CJNG Boss La Gallina Allegedly Threatened Llamas Urbina, Future Gubernatorial Candidate, Before He Was Killed

"HEARST" and "Mica/DrivingMSSQL" for Borderland Beat 

More than a week has passed since the cartel assassination of a municipal official named Salvador Llamas Urbina at a restaurant in Guadalajara, Jalisco, during a meeting with two men who later became his assailants. 

Now more details about who Llamas was, what happened inside the restaurant, and which Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG) boss may have ordered the hit have emerged - including revelations that Llamas was likely going to run for governor and that he received threats from CJNG’s La Gallina prior to his murder.

Warning: Some graphic photos below this point.

New Details About What Happened Inside the Restaurant

The timeline of what happened inside the restaurant can be found in this previous story. The number of bodyguards with Salvador Llamas Urbina was unclear when the story was written but it has since been said by the mayor of Puerto Vallarta, Luis Michel, that Llamas had a total of 8 to 10 bodyguards assigned to him. 

In Borderland Beat’s initial story, we covered statements which claimed that none of Llamas’s bodyguards entered the restaurant. Articles from El Universal newspaper now write that Llamas’s bodyguards clarified to investigators that one bodyguard, Luis Fernando Muñoz Ortega, entered the restaurant with him while the rest of bodyguards stood outside. 

Two eyewitnesses, however, told investigators that Llamas was seated just two tables away from them and they observed Llamas dining with the White Shirt Man and Red Shirt Man described in our previous story. Prosecutors have publicly acknowledged that they are investigating the possibility that Llamas was seated at the same table as his attackers, despite the bodyguard’s claims about a family dinner. 

The two eye witnesses also say that a woman and a man approached the table later in the evening and they joined the others. The woman they saw, the same one seen on video entering the restaurant alongside one of the attackers, has now been located and interviewed by investigators. 

She told them that she was a sex worker who had been approached by a mystery client and asked to work a job for them on that night. The client in question asked her to go to dinner with a group of men, telling her that after dinner she would “perform services” on one of the men. 

Investigators now believe that the woman “was used as a cover” so that one of the attackers could approach Llamas in a less threatening, more unassuming manner. 

Then the fateful moment happened and one of the men shot Llamas. The autopsy report reveals that Llamas was shot five times. Once to the left side of the skull and four times to his chest. 

Investigators have clarified that the long barrel gun seen in the hands of Blue Shirt Man was actually taken from the possession of bodyguard Luis Fernando Muñoz Ortega, after the hitmen killed him near the bar. 

The CJNG Boss Behind It 

Salvador Llamas Urbina made a number of enemies during his career. When Mayor Luis Michel was asked why Llamas had a larger security detail assigned to him then he did, the mayor said it was due to threats from mining companies. These companies, he alleges, wanted to mine the Ameca River but they were barred from doing so because of ecological protections enforced by Llamas Urbina. 

According to an El Universal article, Llamas’s bodyguards told investigators that he had also received threats from Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG) figure Francisco Javier Gudiño Haro, alias “La Gallina”. It should be noted that this claim about threats is only made by the writer Hector de Manuleon, who was recently involved in a controversy over the authenticity of US intelligence cables (covered in detail here). 

Although only one source has claimed Llamas received threats from Gallina, federal authorities have made statements that allude to a similarity between Llamas’s homicide and another crime orchestrated by Gallina: the assassination of Aristoteles Sandoval. 

During the morning press conference of October 27, Undersecretary Ricardo Mejía stated the following: 

“At least eight people were involved in the crime scene. The modus operandi is similar to those used in Puerto Vallarta - like the murder of Aristoteles Sandoval in the Distrito 5 bar, where there were also multiple criminal collaborators placed throughout the location.”

And indeed, there are striking similarities between the two homicides. 

In December 2020, Jorge Aristóteles Sandoval Díaz, who had only left his position as governor of Jalisco two years before, was killed inside Districto 5 restaurant in Puerto Vallarta by CJNG hitmen.

Sandoval, much like Llamas, was a target that hitmen chose to go after despite the fact that they were accompanied by bodyguards. 

Sandoval's bodyguards managed to reach him after the fateful shots and they tried to transport him out of the restaurant, to get medical help, however they were ambushed by hitmen while leaving location. 

On the other hand, Llama's bodyguards managed to ambush his assailants as they were leaving the restaurant, leaving one of them dead in the street. 

Sandoval and Llamas were both killed by a team of hitmen who were positioned at different points within the restaurant for some time prior. Sandoval was seated a table next to Saúl Alejandro Rincón Godoy, alias "El Chopa".

Chopa left the restaurant later that night, but of note, Chopa left the area before the hitmen moved in to kill Sandoval.

This is similar to the events seen in the Llamas case. A man in a red shirt sat down and ate with Llamas. At a certain point in the night, the man in the red shirt got up and left the restaurant. Minutes later Llamas was shot.

It may be that people like Chopa and red shirt man are higher level figures within the CJNG (compared to the hitmen themselves), so they make it a point to leave the scene prior to the homicide so that they are less legally culpable. 

It's worth mentioning that El Chopa died earlier this year in a confrontation with army soldiers. 

The US  alleged the men who were involved at a high-level in orchestrating the homicide Sandoval were CJNG figures Carlos Andrés Rivera Varela, alias "La Firma", Julio César Moreno Pinzón, alias "El Tarjetas" and the aforementioned La Gallina. 

It's worth noting that in the CJNG charts released by the DEA, La Gallina is not described as the plaza boss of Puerto Vallarta. That title is instead listed under the photo of Gonzalo Mendoza Gaytán, alias “El Sapo.”

Who Was Salvador Llamas Urbina

Salvador Llamas Urbina began his life importing pallets of liquidated stock of American clothing, or pacas de ropa Americana; buying them from wholesalers of closeout merchandise and reselling the clothes, often through street vendors, within Mexico. This is a common practice, however, the business can sometimes lead to organized crime (as seen in examples such as this and this). 

The newspaper El Universal mentions a rumor that some believe Llamas Urbina became a DEA protected witness during these initial days of his career, although this rumor is only ever mentioned in passing and never elaborated on. 

In 2013, Salvador Llamas Urbina was chosen as the mayoral candidate for the Movimiento Ciudadano political party in the mayoral race for Zacatecas City, however he lost the election. 

In 2018, he was a candidate in the congressional race for District 1 of Zacatecas for the Green Party (PVEM), which he also lost. His political opponents filed 37 complaints against Llamas with the specialized prosecutor’s office, according to El Occidental. Llamas alleged these complaints were unfounded and merely attempts to discredit him by political rivals. 

Later that year, Llamas pulled out a gun, threatened, and injured a group of young men who mocked his electoral defeat at a taco shop in Zacatecas. 

Llamas then pivoted into political campaign coordination, working with campaign coordinator Octavio Pérez Pozos, who had just recently helmed the campaign that won Enrique Alfaro Ramírez the position of governor of Jalisco. 

Octavio Pérez Pozos and Llamas were recruited to join the Morena political party in 2021 and Llamas moved from Zacatecas to Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, where he began working as the campaign coordinator for the mayoral candidate Luis Alberto Michel Rodríguez. 

On May 8, 2021, in the middle of campaign season, Llamas Urbina reported that a group of hooded men entered his hotel and tried to kidnap him at around 4:00 am, however the men were stopped and Llamas reported he was unharmed by the incident. 

On May 21 and 22, 2021, Llamas and two others allegedly entered businesses owned by a rival political candidate named Ariadna Luquín. Her political party presented video footage of Llamas entering the businesses and alleged he had falsely claimed to be from the state Attorney General’s Office (FGE) in order to gain information. Llamas later responded that they had entered the businesses because they wanted to film how the candidate was creating food gift baskets for voters and “buying votes”. 

Ultimately, Llamas’s campaign was successful and Luis Alberto Michel Rodríguez won the mayoral race of Puerto Vallarta. He was sworn in as mayor on September 30, 2021, and soon after he nominated Llamas to the position of head of the Water, Sewage and Drainage Department (SEAPAL) for the city. 

At the end of July and beginning of August 2021, Llamas was elected as one of the national advisors for the MORENA political party. After his death, another politician from Llamas’s political party posted a photo (seen below) which shows that Llamas took 2,362 out of a total of 4,000 votes, and that his closest competition only received 469 votes, in comparison. This politician accused Llamas of buying those votes and referred to him as "a narco from Vallarta". 

In October 2021, Llamas called out union bosses for alleged financial and organized crime corruption. In March 2022, Llamas released a letter denouncing a workers strike by municipal workers.

On October 2, 2022, Llamas tweeted out that he had been close to the shooting at Landmark, in Zapopan, a shopping mall in which cartel hitmen tried to kill a mystery target.

Multiple sources allege that party officials and Llamas himself were exploring the idea that he might run for governor of Jalisco in the near future.

Sources: El Tiempo, NTR Zacatecas, Marca Textos, Paralelo Informativo, Latin-American.News, La Lista, El Norte, Contralínea, Vallarta Opina, Excelsior, Valor Por Tamaulipeco, El Universal,  El Occidental, Contralinea, John Ackerman Twitter, Diario de Vallarta, Vallarta Opina