"HEARST" for Borderland Beat
The state Attorney General’s Office received intelligence which indicated that José Noriel Portillo Gil, alias “El Chueco”, was hiding out in the small town of Témoris (shown on the map below), which is located in Guazapares municipality, in the state of Chihuahua.
A raid was planned and personnel from the FGE and the Army (SEDENA) moved in to capture Chueco on the morning of Wednesday, November 2, 2022. After sweeping through the small town, the authorities did not find Chueco. They did however find Fernando F.C., alias “El Cuervo” or The Raven, a man alleged to work under El Chueco.
El Cuervo was found to be in possession of an illegal firearm; a radio and a vehicle were also seized by authorities. El Cuervo was alleged to be involved in the cartel murder of an activist named Cruz Soto Caraveo, who which took place back in 2019 near Témoris.
Cartel Group’s Typical Method When Killing Activists
Mexico is considered to be one of the most dangerous countries for activists, in general, and just last month Mexico made headlines for being named the deadliest country for environmental activists, according to the watchdog group Global Witness. The 2019 murder of Cruz Soto Caraveo stands as a prototypical example of why and how cartel groups go about killing activists in Mexico.
Cruz Soto Caraveo was part of the activist group called the Collective of Displaced Families of the Sierra Tarahumara. The group aims to highlight how in 2014 more than 20 families were forced out of their homes in the Sierra Tarahumara mountains (where towns Témoris are located) by members of organized crime. Since then, over 400 people have been forced out of their homes in this region.
These cartel groups took these families' land, either to plant drug fields (both marijuana and poppy) or to log the forests for wood. The remote and difficult-to-navigate terrain made their land ideal for either purpose.
Based on the activism of this group, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights requested that the Mexican government take a number of steps to guarantee these families could return to their homes and remain safe from future attempts to steal their land. The commission believes that the government has not adequately taken these steps and their legal battle continues to this day.
Cruz Soto Caraveo was one of the prominent men from the group - he was outspoken about the illegal logging and drug farms that cartel groups created, making him a target for cartel groups in the area. In 2018, a relative of Cruz Soto Caraveo’s was killed just one day after he convinced the state government to provide state police protection to a family trying to return to their land. A note was placed on the victim’s body with a death threat directed at Cruz.
On October 12, 2019, Cruz Soto Caraveo left Chihuahua city, where he had been living, and traveled to Témoris to meet with personnel from the federal government’s Agriculture and Rural Development department. Together they discussed ways that they could work towards getting the displaced families back to their homes.
The next day, on October 13, the Municipal Police director for the area, Paulino M.R., ordered his police officer subordinates to search for Cruz Soto Caraveo’s current location. They found that he was still in town but he was about to travel to the nearby town of Los Llanos, accompanied by another activist from his group.
Police director Paulino M.R. passed on this information about Cruz Soto Caraveo to a group of cartel hitmen. These hitmen were allegedly from the Sinaloa Cartel and affiliated with El Chueco.
As Cruz Soto Caraveo and his colleague traveled towards Los Llanos, in Bahuichivo, they were ambushed by cartel hitmen. They kidnapped Cruz Soto and according to El Puntero, “kept him hidden for several days and later killed him. On October 20, Cruz Soto’s dead body was discovered.
In August 2021, police director Paulino M.R. and Samuel Alejandro B.G., one of the hitmen, were convicted for their roles in the murder of Cruz Soto.
They were sentenced to serve just 16 years in prison. In November 2021, another hitman named Ismael Q.A. was arrested for his participation in the murder.
Now, in 2022, El Cuervo has been arrested. He is alleged to have been involved in the murder of Cruz Soto but the exact manner in which authorities believe he was involved has not been released as of the writing of this story.
El Cuervo Sources: FGE Press Release, Diario de Juarez, Informador, Animal Político, Excelsior, Omnia, Radio Formula, El Universal
Murder of Cruz Soto Sources: Net Noticias, El Puntero, Contralinea, HDR Memorial
Update 11/10/2022: A photo alleged to show Cuerva without his eyes covered has been posted by Sonora Informativo.
Catch Up on Any El Chueco Stories You Missed
Very complete report and analysis Hearst. Putting something like this together (including the entire series you have going on) is high level work. With this level of reporting you could easily work for a major outlet as an investigatory reporter. Gracias por todo.
ReplyDeleteMajor outlet wouldnt be interested, a common fate for journalists.
Delete10:28 - well yeah. Thats true too. Major outlets are not interested in this topic, let alone quality. At this point what they want is views. Engagement. People like Hearst are able to luckily find an outlet like this since nothing else permits.
DeleteBellingcat, InSight Crime, Stratfor, there are definitely sizable organisations reporting on this topic and/or similar ones
Delete6:56 No agency in the Western have that freedom.
Delete9:44, you have no glue what you are talking
Delete12:55 Years working for media, but ok.
DeleteFunny thing I showed Bordeland website to my coworker who is from El Salvador. She thinks all the killing in Mexico is fake,, all are made up. I was stunned!!
ReplyDeletePuro cerote voz
Delete10:42 no different from trumpsters thinking trump was a good president
Delete5:13 wait a minute Trump wasnt a good president
Delete10:42 that's weird I rent a room to a man from El Salvador and he says that in El Salvador people have their hand and head cut off all the time
Delete@8:53 that happens in Honduras very often aswell
DeleteIn Iran thieves' hands are medically amputated.
DeleteHearst es una vrga
ReplyDeleteIf she was a dude yea, this might sound bad but she is a big vagina, cause she is a girl 😉
Delete@5:14 I'm theory you might be right. But that sounds horrible. Mas respeto ala señora Hearst cabron!!!!!
Delete5:14 / 10:14 No digan pendejadas chavitos. When someone is a "verga", means badass, depending on context.
Delete9:40 every body knows what it means bud, but lets make the vaginas as big as the dicks if you know what i mean, nothing wrong with that 😉
DeleteIn El Salvador it is legit to call a female a v..... to indicate baddasery.
Delete12:37 Telling someone, You are a pussy, can be wrongfully understood.
DeleteGreat article Hearst!
ReplyDeleteMica
Very sad that nobody has looked out for the Tarahumaras. We explored and were guests in this area in 2007 and this area and the people were amazing. No signs of any of this from my perspective 25 years ago.
ReplyDeleteAre they the people known for crazy long distance running through the mountains?
DeleteThats correct, raramuris / tarahumaras are known for being long distance runners.
DeleteSo the government couldn’t solve the 2019 murder of the activist until they put in effort.
ReplyDeleteChueco knows the region like the back of his hand I bet probably hiding in cliffs
ReplyDeleteCliffs hmm 🤔 open target more like caves
DeleteLooks like El Chueco will be cornered later or soon.
ReplyDeleteQue chinge a su Madre el gobierno de MEXICO, Que chinge a su Madre estos putos corientes Muertos de hambre de carteles Y politicos Y Que chinge a su Reputa Bomba Madre la perra que parrio a estos perros de Mierda...!!!
ReplyDeleteLa neta el publico vota por el gobierno.
Delete12:48 Deja en paz a Maru Campos!
DeleteMexico... instead of Hunting down high profile targets. They instead go after some Nobody.... typical
ReplyDeleteYeah right, and every time they get a new capo, a new cartel emerges. Dumb comment.
Deletethe fact that they still hunt him should shows that the gob thinks he is important.
DeleteAlso from the amount of support he receives and the connections he has with police and politics should show you this.
Its more than a bunch of clowns from sinaloa.
keep up the fantastic work!
ReplyDeleteI wonder how true it is that chapitos turned their backs on chueco
ReplyDeletehasta crees que no... les calento el huevo en la sierra chihuahuense y por ende perdieron mucho $... Al chueco lo busca el gobierno federal, agencias estatales, los linieros y casi estoy seguro, los mismo chapitos. Es una papa caliente ese Chueco.
DeleteUnrelated, Aaron Carter died. R.I.P.
ReplyDelete