CDG Tampico Leader 'El Tango' and Others Sentenced to Up to 215 Years in Prison

"Morogris" for Borderland Beat

The individuals sentenced worked for the Tampico, Tamaulipas, faction of the Gulf Cartel (Cartel del Golfo). This picture was of their 2011 arrest for running a kidnapping ring

A Mexican federal judge has sentenced five members of the Gulf Cartel (Cártel del Golfo – CDG) to prison terms ranging from 50 to 215 years. They were found guilty of charges related to kidnapping and the illegal possession of military-exclusive firearms.

The individuals who received the sentences were arrested in December 2011 by federal forces during an operation aimed at rescuing two kidnapping victims in a building located in Tampico, Tamaulipas.

During the operation, various firearms and ammunition were also discovered at the scene. Subsequent investigations revealed that this criminal group was responsible for at least 40 kidnappings in Tamaulipas in the year 2011 alone.

The Office of the Attorney General of the Republic (FGR), through its Specialized Prosecutor for Organized Crime, diligently prosecuted the case, and after almost 12 years of trials, they successfully secured convictions from a federal judge.

Sentencing Details

• Andrea Escamilla Juárez (alias "La Negra")
• Néstor Hugo del Ángel Ferretis (alias "El Tango")
• José de Jesús Mosqueda Moras (alias "El Rigo" or "El Chucho")
• José René Cortés Zapata (alias "El Nica")
• Ricardo Abraham Velásquez del Castillo (alias "Ricardillo")

Andrea Escamilla Juárez, also known as La Negra, was been sentenced to 215 years in prison and fined for the equivalent of 12,500 days of minimum wage. Jose de Jesus Mosqueda Moras, alias El Rigo or El Chucho, received a prison sentence of 192 years and six months, along with a fine of 14,525 days.

Similarly, Nestor Hugo del Angel Ferretis, known as El Tango, and Jose Rene Cortes Zapata, alias El Nica, each received a prison sentence of 125 years. Additionally, El Tango was fined 10,000 days of minimum wage, and El Nica received a fine of 6,025 days of minimum wage.

Lastly, Ricardo Abraham Velasquez del Castillo, also called Ricardillo, was sentenced to 50 years in prison, with a fine of 4,000 days of minimum wage.

It is worth noting that El Tango was likely a high-ranking member of the Gulf Cartel faction in Tampico known as Los Tangos.

The word "Tango" was a codename for Tampico, and its origins date back to the late 1990s and early 2000s when Osiel Cárdenas Guillén was the co-leader of the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas.

Many of the original Tangos were ex-police officers who worked under Juan Carlos de la Cruz Reyna (alias "El JC" or "Tango 36"), a former Tamaulipas cop and high-ranking cartel boss under Cardenas Guillen.

The Port of Altamira in the Tampico metropolitan area has established connections with 125 ports globally via multiple shipping lines that manage both loose and containerized cargo. The primary destinations served by these connections are located along Atlantic coastlines. This is an important port for international drug trafficking (image credit: Gob de Mexico)

Details of the Kidnapping

In the early 2010s, Tampico, Tamaulipas, was regarded as the "kidnapping capital" (capital del secuestro) of Mexico (Source).

A study conducted in 2014 and published by Coparmex and Germany's Konrad Adenauer Foundation indicated that Tampico had the highest kidnapping rate in Mexico, surpassing the national average by 20 times. Moreover, an official from a human rights group, who chose to remain anonymous, disclosed that up to 70 percent of businesses in Tamaulipas were victims of extortion by criminal gangs. (Source). 

According to investigators, El Tango and the rest were responsible for at least 40 kidnappings in the Tampico area in the early 2010s.

It is worth mentioning that all of the individuals arrested in 2011 (with the exception of one) were sentenced. The only remaining suspect whose status is unknown is Jorge Fernando Larios Nossiff, alias "El Camarón" or "El Viejón". Larios Nossiff was described as the leader of the kidnapping ring, above El Tango and the rest.

Larios Nossiff was 57 years old at the time of his arrest and was cited as being from Reynosa, Tamaulipas. He is allegedly responsible for planning the kidnappings, participating in the interception of victims, and making negotiation calls. Additionally, he was accused of coordinating the purchase of vehicles and safe houses, as well as managing the organization's operating expenses.

Few details are known of his involvement in the Gulf Cartel prior to his arrest and what his status is as of 2023. Legal records consulted by Borderland Beat show that Larios Nossiff sued a Tamaulipas State Police commander based in Ciudad Madero in 2002. In 2020, he issued another motion in a Matamoros federal court, although the reasons for it are not available to the public.

His brother Rafael Larios Nossiff is the owner of Enercon Latinoamerica, a company based in Monterrey that specializes in industrial electronics maintenance and repair.

Sources: La Jornada

2011 Sources: El Circo; Proceso; Notimerica