Chapiza vs Quintero War For Caborca: Chapitos Leave A Dead Páez Caro On Their Doorstep and Give All Páez Caros 24 Hours to Leave Caborca

"HEARST" for Borderland Beat 

The local Sinaloa Cartel Chapitos group in Caborca municipality, Sonora, responded to the dead bodies and threatening sign from Lemo Nuñez and Rodrigo Páez Quintero by leaving a dead member of the Páez Caro family on the doorstep of a Caborca Cartel leader. 

Along with the remains was a sign telling all Páez Caros that they have 24 hours to leave Caborca, or else. Only a handful of hours later a third dead body was left in front of the same house.

Quick Review 

As previously covered by Ivan, a message threatening “La Chapiza”, a nickname given to cartel forces who work under Sinaloa Cartel’s Los Chapitos, appeared in the municipality of Caborca on August 30, 2022. 

The sign accompanied dismembered human remains deposited at three different locations. The message was signed by Adelmo Núñez Molina, alias “Lemo Nuñez” and Caborca Cartel leadership figure Rodrigo Páez Quintero, a nephew of RCQ.

La Chapiza Respond

It appears that the local Chapitos group responded the next day. At around 9:00 pm on August 31, 2022, two sets of human remains were discovered on a patch of land near Rafael Muñoz street in the town of Caborca.

Multiple local news publications have reported that the remains were placed in front of a house that is known to be owned by a Caborca Cartel leader. 

Opinion Sonora wrote “left in front of the home of a leader of one of the criminal groups whose home has been violently attacked on several occasions.” Meanwhile, Entorno Informativo wrote “two bodies were found in front of a house located on Rafael Muñoz Street, where a person allegedly involved in illegal activities lives.”

The house in question is #1425 Rafael Muñoz Espinoza Street, which you can visit on Google Street View to view how the property looked three years ago, in 2019. So far research into which Caborca Cartel leader owns the residence has turned up nothing but more evidence may emerge in the future.

When authorities arrived on scene, they found two men who had been executed. Their remains showed evidence of torture. Both men were wearing blue jeans, one with black socks and boxers on, another with white briefs and white socks.

As of the writing of this story, only blurred photos of the crime scene have been released but luckily, there are unblurred photos of the narco messages, published by local news group Art. 7mo El Observador. One sign read: “Caborca already has an owner, fags. From, La Chapiza.”

The other sign read: “Paez, Caros have 24 hours to leave Caborca. No exceptions. From, La Chapiza.” Its a bit hard to make out if there is a comma in between Paez and Caro in the message but there appears to be one.

Paez and Caro are two major crime families, unified together through marriages, that currently work so closely together that they are practically a single entity. Members of both families occupy high ranking positions within the Caborca Cartel. If you want to read about the families, their history, and their union, please see both of these previous stories by Buggs covering just that.

Later, the identities of the two dead men left in front of the residence were released and they are: Damián Cano Burruel, 52 years old, and Fidencio Noé Páez Caro. 

Now, in every region of Mexico, there tend to be some last names which are quite common to that specific area; so common in fact, that the sharing of a last name may not denote a “real” familial relationship, or at least, not one many times removed. 

The deceased man, Fidencio Noé Páez Caro, sharing the names of both crime families may mean something more than a multi-generations-back-type-of connection but search results for his names didn’t lead to anything relevant, although further information may emerge in the coming days.

Both of the deceased men had been reported as missing by their friends or family. Damián Cano Burruel was reportedly abducted by cartel hitmen the day before he was found executed. Fidencio Noé Páez Caro was allegedly abducted from his home located on Callejón Nogales, between L and M streets, just hours before his remains were discovered.

Another Body Left At the Same Home

Then, at 6:30 am on September 1, a third body was found to have been placed at the same location, outside the same house on Rafael Muñoz Espinoza Street. Police officers and military personnel had only left the area for a few hours, having documented and collected all the evidence, before they were called back to the house again.

One man was found, who was later identified as Martín Enrique Frasquillo Ramírez, 46 years old, was said to have been abducted hours before his body was discovered, having been abducted by hitmen in the Santa Cecilia neighborhood. 

Now, the narco message had alluded to further killings if “Paez, Caros” didn’t leave Caborca, however the 24 hour grace period given certainly hadn’t elapsed by this point. The reason behind the delayed abduction and placement of the third victim is unknown at this time.

Why Are Chapitos Interested in Caborca? 

Chapitos affiliates and potentially some of the brothers themselves may have a vested interest in taking territory in Caborca because one of their larger smuggling routes makes an important stop at the Gulf of Santa Clara to unload drug shipments from boats coming in from Sinaloa, according to a June 2021 Zeta Tijuana article.  From Santa Clara, the deliveries are smuggled one of two possible ways.

In the first route, they travel along the dirt road near Chinero, passing the military checkpoint on the Mexicali-San Felipe highway and then rejoining the road until they reach the state capital city. In the second route, they travel from Chinero to Valle de la Trinidad or Ojos Negros, then on to finally reach Ensenada and then finally they are taken up to Tijuana.

The unloading and smuggling north is said to involve the local group Los Garibays, including figures like Samuel Ibarra Peralta, alias “El Pía”, and his son Jesús Aurelio Ibarra Ramiro. It's currently rumored online that many Garibays members will now sign narco messages with the moniker “La Chapiza”.

This route is said to be managed overall by Adán Quintero, alias “El 74”. But don’t let his last name fool you - he’s alleged to be a Chapitos lieutenant and was sent to Santa Clara to oversee the smuggling route and acts as their representative in the area according to the aforementioned Zeta article. 

 

Sources: Art. 7mo El Observador Post 1 , Post 2 , Post 3 , Post 4, Ariete Caborca, Entorno Informativo, Opinion Sonora, Radar Sonora  

Interest in Caborca Sources: Zeta Tijuana June 2021, Zeta Tijuana October 2021, Zeta December 2021

Categories: Chapiza vs Quintero War For Caborca