The Failed Hunt And Bizarre Death Of 'Mario Calabazas'

"Char" for Borderland Beat 

This article was translated and reposted from RIODOCE 

Both Lugo Lara's alleged death and the circumstances under which it occurred are still unclear.

For 19 days Mario Alberto Lugo Lara, known as Mario Calabazas, managed to flee the manhunt that Fausto Isidro Meza Flores, known as Chapo Isidro, had launched against him. He remained in hiding in the highlands of the municipality of Sinaloa until Tuesday, August 15, when he was found presumed dead in a house in the San José de las Delicias syndicate. Both his alleged death and the circumstances under which it occurred are still unclear.

Fausto Isidro Meza Flores 

A first version that emerged during the early hours of Tuesday, August 15, indicated that the leader of Los Calabazas had been found inside a house in his native town of Las Calabazas, later it was said that the body was in one of the streets of San José de las Delicias and another that he was located there, but lying on a cot inside a house. A photograph showed him lying on the cot, shirtless and with a scapular on his chest, he was wearing black jeans and had his arms crossed. His mouth seemed to be foaming with blood, which reached the pillow. Next to the body was a lit candle.

The wife of the leader of the armed wing of the Beltran Leyva cartel, led by Chapo Isidro, was quick to confirm that the body lying on the bed was indeed that of Mario Calabazas.

"I'm sure it is, I'm sure it is," the woman told reporters who were at the scene that day.

The supposed body of Lugo Lara showed no signs of violence, and the first versions that emerged were that he had died of intoxication, another pointed to sunstroke and dehydration while hiding in the mountains to avoid being killed. Another one questioned his death, since the corpse photographed on the cot did not look like that of a deceased person.

Hours later and in the midst of speculation, the supposed remains of Lugo Lara, found in the patio of a house, were transferred to the Semefo of Culiacán in the midst of a heavy security operation. Governor Ruben Rocha Moya neither confirmed nor denied that it was indeed Mario Calabazas, but he did say that it would take at least two weeks to know the causes of his death.

The strange death

Even though Mario Calabazas was wanted in the highlands by Chapo Isidro's people, his supposed body appeared in the same town from where he had fled, in a house located very close to the local church, and where an Army detachment was stationed.

It had been 19 days since the war had begun in the area between Chapo Isidro and Mario Calabazas, former collaborators and then enemies, after the latter was accused of treason by the former. On July 28, Los Mazatlecos, led by Fausto Isidro Meza Flores, arrived in the area to look for him. They shot at houses, some of which they burned. Two of them belonged to Lugo Lara. Residents said that, by that day, the leader of Los Calabazas had already left.

In the following days, there were confrontations between Los Calabazas and Los Mazatlecos of the Beltrán Leyva cartel, and again cars were burned. A daughter and daughter-in-law of Lugo Lara were allegedly kidnapped, although this information has not been confirmed by any authority.

The violence unleashed by the hunt for Mario Calabazas forced the displacement of more than 300 residents of San José de las Delicias and nearby towns to Guamúchil.

"Mario Calabazas, your whole family is suffering because of you! You have already done a lot of damage to the population! We are not going to stop! We are coming for you! Traitor rat," they accused in flyers that appeared in Mocorito and Guamúchil.

To appease the violence, Army elements were stationed in San José de las Delicias, where they also accompanied the return of families who had left, some of whom only went to pick up some belongings.

It is not known exactly if Lugo Lara remained in the town during all this time or if he left and then managed to return, evading military surveillance, if it is indeed proven that the body found lying on the cot is his.

The legacy of Los Calabazas

Mario Pumpkins 

Lugo Lara's Los Calabazas cell was part of the Beltrán Leyva cartel, which emerged from the breakup of the Beltrán Leyva and Guzmán Loera-Zambada García cartels in 2009, and its mission was to prevent rival groups from entering their territory through the Sinaloa municipality and Guasave's highlands.

Initially Los Calabazas, a name they took from the town of the same name, was led by Carlos Jesús and/or Jesús Carlos Carlos Salmón Higuera, el Macaco, who was found murdered on September 2, 2018 in the Estación Naranjo syndicate, after having escaped from the Aguaruto prison on July 22 of that same year.

After the death of El Macaco, Mario Calabazas assumed the leadership of Los Calabazas and remained under the orders of Chapo Isidro, until their relationship broke down. Locals point to his cousin, nicknamed Beto Mafias, as his successor, to whom they attribute the misunderstandings that arose between him and Chapo Isidro.

Source: RIODOCE

Article published on August 20, 2023 in the 1073rd edition of the weekly Ríodoce.