CDS Factions Battle: Chapo Calin vs El Palapas in Guachochi, Chihuahua, New Banner About Army's Involvement

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As previously covered by Sol, there was a major confrontation in Guachochi, Chihuahua, on October 20, 2022. Now that some time has passed, more details about what happened and who was involved have emerged. 

The Two Groups & The Reason for the Battle

According to the Secretary General, Cesar Jauregui Moreno, the battle Guachochi was between two rival cartel groups who are fighting each other to control illegal logging territory. Guachochi is home to a large illegal logging industry controlled by organized crime, due to its forests which are rich in conifers and oaks. 

When the Secretary General mentions “two rival cartel groups” he is likely partially referring to a Sinaloa Cartel subgroup which operates in the southern part of the state of Chihuahua called “Los Chapos”. The name is believed to refer to one of the aliases of their leader, a man named Melquíades Díaz Meza, aliases "El 13" and "El Chapo Calín". 

Melquiades Diaz Meza. His name is often abbreviated as Melquiades D. M. by investigators

Los Chapos are believed to be affiliated with the Salguieros crime family, who fall more on the Chapitos side of the Mayo-Chapitos spectrum within the Sinaloa Cartel. 

In 2018, the newspaper El Heraldo de Chihuahua wrote that El Chapo Calín reported to Ruperto Salgueiro Nevárez, alias “El 37”, the current leader of the Salguieros family and the brother of Noel Salgueiro Nevárez, alias “El Flaco”. 

It's interesting to note that Chapo Calín was arrested over a year ago, following a 48-hour long, intense standoff after law enforcement surrounded his home, waiting for a search warrant to be approved, as detailed here.

It's unclear if Chapo Calin (1) continues to direct his cartel group from inside prison, (2) passed on leadership to a subordinate or (3) was quietly released from prison, so leads his group in person again.

The Secretary General also said that the groups who were fighting had previously been one, unified group however they had recently split into two warring factions due to an internal leadership dispute. 

This statement may refer to one of Chapo Calin’s direct reports, a man named Guadalupe Lugo, alias “El Palapas”, who recently decided to leave Los Chapos and form his own group, taking a group of loyal hitmen along with him. 

It's rumored online that their dispute also involves Chapo Calin’s longtime feud with his cousin Servando Meza Osorio, alias “El Servandito”, who may have provided support to El Palapas although it's currently unclear if there is any truth to this rumor.

Servandito also works for the Sinaloa Cartel. He is believed to control areas to the west of Guachochi, in municipalities like Batopilas. He has a group of hitmen working under him called “Los Reyes”. (Not to be confused with the Michoacan group of the same name.)

The Juárez-based newspaper El Diario mentions rumors that Servandito may have slipped information on Chapo Calin to authorities, leading to Calin’s August 2021 arrest.

For more information on the CDS figures in Chihuahua, such as details about Chapo Calin’s criminal history, please see this previous story.

The Battle

On the morning of Thursday, October 20, 2022, El Palapas and his hitmen prepared for battle. A video shown below is alleged to depict the men grouping up, lining up pick up trucks into a convoy as El Palapas stands in the background, surveying the landscape.

Video Source: El Diario

El Palapas is said to be the man shown in the video frame below. 

The groups began attacking each at approximately 6:30 in the morning. The sound of the battle rang out through the area, disrupting daily life in the rural region. The following three videos are just some of the nearly dozen different videos on social media of the gunfire heard.

Video Source: Marco Antonio Martinez

Warning: Video below is loud.

Video Source: Angelica Phoenix

Video Source: LaparaDoJa

According to El Diario, local school officials announced that classes were canceled for the day due to the sound of the high-powered gunfire. Many stores temporarily closed due to security concerns.

The Army Intervenes

Multiple citizens called the emergency phone line and reported the minutes-long bursts of gunfire, saying that they were hearing the gunfire at multiple different locations. They told dispatchers, "We do not know what is happening. We just heard intermittent shots. We’ve been hearing them for the last two hours".

According to the Secretary General, soldiers from the Army and National Guard were sent to check out the area due to these reports. 

He said the two groups “were confronting each other when they were surprised by the Army soldiers, so they all began attacking the military.”  

The soldiers fired back at the hitmen and the sides traded gunshots until the soldiers managed to get a group of 12 hitmen to surrender. Just yesterday, Calvarie_Locus uploaded a photo (seen below) to Twitter which allegedly depicts the 12 detainees.

The surrounding area was then searched and four hitmen were found dead. It's unclear if they died during the fight between the two cartel groups or during the fight against the soldiers.  It is presumed that some of the hitmen from the battle escaped the area.

One of the 12 detainees was El Palapas himself. It's worth noting that El Diario mentions rumors that Palpas's own people set him up to get arrested.

Post-Arrest

The 12 detainees were taken to the state capital and presented before a judge for a pretrial hearing. The judge reviewed the evidence against them and approved the prosecution’s request to keep the detainees in jail until their criminal trial. The 12 men were then sent to the Aquiles Serdán Center 1 jail.

A few days later, El Diario was told by unofficial sources that El Palapas had been transferred from the prison in Chihuahua to a prison in the state of Sinaloa “due to security concerns.”

On Monday, October 24, the state Attorney General’s Office (FGE) announced that they had now identified three of the four deceased. Their names were: 

Jesús Manuel P.M. - 34 years old

Ramón M.L. - 48 years old

Eddie Esaú S.T. - 24 years old

During that same morning a banner was placed in Guachochi, at the intersection of the National Polytechnic Avenue and Periférico de la Juventud. The banner read as follows, as translated by Sol Prendido: 

Mrs. Governor 

We're fed up with the injustices committed by Chapo Calin and his mob. The Ministerial, State, and military personnel support this extortionist who for years has had this town in ruins. We ask for your immediate intervention on this matter. 

Sincerely, The Guachochi townspeople

Even with El Palapas in jail, the larger tension between Chapo Calin’s and Servandito’s groups remains looming over the area and is likely to boil over into battles again in the future. 

Sources: FGE Press Release, El Universal, Diario.mx Article 1, Article 2, Article 3, Article 4, Article 5, Article 6, El Sol de México, El Heraldo de Chihuahua Article 1, Article 2, Article 3