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Wednesday, July 19, 2023

Four Tijuana Cartel Kidnappers Sentenced to Over 200 Years In Prison

"Morogris" for Borderland Beat

The kidnappers worked for the Tijuana Cartel, often referred to as the Arellano-Felix Organization. No pictures of the convicted kidnappers were released by the press (image credit: Depositphotos Inc.)
A Mexican federal judge sentenced four Tijuana Cartel and/or Arellano Felix Organization (Spanish: Cártel de los Arellano Félix, CAF) kidnappers to over 200 years in prison. Their names are Fabian Perez Ozuna, Jose Raul Gonzalez Hernandez, Julio Cesar Alducin Munguia, and Jose Martinez Jr.

They were charged with organized crime involvement, kidnapping, illegal possession of military-exclusive firearms, and aggravated murder.

Fabian (from Sinaloa) and Jose Raul were sentenced to 223 years and 8 months, and were ordered to pay MXN$64,780 in fines. Julio Cesar (from Veracruz) and Jose (from California, US) were sentenced to 203 years and 8 months, and ordered to pay MXN$64,780. These last two had a slightly low sentence because they were not found guilty of murder.

All four kidnappers are serving their sentences in different federal prisons. Julio Cesar is in Federal Social Readaptation Center (CEFERESO) No. 1 in Altiplano; Jose Raul is in CEFERESO No. 14 in Durango; Fabian is in CEFERESO No. 4 in Tepic, Nayarit, and Jose is in CEFERESO No. 15 in Chiapas.

Background

Records show that the four men were arrested on 20 January 2007 in southeastern Tijuana as part of an Operation Tijuana (Spanish: Operativo Tijuana) investigation code named GR/SIEDO/UEIDCS/008/2007.

The arrest happened after federal forces and the state police were granted a home warrant and headed to a home in Camino Verde neighborhood where seven (7) people were being held captive.

When authorities arrived at the location, the four kidnappers opened fire at them and a shootout broke out for several minutes. The kidnappers were eventually overwhelmed by law enforcement and taken into custody; Fabian was injured at the scene while Julio Cesar and Jose were taken into custody.

There was another man known as Antonio Israel Soto Hernandez (from Sinaloa) who was arrested with the kidnappers, but his status is currently unknown.

The victims rescued by security forces were Antonio Israel Gonzalez Jaramillo, Jose de Jesus Pahua Ruiz, Jose Luis Ramos Arreguin, Ronaldo Genaro Zuniga Garau,¹ Juan Diego Delgado Ortiz, Jose Luis Gonzalez Estrada, and Margarito Zuñiga Cuevas.

Investigators say that the abductees were kidnapped on 18 January 2007 and were likely going to be killed.

Murder of Police Chief
Fabian, one of the kidnappers, accepted his involvement in the February 2005 murder of Tijuana police chief Jose de Jesus Bedolla Garibaldi.

Investigators confirmed that Fabian and another gunman shot the police commander to death outside his home in Tijuana as he left for work. His vehicle was sprayed with more than 50 bullets and Bedolla was pronounced dead at the scene. Eyewitnesses said that the killers fled in a red Ford Ranger with California plates.

Bedolla had been in the police force for about 20 years and had taken the post as police chief since April 2004. In July 2004, Mexicali police chief Humberto Armenta Vizcarra was killed by suspected cartel members.

Bedolla was the second police chief killed in the Baja California governorship of Eugenio Elorduy Walther (2001–2007).

Footnotes
¹ The last name Garau is spelled as Arau in other sources

Sentencing Sources: Proceso; Lopez Doriga Digital


2005 Sources: LA Times; El Sigo de Durango; El Norte (print archives)

22 comments:

  1. 200 years🤔
    Life expectancy in Mexico,is longer than what I thought.
    I don't know if I will make it, to 250 years. What will Sol look like at 210 years?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sol is immortal. He will run this site when one of the writers and current readers are alive. Maybe by then Mexico will be peaceful and he will be writing about other stuff.

      Delete
    2. 200 years is nothing. In 1994, a man from Oklahoma named Charles Scott Robinson was given a prison sentence of 30,000 years.

      Delete
    3. 3:06 that in fact is a fact this website needs to publish a book series containing every post ever since it started I would love the whole narcology collection in my library

      Delete
    4. They published a book already.

      Delete
    5. Sol is half human and half robot with AI intelligence 😂, he served 3 wars , he is 150 years.

      Delete
  2. wait, so they were arrested in 2007 and just now sentenced? does the Mexico justice system really turn that slowly or did I misread something?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. @209.
      You didn’t read anything wrong. Yes they were arrested in 2007 and were just sentenced. Even my case in North Carolina only took about 3 years. That’s a VERY long time.

      Sol what’s up buddy. Hope you’re well.

      Rubio NYC

      Delete
    2. Yup, arrested in 2007, barely sentenced this year.

      This isn't a rare occurrence in Mexico. The good thing is they didn't get release during this entire time.

      There have been capos who are released because they sent to prison and kept there without a sentence for more than a decade (like CDG boss Victor Manuel Vazquez Mireles).

      Delete
    3. Not to mention they were/are on the team of the losing end…

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    4. Another thing about Mexican justice system, they do not count the time you have been incarcerated waiting on your sentence.

      Delete
  3. Replies
    1. Probably washing La Eme clothing in the mornings and cleaning the mans cell in the afternoon.

      Delete
    2. Gimme some chon chon!

      Delete
  4. Great news! And thank you BB. One reason why I like BB is because they cite their sources. I like digging through those old sources, especially the '05 and '07 links cited here, and digging through the weeds. Glad to see that some of these web links are still active after so many years. Bien hecho Morogris!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Much appreciated! I enjoy doing that for most of these reports because old sources are disappearing from the web and it is important to tie back current events with things that happen 10 or 20 years ago.

      It is not always possible with all stories, but in this case there were events that are tied as far back as 2005.

      Delete
  5. They shld be shot. 4 bullets vs how many pesos to keep them in prison?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They’re probably being experimented on… priceless

      Delete
  6. One of the Flores twins' wives reportedly going to federal prison.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Soon to be ex-wife I’m sure… probably the one who betrayed Kato in Chicago..

      Delete
  7. Shoot out at the Cupola seems like yesterday and these fools have been sitting around for all those years. Unbelievable.!!

    ReplyDelete
  8. With time served they only have about 184 years to go so there’s that

    ReplyDelete

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