CJNG El Primo Leads Campaign of Abductions In Order to Reinforce Control of Tecate, Baja California

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In a newly released Zeta Tijuana article, authorities reveal that CJNG leader El Primo is leading a campaign to further control the city of Tecate, in Baja California, by bringing in hitmen from out of state.

Three Incidents, One Saturday 

According to Baja authorities consulted by Zeta Tijuana, the Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG) are fighting to “regain territory after being weakened by frontal attacks from the Sinaloa Cartel, the fragmentation of local groups, members jumping from one group to another and recurring betrayals” in the Tecate area of Baja California. 

They write that the CJNG is now launching a renewed campaign, sending in hitmen from out of state in order to re-secure and reinforce their territorial holdings in the state. 

One of the first incidents that marked the start of their campaign occurred on July 9, 2022. At 9:30 am, Roberto, a man known to sell guns on the side, arrived with a fruit delivery for Frutería Mora, located within the city of Tecate, only to find that a group of CJNG hitmen had been lying in wait for his arrival.

The hitmen rammed the front of Roberto’s vehicle with their own and  abducted him at gunpoint, pushing him into their dark gray pick-up truck, then driving off south. 

Later that same day, at around 3:20 in the afternoon, the same group of CJNG hitmen arrived at a house located on the main street of the small town of Valle de las Palmas, which is about a 25 minute drive south of the city of Tecate. They parked their pick-up truck out front and abducted a notorious halcone, or lookout, known by the alias “El Cantinflas”. 

El Cantinflas led a group of other halcones who all lived in the residence. El Cantinflas had been arrested three times prior but Zeta reports that shortly after being arrested, Cantinflas would be spotted walking around the town, living as a free man. The cartel or group he and his men worked for has not been reported. 

The CJNG men set fire to the residence, spray painted “ATTE CJNG” or FROM CJNG, before speeding out of the area, heading south on Highway 3, with the abducted Cantinflas in tow. 

Their next stop was in the small town of Testerazo. There the CJNG hitmen shot up a yellow house which was known to belong to a woman known as "Doña Ramona", a local drug dealer, damaging the house and the vehicles parked nearby. The hitmen spray painted “ATTE CJNG” again and then drove off, heading towards San Pedro, in the municipality of Tijuana. 

Zeta reports that during the next day, Roberto was released unharmed by his CJNG abductors, having presumably settled the issue over an aspect of his side business selling firearms. 

A New CJNG Push 

These three incidents on July 9, 2022, are believed by Baja authorities to be the start of a larger CJNG campaign to re-secure the city of Tecate, which they report CJNG already controls 80% of, including the remote towns nearby like Valle de las Palmas, Testerazo, El Hongo and La Rumorosa.

A number of arrested CJNG hitmen, who recently traveled to Baja California from out of state, told authorities, during interrogations, that they worked under a man called El Primo, who authorities say is the leader of the CJNG campaign. They note that most of these CJNG hitmen, who came to Baja from out of state, came from the state of Michoacán. 

Zeta does not specify who they are referring to however one of the men may be Óscar Javier “N”, originally from La Piedad, Michoacán, who was detained by authorities along with 4 other armed men in Tecate on July 12, 2022. 

They add that the Sinaloa Cartel is also sending in hitmen from out of state, writing “the traffickers on Ismael ‘Mayo’ Zambada's side sent Sinaloans and people from Sonora; ‘Los Chapitos’ Guzmán sent Sinaloans and men from Puebla.”

Baja authorities noted "there are many with the nickname" so they are unsure of the man’s true identity. They are currently investigating to see if the El Primo these men work for is Samuel Vaca García, who has been identified as a CJNG leadership figure within Tecate since at least 2020. 

The Cartel Context of Tecate 

The CJNG has dominated the territory of Tecate for over five years now. Back in 2017, the CJNG plaza boss was Javier López Ríos, alias "Tito Torbellino", with direct subordinates like Fernando Rada Paco, alias "El Fer". Under El Fer, were men like Danny Isaac Ortiz Covarrubias, alias “El Moreno” and his brother José Giovanni Ortíz Covarrubias, alias “El Puma”.

In November 2017, the leader of the CJNG in Tecate, Tito Torbellino was killed and his boss, Jesús Alfonso Trapero Ibarra, alias “El Trapero”, selected El Puma as the next plaza boss. He led the group for two year but in February 2019, El Puma was executed in a hit that was later claimed, in a narco banner, by El Mayo operators. 

El Moreno took over leading the group after the death of his brother, Puma, but by 2020, El Moreno was ousted and disowned by the CJNG. Moreno was later killed in a barbershop in Tecate on January 04, 2022. 

After Moreno was kicked out, Samuel Vaca Garcia, aliases “El Primo”, “El Cholo”, and “El Gallo”, may have taken over leading the CJNG forces in Tecate. El Primo is originally from Michoacan and was believed to primarily work as a financial operator for the group up until this point. In October 2020, El Primo was arrested but he was released shortly after.

Update 7/21/2022: A new Zeta article says a woman was found dead inside a residence in the small town of Valle de las Palmas, near Tecate, at around noon on July 20, 2022. A message of “Por dedo, CJNG” or “by the hand CJNG” was found written on a wall inside the home. 

She was reportedly found with 20 stab wounds and 4 gunshot wounds.

Sources: Zeta Tijuana, Tecate Informativo Article 1, Article 2, Article 3, El Imparcial, Semanario El Progreso, Tijuana En La Noticia, Radar Tecate News