unscrupulous people, cynics, cretins, who say that it is the same as before; no, no, and it is proven with facts and data. It is not going to be the same now as it was when Calderón was in power.

An exchange of barbs between the two is generally expected as they come from parties on different sides of the political spectrum. President López Obrador hails from the MORENA political party and former President Calderón hails from the PAN political party.

11 Arrested Sources: Official Video of Presidential Press Conference, Official Transcript of Press Conference, El Heraldo de Juárez, Entrelineas, Reforma, Vanguardia, Diario, HBM Noticias, Pausa.MX, El Sol de Mexico, El Universal

Mayor of Choix: El Heraldo de Juárez, Arout, Then24, SPD Noticias, Revista

Presidents Battle Sources: Official Video of Presidential Press Conference, Video 2, Official Transcript of Press Conference, Transcript 2, Vanguardia, El Heraldo de Juárez Article 1, Article 2, Infobae, Calderón Tweet 1, Tweet 2

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