Torture & Executions - Damaso's Rebuttal to los Chapitos

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Longtime associate - turned rival, Damaso López Serrano, alias “Mini Lic”, paints a scathing portrait of Sinaloa Cartel leader Ivan Archivaldo Guzman as a sadistic torturer who preys on police officers and federal agents as if they were rival cartel members. 

He claims that Ivan has ordered the execution of his own men, even the most loyal among them, out of a paranoia that his men might reveal details about him to federal agents in interrogations. 

On May 15, 2023, Damaso sent a letter to media outlets which details a litany of executions that were ordered by Ivan and his brothers - collectively known as los Chapitos.

Damaso's letter acts as rebuttal to a communication that los Chapitos released earlier this month which refuted specific parts of the US indictment and alleged they were being unjustly persecuted by the US government. This series aims to match up each Chapitos claim with the corresponding rebuttal from Damaso, and then review any corroborating evidence. 

Borderland Beat has been able to verify the authenticity of the letter and can say with 100% confidence that the letter truly comes from Damaso.

To read Part 1, which covered the allegations about their involvement in fentanyl and their alleged framing of El Mayo, click here.  

To read Part 2, which covered their views on fame, the media’s coverage of los Chapitos, and the murder of a beauty pageant judge, click here.

On Leadership 

US indictment: 

The Cartel is led, in part, by IVAN ARCHIVALDO GUZMAN SALAZAR and JESUS ALFREDO GUZMAN SALAZAR, a/k/a "Alfredo," the defendants, and Ovidio Guzman Lopez, a/k/a "Raton," who are sons of the Cartel's notorious former leader, Joaquín Archivaldo Guzmán Loera, a/k/a "El Chapo." 

Chapitos letter:  

Regarding the Sinaloa Cartel, we are not and have never been the heads of it and we are not interested in becoming that. 

What really exists is a large number of groups, both small and big, that have their base of operations in the state, or groups formed by Sinaloans operating in other parts of the country, and even other parts of the world. These groups operate independently from the rest and don't answer to us. We don´t ask them to [answer to us] either.

Damaso’s response: 

They say they are not the head of the CDS, but I can assure you that they are, I have evidence that shows that half of the CDS works under Iván Guzmán, Alfredo Guzmán, Joaquín Guzmán and Ovidio Guzmán.

Of course there are a number of small and large groups that operate under the umbrella of the [Sinaloa] cartel, but all of them are accountable to YOU and they operate under your orders. 

[...]And as they say that ‘Each one faces his own’, but you are the ones who involve everyone in wars that do not belong in. You have los Salazars in Sonora fighting other organizations, contrary to what you said [in the letter], and you do this in other states as well. 

Further Context

The Salazar crime family, based out of Sonora, are longtime collaborators and allies of the Chapo side of the Sinaloa Cartel. The involvement of los Chapitos, via los Salazars, is clearly outlined by sources like Insight Crime and covered in more detail in our series Chapiza vs Quintero War for Caborca Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4. 

The clearest example of their proxy involvement came in August 31, 2022, when a dead member of the Páez Caro family was left on the doorstep of a Caborca Cartel leader, along with a warning signed by "La Chapiza".

In the cities of Mexicali, in Baja California, and San Luis Rio Colorado, in Sonora, the battle between los Salazars and the El Mayo-associated group los Rusos have been going on for a decade now and Chapitos involvement ordering Salazars to fight on their behalf in the conflict is stated outright in sources like Pregonero Baja. 

The war’s intensity increased in recent years, reaching an all-time peak in December 2022, with the attempted assassination of Rusos founder Jesús Alexander Sánchez Félix. 

During the attempt, a 20-vehicle convoy of Comando X hitmen rolled into the small settlement of Luis B. Sanchez, where Sánchez Félix and his men were staying. 

Chapitos reportedly pulled Samuel Ibarra Peralta, alias "El Pía”, the leader of a local cartel group called los Garibays, to lead the Comando X attack. He spearheaded the initial assault alongside Salazar lieutenants El Durán and El Tachito.

On Dominating the Country 

US indictment: 

Between in or about 2016 and 2022, these sicarios "cleaned" in other words, kidnapped, tortured, and killed rival drug traffickers and government officials in the Mexican states of Coahuila, Michoacán, Sonora, Tamaulipas, and Chihuahua. These states were important and strategically located areas for purposes of maintaining control over the Cartel's position as the dominant drug trafficking organization in Mexico.

Chapitos letter: 

Also we have never had any interest in “dominating” Chihuahua, Coahuila, Michoacán or any other States that they mentioned. If somebody, any anybody, says we do [these things] to law enforcement, Mexican or American, that person is lying. 

Damaso’s response: 

And of course they would like to dominate the whole country. That is why they sent a group [of their men] to San Miguel Topilejo, in Mexico City, and also groups to the state of Morelos, also to the state of Guerrero, to the state of Quintana Roo, and that is why posters and banners with messages alluding to "la Chapiza and the minors" commonly appear in Durango, Chihuahua, Sonora, Baja California and Baja California Sur, etc. 

Further Context

The head of Morelos state security, José Antonio Ortiz Guarneros, reported that Chapitos hitmen who work under Ovidio Guzman were arrested near the Morelos border in January 2023, according to Las Breves Informativas and Expansion.mx.

As recently as May 2023, Héctor Flores Aceves, alias “El 15”, a Sinaloa Cartel leader who was arrested in Quintana Roo. Excelsior wrote he “is Chapitos-associated” and La Palabre del Caribe wrote he is “head of the plaza for Chapitos in Cancun.”

When Damaso refers to Chapitos narco posters and banners which appear across various state in Mexico, there are a number of current examples such as these messages in April 2021 in Chihuahua, in January 2023 in Baja California Sur, in December 2022 in Baja California (additional source) and March 2023 in Sonora (additional source).

Damaso’s response (continued): 

And I am not lying, the proof is right there. They were the ones arrested in Topilejo, who had the badges with the mouse [El Raton] logo on them.

Further Context

After shooting two police officers, 14 men who worked under Ovidio Guzman were arrested in July 2022 in the town of Topilejo, located outside of Mexico City. Some of those arrested were wearing badges featuring images of El Chapo and a mouse, for Ovidio’s alias of “El Raton”. 

According to RadioFormula, Chapitos began holding meetings discussing a potential expansion into Mexico City in February 2020, and by September 2021, they began sending men to establish their presence in the city. 

Later that year, Ovidio moved to the city for 6 months and oversaw their budding Mexico City operation. While there, Ovidio reportedly went to The Cheesecake Factory located in Parque Delta, every Thursday and ordered the same thing each time: a milkshake and slice of cheesecake.

On Law and Judges 

Chapitos letter: 

We also hope that authorities act with truth, in accordance with the law. We will always look out for our own well-being and that of our families.

[...] No judge or judicial magistrate will treat us fairly [in court] out of a fear of being targeted and legally prosecuted. 

Damaso’s response: 

It is not evident that you actually want the authorities to act truthfully, and in accordance with the law, since you have always done the opposite. It’s better to say that you want the authorities to act under your orders and for your benefit. 

Why are you so surprised that the judges and magistrates don’t treat you fairly? You keep threatening judges, magistrates and prosecutors into doing your bidding. Just as you did in February 2021 when you had agents from the Attorney General's Office shot in Culiacan.

Further Context

According to the head of Sinaloa state security, Cristóbal Castañeda, agents from the federal Attorney General’s Office (FGR) were shot while they traveled through the Centro neighborhood of Culiacan, Sinaloa in February 2021. Video, shown below, captured the attack on the agents. No one was injured as a result of the gunfire.

On Torturing Zetas Members

US indictment: 

In or about May 2017, IVAN ARCHIVALDO GUZMAN SALAZAR, JESUS ALFREDO GUZMAN SALAZAR, a/k/a "Alfredo," OSCAR NOE MEDINA GONZALEZ, a/k/a "Panu," and NESTOR ISIDRO PEREZ SALAS, a/k/a "Nini," the defendants, captured three members of the rival Los Zetas drug cartel in the mountains near the border of Sinaloa and Durango ("Victim-6," "Victim-7," and "Victim-8"). 

At the orders of IVAN ARCHIVALDO GUZMAN SALAZAR and JESUS ALFREDO GUZMAN SALAZAR, members of the Ninis, including PEREZ SALAS, tortured Victim-6, Victim-7, and Victim-8, including with electrocution, in order to obtain information about Los Zetas' associations with other rival cartels. When the interrogations were complete and in the presence of JESUS ALFREDO GUZMAN SALAZAR, MEDINA GONZALEZ, and PEREZ SALAS, on or about May 27, 2017, IVAN ARCHIVALDO GUZMAN SALAZAR shot Victim-6, Victim-7, and Victim-8, killing them.

Chapitos letter:  

We have never gotten involved in a war, or any conflict, against a group known as Los Zetas, so they can't claim we murdered any of them. 

Damaso’s response: 

The claim that they were never involved in the war against Los Zetas? That is a vile lie. Of course they were at war against Los Zetas, and against the Beltráns, and against the Carrillos, and against the Mazátlecos, and against Los Rusos, and against me and many others. 

Further Context

As discussed in more detail in this article, the Chapitos claim that they have never been at war with los Zetas is downright bizarre. It's been established, through US indictments, that the Chapitos were involved with the Sinaloa Cartel by at least the year 2012 - a time when the group was still actively at war with los Zetas. 

Now, it is odd that the US indictment alleges that Chapitos were torturing members of los Zetas in the year 2017 - when the Zetas organization no longer existed in 2017, having fractured and splintered apart years earlier, however members of the cartel groups which splintered out of los Zetas (like Cartel del Noroeste, Zetas Vieja Escuela, Zetas Sangre Nueva) are oftentimes referred to as “zetas”. 

In May 2017, there was an alliance of three rival groups which either had, or were considering having, an alliance with Cartel del Noroeste. These three groups were the Nueva Cartel de Juarez, the Beltran-Leyva Organization, and los Ms. 

The US indictment specifies that the captured men were specifically interrogated in order to “obtain information about Los Zetas' associations with other rival cartels.” This focus on their associations would seem to fit with a concern over Cartel del Noroeste forming an alliance with groups who operate closer to Sinaloa, like the Nueva Cartel de Juarez, the Beltran-Leyva Organization, and los Ms.

On Feeding Live Victims to Tigers

US indictment: 

At the ranch of IVAN ARCHIVALDO GUZMAN SALAZAR, the defendant, in Navolato, Sinaloa, the Ninis would bring in for interrogation individuals they captured, including rival traffickers, workers loyal to other factions of the Cartel, and officials who refused to facilitate the Chapitos' operations. 

Once information was obtained from these captives, typically through torture, these individuals were killed — either by or at the direction of the Chapitos themselves - and the bodies disposed of throughout the area. 

While many of these victims were shot, others were fed dead or alive to tigers belonging to IVAN ARCHIVALDO GUZMAN SALAZAR and JESUS ALFREDO GUZMAN SALAZAR, a/k/a "Alfredo," the defendants, who raised and kept the tigers at their ranches as pets.

Chapitos letter:  

The story about us murdering someone with our own hands, the story of the bat and the tigers is FALSE. A tiger might kill a person, but eat him? We don't have, and never had, tigers. That's easy and simple enough to investigate. 

Damaso’s response: 

Or what about the story of the tigers? You may not be the owner of the tigers, but it is well known that El Nini is the one who has those kinds of animals. And they [Nini’s tigers] were the ones used to commit those crimes, on your orders, since you are the bosses.

Further Context

The US indictment and Damaso refer to one of Ivan’s lieutenants, Néstor Isidro García, alias “El Nini”, who used to frequently share glimpses of his life on a series of social media accounts, as well as being featured in content from MarkitosToys. (You can read more about who El Nini is here.)

In recent years, Nini’s alleged reputation for cruelty has caught up to him and the law enforcement pressure on him keeps mounting. He has reportedly fallen out of favor with Ivan Archivaldo, and according to the Shelby documents, Ivan even considered having Nini killed. 

Nini has become quieter and quieter on social media as his situation becomes more and more precarious, with him deleting his older social media accounts. The trouble with that is - you can never really delete something from the internet. 

A number of his videos were reuploaded onto platforms like Youtube and TikTok, including ones showing his white Bengal tiger when it was just a cub, as the tiger explores a large garage full of luxury vehicles.

The Chapitos raise a question about whether a tiger is capable of eating a person, like the US indictment alleges. Maheshwor Dhakal, from Nepal’s Department of National Parks, told CNN that big cats may acquire a taste for human flesh, "since human blood has more salt than animal blood, once wild animals get the taste of salty blood, they do not like other animals like deer.” 

We don’t normally hear about this tendency of tigers because in the wild tigers are wary of humans and they typically will not attack humans unless they are infirmary or injured, so wild tigers rarely get the chance to “try” consuming human flesh.

Damaso’s response (continued): 

[...]The story of the bat. Remember at El Bravo's ranch, in the Las Piedritas community, when the boy was tied up in the bathroom under the shower? And inside the bathroom there was only Barbarino, El Juancho taking notes, and El Bravo. 

Alfredo and Iván were there torturing the guy. They pulled out his teeth with pliers, cut off his ear and gave him electric shocks. Outside, tied to the trees, were El Guacho's gunmen and Ovidio was beating him. Ovidio was beating one of them with a baseball bat, and it was Iván who executed El Guacho.

Further Context

In August 2010, Israel Rincón Martínez, alias “El Guacho”, tried to kill Chapo’s son Jesus Alfredo Guzman, however, he mistook Marcial Fernández Valencia’s white Ferrari for the white Lamborghini that Jesus Alfredo frequently used and El Guacho ended up killing Marcial - the wrong guy. 

Marcial Fernández was, however, the son of a man who worked with (and was friends with) Chapo, Manuel Fernandez Valencia, alias “La Puerca”. According to testimony from Chapo’s US trial, Chapo sent his men out to find El Guacho so he could pay for what he had done.

In October 2010, the next month, Guacho was spotted and Chapo’s men kidnapped him and his bodyguards, immediately transporting them to a temporary holding location - the ranch of one of Chapo’s bodyguards, Manuel Alejandro Aponte Gómez, alias “El Bravo”, which was located in Las Piedritas.

They held Guacho in the bathroom, tied up to pipes on the showerhead. Damaso Jr says that he witnessed Chapo’s sons Ivan and Ovidio torture Guacho, cutting off his ear, pulling out his teeth with pliers, and electrocuting him, at Bravo’s ranch that night. One of Guacho’s bodyguards was tied to a tree outside the ranch house and Ovidio reportedly beat him with a baseball bat. 

The next day, Chapo arrived in the Sinaloan town of El Dorado, the birthplace of Damaso Sr, and he asked Damaso Sr find him a location where he could interrogate Gaucho himself, in person. 

Damaso Sr reportedly offered up his ranch in El Dorado and Guacho was transported there. Then the infamous videotaped interrogation occurred - the footage of which became a central part of Chapo’s US trial.

On their Torture of Federal Agents in 2017

US indictment: 

In or about early 2017, IVAN ARCHIVALDO GUZMAN SALAZAR, JESUS ALFREDO GUZMAN SALAZAR, OSCAR NOE MEDINA GONZALEZ, a/k/a "Panu," and NESTOR ISIDRO PEREZ SALAS, a/k/a "Nini," the defendants, captured, tortured, and killed two Mexican federal law enforcement officers of the Office of the General Prosecutor, the Procuraduría General de la República ("PGR").

Two members of the Ninis located one of these officers ("Victim-4") based on information provided by PEREZ SALAS and kidnapped him from his vehicle while he was exiting the airport in Culiacán. The Ninis brought Victim-4 to the Navolato, Sinaloa ranch of IVAN ARCHIVALDO GUZMAN SALAZAR, where he was tortured until IVAN ARCHIVALDO GUZMAN SALAZAR and JESUS ALFREDO GUZMAN SALAZAR arrived the following day. Upon their arrival, IVAN ARCHIVALDO GUZMAN SALAZAR and JESUS ALFREDO GUZMAN SALAZAR interrogated Victim-4 and ultimately shot him in the head. 

Members of the Ninis kidnapped the second official ("Victim-5") and similarly brought him to the Navolato ranch of IVAN ARCHIVALDO GUZMAN SALAZAR, where Victim-5 was interrogated in the presence of IVAN ARCHIVALDO GUZMAN SALAZAR, JESUS ALFREDO GUZMAN SALAZAR, MEDINA GONZALEZ, and PEREZ SALAS. For approximately two hours, members of the Ninis tortured Victim-5 by inserting a corkscrew into Victim-5's muscles, ripping it out of his muscles, and placing hot chiles in his open wounds and nose. Following this torture, IVAN ARCHIVALDO GUZMAN SALAZAR shot Victim-5. The bodies of Victim-4 and Victim-5 were dumped near a particular motel off Mexican Federal Highway 15 outside Navolato.

Chapitos letter:  

We have searched for records about Federal Policemen being killed in Culiacán in 2017, and haven´t found them, and if those records existed we don´t know who is responsible.

Damaso’s response: 

And why do you make fools of yourselves? You know that not everything that happens remains in investigative records. There are many missing people that do not appear in any record, but just so that you can look for them, here are some attacks which were ordered by you:

During the first week of May in 2008, Federal Police agents were ambushed in downtown Culiacan. If you remember the gunmen were in 2 Cherokees; one of them was blue and armored.

Further Context

At this point in the letter, Damaso lists off a series of homicides which were allegedly carried out on the orders of los Chapitos. 

The homicides he names seem to either demonstrate the Chapitos’s willingness to attack federal agents, in a generalized way, or they demonstrate the frenzy of Chapitos homicides in 2017, documenting pattern of behavior during the alleged time of the execution of the PGR agents.

The first attack he mentions occurred in central Culiacan, Sinaloa, at the beginning of May 2008, when Sinaloa Cartel hitmen shot at federal police officers with AK47s from inside two armored vehicles. The attack injured three federal police agents and killed four other agents. The deceased were named Manuel García Pérez, Víctor Hugo Martínez Bravo, Genaro Francisco Nicolás, and Guillermo Martínez Alvarado.

Damaso’s response (continued): 

In September 2016, they ambushed military personnel at the north exit of Culiacán while they were trying to nab El Kevin, who days later appeared executed in Navolato.

Further Context

On the morning of September 29, 2016, Cartel de Sinaloa (CDS) member Julio Óscar Ortiz Vega, alias “El Kevin”, had his gunmen ambush a group of soldiers in the Bacacoragua region, in Badiraguato, Sinaloa. The soldiers returned fire and they managed to get the upper hand in the encounter, forcing El Kevin to surrender, alongside his men. 

El Kevin had been injured in the battle, sustaining multiple gunshot wounds. Soldiers administered basic first aid, stopping him from bleeding out while they called for an ambulance on radio. There is footage, published by Milenio/El Mundo, of El Kevin being treated by two soldiers, one of which was named Cristian,  at the scene of the battle. 

A photo of Kevin lying on a stretcher in a location with a tiled surface likely shows him receiving treatment at the small Badiraguato hospital. Soldiers reportedly asked one of the paramedics at the hospital if they could drive Kevin, in an ambulance, to the larger Culiacan hospital, which could better treat his gunshot injuries. 

According to newspaper El Universal, the paramedic was not told who El Kevin was. The paramedic agreed to drive. As he pulled out of the parking lot, 17 soldiers inside multiple vehicles moved in to act as military escort, protecting the ambulance as he drove towards Culiacan. 

A group of 60 CDS hitmen (according to El Mundo) attacked the military convoy as it drove down Highway 15 in an attempt to free El Kevin.

Video Source: Aristegui Noticias

The hitmen used an onslaught of frag grenades and .50 cal guns, which eventually caused two of the military vehicles to catch on fire. Four soldiers died on scene, one of which died while attempting to crawl away from the vehicle, severely burned, in images shown below. 

A fifth soldier later died in the hospital shortly after being admitted. One of the soldiers killed was the aforementioned Cristian, who had saved the life of El Kevin earlier, stopping him from bleeding out at the scene of the battle. Meanwhile, El Kevin was successfully freed and taken away by some of the CDS hitmen. 

The governor of Sinaloa would later remark on the brazen nature of the attack, saying  “To dare to ambush 17 military personnel, who are trained? They must’ve had a large number of vehicles, and a huge number of people are needed [for that]. There is talk of double-armored vehicles.”

General Alfonso Duarte Múgica told reporters that "it is very likely" that those responsible are the sons of El Chapo. 

Iván Archivaldo and Jesús Alfredo’s lawyer responded by saying his clients “have no involvement in the attack” and they wanted the government to conduct an “effective and impartial” investigation. After said investigation began, suspicion suddenly turned towards their uncle, El Guano. 

Sources from the Army later told Reforma newspaper that they received no warning from the Culiacan Municipal Police about the 15 vehicles of CDS hitmen who were moving towards the ambulance which they must have spotted on the traffic surveillance cameras which cover the city. 

Damaso’s response (continued): 

El Kevin's execution was also on your orders, since the plaza was hot [lots of law enforcement pressure], you guys opted to get rid of him so that the government could not find him alive and so he could not open his mouth.

Further Context

On March 5, 2017, about six months after the attack on the military convoy, the dead body of El Kevin was found, wrapped in a tarp, in the parking lot of a shopping center in Navolato, Sinaloa. 

Kevin’s hands and feet were bound together and he had wounds consistent with being tortured. El Debate reported that “it was evident that he was dragged [on pavement] because on some part of his body, he no longer had skin.”

Marco Antonio Higuera told a reporter that the medical examiner listed the cause of death as being from “firearm projectiles penetrating the skull, thorax and abdomen.” The examiner determined that the approximate time of death was between 11 to 12 pm during the previous day, March 4th.

Damaso’s response (continued): 

If you remember, as a result of this, they had to hand over Pancho Chimal to the Navy, so that the government would decrease the intensity with which it was pursuing them.

Further Context

A few months after the attack on the convoy, in February 2017, Sinaloa Cartel figure Francisco Javier Zazueta Rosales, alias “Pancho Chimal” was arrested by soldiers in La Conquista, Culiacan.

After the arrest, authorities claimed that Pancho, who commanded Los Chimallis - an armed wing working under Iván Archivaldo Guzman Salazar - was the leader of the attack on the military convoy while also somehow maintaining that the attack was ultimately orchestrated by El Guano. 

A month later, Pancho Chimal escaped in the infamous Aguaruto prison break (covered in more detail in our story here) alongside a number of other well known CDS figures. Then in April 2017, Pancho Chimal and Mexican Marines got into a battle in Tepuche, Sinaloa, which ultimately led to Pancho Chimal being killed. 

Damaso’s response (continued): 

There are records from 2017 which show municipal, ministerial, and state police officers who were executed on his orders. 

Also in 2017, at a Carl's Junior in Culiacan, they kidnapped the federal policeman who had the codename ‘Cobra’. There are many more on the list [of executions] that, in due time, I will make known.

Further Context

Israel Ruíz Félix, was abducted on January 21, 2017, in the Renato Vega area of Culiacan. Ruíz Félix was one of the police officers who helped the soldiers during the September 2016 ambush on the military and he was one the few who dared to testify about what happened when he responded to the scene.

Two other officers, Yosimar García Cruz and José Antonio Saavedra Ortega, were abducted later that week. The remains of Israel Ruíz Félix were found a month later in San Pedro, Navolato. 

In February 2017, a state police commander named José de Jesús Ríos, who was often called “Chuy Ríos”, was attacked by Sinaloa Cartel hitmen in two vehicles as he was driving near Constitución Street and Benito Juárez Avenue, in Culiacán.

The hitmen shot him to death with AK-47 gunfire in a blaze of more than 100 rounds, according to the state Attorney General’s Office.

A state police commander, and a municipal police officer, were attacked by Sinaloa Cartel hitmen in June 2017 as they were driving on a highway south of Culiacan. The state police commander was identified only as Felipe “N” and the municipal officer as Jesus “N”.

Felipe died from the gunshot wounds he sustained in the attack. 

El Financiero wrote that José de Jesús Ríos and Felipe “N” participated in helping soldiers who were ambushed in the September 2016 attack.

Sources: Embedded within text.