Alfas, Deltas, & the Split from Chapitos: The Fracturing of Cazadores in Sonora

"HEARST", "Enojon", and "@All_Source_News" for Borderland Beat

Ever since 2021, Sinaloa Cartel group Cazadores has been fracturing, with relatives of the two previous leaders competing against each other for control over not only the larger group and the section of the US-Mexico border they control. 

This infighting has now led to Cazadores’ armed wing Deltas splitting away from the group and fighting against them.

Let’s take a closer look at how this happened, who all the new subgroups are, who is in charge, and how the battles between the two have been going.

Background on the Region

Altar and Saric, two municipalities which sit on the US border, have historically been controlled by the Sinaloa Cartel subgroup “Gente Nueva de Altar”. 

This group is sometimes referred to as “los Cazadores” or “los Chubetos”, referencing their former leader: Jesús Humberto Limón López, aliases “El Cazador” and “El Chubeto”. 

During the height of El Cazador’s rule, his right hand man was José Bibiano Cabrera, alias “El Durango”, who led an armed wing called “los Deltas”, which consisted of hitmen who reported directly under him. 

In April 2021, El Durango was arrested in Altar by federal law enforcement. The arrest of El Durango seriously hindered Cazadores operational presence in the state. 

Then, just two months after Durango’s arrest, El Cazador himself was arrested and los Cazadores was left without their two strongest leadership figures. These arrests significantly hindered the overall prominence of Cazadores within the cartel landscape of Sonora. 

Internal divisions within los Cazadores emerged due to various relatives of either El Durango or El Cazador fighting to take over control of the group.

By at least November 2022, a brother of Cazador named Salvador Limón López who goes by the aliases “El Chava” and “El 05”, had taken over leading the main Cazador group. 

The Evolution of Los Deltas

El Durango’s alleged relative, Francisco Jesús Torres Carranza, alias “El Duranguillo”, allegedly took over leading los Deltas in Durango's absence, but, in July 2022, El Duranguillo was arrested after a series of heavy fire fights and attempts at street negotiations by Sinaloa Cartel hitmen.

Los Deltas (sometimes called Grupo Delta) continued to have a visible presence after Durangillo’s arrest and their hitmen would frequently post themselves patrolling in fake MARINA (Marines) pick up trucks. 

It is believed that Erick Cabrera Cabrera, alias “El Delta 1”, became the new leader of los Deltas. Erick (sometimes spelled Erik) Cabrera is a presumed brother of El Durango.

According to a March 2021 post, El Delta 1 was already active in los Deltas and he actually used to be known by the alias “Delta 4”, which implies these aliases are indicative of a person’s rank within the group. The post also claims that Delta 4 was primarily operating in the regions of Benjamin Hill and Pitiquito in 2021. 

In March 2023, a big military operation, which involved a low flying helicopter trailing a SUV, took place in Altar. We now know that this operation was an attempt to capture El Delta 1, who evidently managed to escape.

Los Alfas (Los Fantasmas) 

When Deltas left Cazadores, the group was left without an armed wing, so El Chava called upon Saúl Francisco Hernández Tenorio, aliases “El Fantasma” and "El Ponchi", to create a new armed wing which he calls “los Alfas”. El Ponchi is a Cazadores leader who has been active in the region since at least November 2022.

El Ponchi was born in 1990 and he is approximately 33 years old as of the writing of this story. He was arrested back in March 2015 for the possession of an illegal firearm, alongside 21-year old Rodolfo Valdez Portillo. During the time of his arrest, authorities released information on Pelon, such as him living on Mision Num. 15 Street in Altar, Sonora. 

It's worth noting that El Ponchi’s group has been signing narco signs with “los Alfas”, they are also sometimes called “los Fantasmas” and “los Ponchis”, after the aliases of their leader. The “fantasma”, or in English “the ghost”, emoji is often used to represent this group on social media.

Also note: This armed wing shouldn't be confused with another group called “Alfas” which operates in southern Sonora and is led by Alfredo Olivas Valenzuela, aliases “El Chapo Alfredo” and "El Alfa 1." (More details on them here.)

Los Deltas Ally with Los Pelones 

Deltas allied with a local CDS group called “los Pelones”, which is led by Omar Felix Loayza (sometimes spelled Loaiza), aliases "El Pelón" and “El 08”. 

Now, there used to be a CDS group in the Caborca region called los Pelones (it was also called los Memos) that was led by Adelmo Niebla Gonzalez, alias “El Memo”. It's unclear if Omar Felix Loayza’s group is in any way related to this older group or not. 

Why? Well, because “El Pelon”, or in English “The Bald Guy”, is an extremely common nickname in Mexico. And “Pelones” simply means “the men working for the bald guy,” so there are always multiple unrelated “Pelones” groups active in the Mexican cartel world at any given time. 

So, until a banner or video message actually links Omar Felix Loayza’s group to Memo, there’s no particular reason to think they’re related but the simple fact that they both seem to operate in the Caborca area may suggest a connection. 

The Battles Between Cazadores and Deltas

Alright, now that we’ve established the two sides of this conflict (Deltas-Pelones vs Cazadores-Alfas), let’s review the flurry of gun battles and narco message signs we’ve seen in the last few months.

October 21, 2023

The first reported fighting between los Deltas (and their los Pelones allies) against Cazadores’s armed wing los Alfas occurred on October 21 in Altar, Sonora. 

Videos from the area show multiple cartel technicals and up-armored vehicles involved in the battle that paralyzed sections of Altar for hours. 

Some of the vehicles used in the battle were photographed the next day, such as white pickup truck which read “Fantasma” - one of Ponchis’s aliases. 

October 31, 2023

Alfas hitmen got into a gun battle with soldiers and state police officers near Altar. The skirmish killed one soldier and injured 4 more. One of Alfas abandoned pickup trucks were photographed, such as white pickup truck which read “Fantasma” - one of Ponchi’s aliases. 

More details in our previous post

November 03, 2023 

A narco banner was found in which Cazadores/Alfas blamed Deltas for the October 31 ambush which killed the soldier. This banner claim doesn’t explain why the pickup truck seized after the ambush had “Fantasma”, the alias of the Alfas leader, spray painted on it.

More details in our previous post 

November 06, 2023 

A narco banner placed at the exit to Oquitoa and the end of the banner read:

Our fight is against the group with the name los Ponchis (Cazadores). [And it's all] because they went independent and here independents end up dead. 

It's worth noting that los Ponchis is just another name for los Alfas, the armed wing of Cazadores. 

This is a very important banner as it implies that Alfas (and by extension los Cazadores) no longer work under Sinaloa Cartel - Chapitos faction and are now trying to control their section of the US border as an independent group and presumably allowing mules (drug traffickers) and coyotes (migrant smugglers) to operate in their territory in exchange for a fee.

November 19, 2023

Grupo Delta left human remains in Santa Ana, Sonora, with a narco message claiming the body parts belonged to a los Alfas member. 

This will happen to all those idiots that follow “El Ponchis” (Alfa-Cazadores). They only send people to the slaughterhouse because they are afraid to go to the front. We are already here and   are going to kill you all you bunch of scums. 

November 22, 2023

Cazadores/Alfas hitmen left a dead body wrapped in a sheet with a message directed against los Pelones  in Colonia Aviación, in Caborca municipality. Magdalena Informa claims the text seen in the photo is only part of the message but the rest of it was not visible to them.

November 25, 2023

Cazadores/Alfas left a cooler with dismembered body parts in Caborca municipality with a message for El Pelon which warned him about continuing to work under los Chapitos (the sons of Chapo, such as Ivan Archivaldo Guzman). The message read: 

Pelón Loayza El 8,

Be careful with Iván Archivaldo, because just as he handed over Nini [to the government], he will also get rid of anyone who gets in his way.

November 27, 2023 

Cazadores Alfas left a dangling corpse burning on a street in Benjamín Hill, Sonora, along with a narco message which read: 

“This is what will happen to anyone who works for the traitors los Deltas or anyone who works for El 08 Pelon from Sonoyta”

More details in our previous post

December 02, 2023

Los Deltas - Pelones allegedly destroyed multiple Cazadores/Alfas vehicles at an undisclosed location in Sonora. In addition, multiple Cazadores members are believed to have been killed in the gunbattle.

Gigios Isn’t Willing to Back Cazadores

It’s important to highlight a recent narco video in which members of los Gigios tortured a member of los Cazadores. This video is covered in full in this previous story. 

Why is this relevant? Well, because an independent cartel group like Cazadores usually doesn't last too long in the Mexican cartel underworld, most especially when the group operates directly adjacent to the US border. Having the backing of a major cartel group is often the best way to survive territory battles against other cartel-backed groups. 

So, when it became clear that CDS - Chapitos had decided to back Deltas-Pelones, Cazadores could have reached out to the other side of CDS, the Mayo faction, and allied with his group in the region, called "los Gigios” (sometimes called los Yiyos). Gigios has shown plenty of willingness to openly fight against CDS - Chapitos allied groups. 

But, Cazadores getting Gigios’s support in their war against Deltas was always going to be a tough sell, largely because Cazadores has been fighting against Gigios for over a decade, creating a lot of bad blood between the two groups.

Summary/Takeaways

So, where does this leave us? In summary, the old CDS group los Cazadores (Gente Nueva de Altar) has recently fractured and their armed wing “los Deltas” broke off to form their own group. 

Deltas, which is currently led by Erick Cabrera Cabrera, alias “El Delta 1”, allied themselves with the local group “los Pelones”, led by Omar Felix Loayza, alias "El Pelón".

Deltas-Pelones are fighting against Cazadores, which is currently led by Salvador Limón López, alias “El Chava”. And Cazadores created a new armed wing called “los Alfas”, which is led by Francisco Hernández Tenorio, alias “El Ponchi”. 

According to narco banners, Cazadores-Alfas are currently working independent from any larger cartel entity (like CDS). Meanwhile, Deltas-Pelones are currently backed by the Sinaloa Cartel - Chapitos faction and this means they likely are working with the local CDS - Chapitos crime family los Salazars and possibly Memos. 

Sources: Sonora Informativo Post 1, Post 2, Post 3, Post 4, Art. 7mo el Observador, Nuevo Dia, Magdalena Informa, Calvariae Locus Tweet 1, Tweet 2, Tweet 3, LAMERAVRG Tweet 1, Tweet 2, All Source Tweet 1, Tweet 2, Tweet 3, Tweet 4, Tweet 5, Eco1_LVM, Halcon1072, The Other Sonora Informativo

Update 12/5/2023: Delta 1 was changed from a "presumed relative" to "presumed brother" and El Duranguillo was changed from "brother" to "alleged relative".

Some extra profiles of those discussed, click on the image to view the full size version: