Police Cadet Worked with CDN Hitmen To Get 3 Fellow Officers Killed, Nuevo León

"HEARST" for Borderland Beat

A police cadet was arrested for allegedly passing information to CDN hitmen just moments before the hitmen ambushed and killed three police officers in Salinas, Nuevo León.  

February 09, 2023

The Attack 

At around 6:00 pm on February 9, 2022, three police officers in the Paseo del Norte neighborhood in the town of Salinas Victoria were attacked by a group of cartel hitmen. 

Reports vary as to whether the officers were on or off duty when they were attacked. Newspaper Excelsior writes that the officers were on duty, while newspaper El Norte claims they spoke to “a police source” who said they were off-duty and hanging out after work. 

The hitmen opened fire on them while the men were standing in front of one of the officer's houses. 

After unloading multiple shots into each of them, the hitmen escaped the area aboard a dark-colored Malibu vehicle and a motorcycle. 

Paramedics and cops arrived quickly at the scene. They found Officer Víctor Alfonso, 34 years old, and Officer Sergio Edén, 41 years old, lying on the pavement, no longer showing vital signs. 

Officer Laureano Esteban, 34 years old, was found in critical condition and loaded into an ambulance however he died while being transported to a hospital, leaving a total of three municipal police officers dead from the attack. 

February 10, 2023

Hitmen Arrested

The day after the attack, at 7:00 pm, a property in Ciénega de Flores was raided by state police due to suspicion that it was harboring the Salinas attackers.

A neighbor of the property was able to snap a few images of the raid through the screen of their front window. 

The raid appears to have been a success because the state's heart of security, Gerardo Palacios Pámanes, later posted to social media that: 

"In Ciénega de Flores, the State Police have just achieved the arrest of three alleged criminals who would have participated yesterday in the aggression against police officers in Salinas Victoria. We seized from their possession firearms and tactical equipment, among other things."

Palacios did not give any further details of capture operation or the identities of the suspects at the time. 

A few hours later Palacios reported that another three hitmen from the same cartel cell had been arrested. 

An additional two from the same cell were captured shortly after. A total of 8 hitmen were lined up and photographed for a state police announcement that they had dismantled a cartel cell which was behind the attack on the Salinas police officers. 

Their names are: 

- Gabriel "N", 32 years old.

- Estefany, 27 years old.

- Emerson, 26 years old.

- Eder, 18 years old.

- Juan, 25 years old.

- Gregorio, 27 years old

- José, 19 years old

- Brandon, 20 years old

So, how do we know which cartel group these hitmen belong to if none of the official statements say it outright? 

It's worth noting that the municipality of Salinas, like most of the area surrounding Monterrey, is contested between multiple different cartel groups. 

Well, we know they are CDN hitmen because Nuevo Leon state police broke standard protocol to tell us. See, on February 11, state police released the following photos of the items seized from the hitmen on their official Twitter account.  

Here’s what's notable about these photos: they didn’t choose to blur out the patches on the vests which clearly read “CDN Cártel del Noreste.”

Choosing to show the letters differs from previous instances (such as this) in which state police purposely faced vests with a cartel patch down or the patch is blurred through photo editing software, so the cartel group behind an attack is unknown. 

Why the state police chose to show the cartel patch related to this incident, unlike other, is unknown and open to speculation.

February 12, 2023

Police Cadet Arrested

On February 12, agents from the State Investigation Agency (AEI) finally got word that a judge had approved an arrest warrant for Francisco "N", a 26-year police cadet who was training to become a police officer. 

Once the judge approved, the state agents searched and quickly found Francisco on Volcán del Ajusco Street in the Urdiales neighborhood of Monterrey, and they subsequently detained him on qualified homicide charges for the death of the three police officers in Salinas. 

(Side Note: In Mexico, a homicide is deemed qualified if it was premeditated and the perpetrator had an advantage over the victim before they died. This advantage is defined by being physically stronger, possessing a weapon, or manipulating the victim prior to death.)

Excelsior reports that "according to the investigation, the cadet was believed to be involved in the triple execution because moments before it occurred, he was seen talking with the crew of a vehicle in the area."

It sounds like the Salinas police cadet, Francisco, was witnessed, either by a person or a surveillance camera, speaking to the CDN hitmen moments before they sped up and ambushed the police officers. 

After being seen by a judge, Francisco was sent to Apodaca prison, where he will remain until his qualified homicide trial. 

Sources: Official State Police Statement, Excelsior Article 1, Article 2, Milenio, El Norte Article 1, Article 2, Informa Oriente, AviMexNews, 24-Horas, KW Noticias, MCV Noticias, Posta, Telediario Article 1, Article 2, Article 3, El Imparcial