"El Lobo" Valencia and "El Pilo" Testify as the Trial of "El Menchito" Begins

"Socalj" for Borderland Beat

With Contributions by "Char"

During the first day of trial, a former leader of the Milenio Cartel said he had known Ruben Oseguera González since 2005 when "El Menchito" was 15, he was introduced by the father, "El Mencho," during a meeting in Guadalajara.

“In the meetings we had with his father, with his uncles, that's where they introduced him to me,” emphasized the former leader of the Milenio Cartel, who also stated that Oseguera González was also in charge of security for drug shipments for the CJNG. “We talked about work, drug trafficking and the enmity we had with the Familia Michoacana and Los Zetas,” Nava Valencia recalled.

Mencho was already trafficking marijuana and cocaine, "El Lobo" Valencia said that in 2008 the father and son proposed producing methamphetamine.

By 2008, “El Mencho” decided to enter the methamphetamine business, and with him, his son did too. According to “El Lobo,” the Milenio Cartel provided the precursors and ephedrine to the future CJNG leaders to produce the synthetic drug, which they used to send by plane to Tijuana, Baja California, and then transported it by land to the United States and from there begin distribution to Los Angeles, Atlanta and beyond.

Who is "El Lobo?"

Oscar Orlando Nava Valencia, known as “El Lobo,” 52 years old, served as the leader of Los Valencia or the Milenio Cartel. In addition, he was one of the closest collaborators of Ignacio Coronel Villarreal, better known as “Nacho” Coronel.

Originally from of Aguililla, in Michoacán, he assumed the leadership of Los Valencia after the arrest of his uncle Armando Valencia Cornelio, “El Maradona,” in August 2003, in Guadalajara, Jalisco.

“El Lobo” and his brother, Juan Nava Valencia, “El Tigre,” were in charge of planning and transporting cocaine shipments from Central and South American countries, through shipments that had as their final destination the port of Manzanillo, Colima, from where it was sent to the United States.

“El Lobo” was arrested in October 2009 by members of the Mexican Army in the city of Guadalajara, Jalisco, after an armed confrontation. In January 2011, the Mexican government extradited him to the United States. Nava Valencia said that until 2009, when he was arrested, the Milenio Cartel moved 5 tons of cocaine, 5 tons of marijuana and up to 2 tons of methamphetamine a month in the United States, Mexico and Europe, thanks to the collaboration of "El Mencho" and other criminal cells.

At that time, the Oseguera clan was part of an armed wing of the defunct cartel and directed several drug dealing operations.

After having his sentence reduced twice, “El Lobo” was released from prison in the United States on November 27, 2023, after 12 years of incarceration, according to a search carried out in the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) registry, under number 84193-279.

According to the newspaper Milenio, which reported the incident on December 1, 2023, Nava Valencia would remain in the United States, as part of the protected witness program, along with his wife and children, who were already in the country.

"In accordance with the agreement signed with the Department of Justice [of the United States], 'El Lobo' will remain available to the authorities to cooperate in future cases, as he did with Genaro García Luna and one of Los Cuinis," the same newspaper said.

The defense of Genaro García Luna attempted to discredit the credibility of "El Lobo," who claimed, during his testimony to have paid more than $10 million to the then federal official, in exchange for security and information about his rivals.

During his questioning session, defense attorney Florian Miedel focused on “El Lobo’s” criminal past and also on the fact that since he was arrested – from 2011 to 2020 – he never mentioned García Luna’s name during the dozens of meetings he had with US security agents and prosecutors.

However, Nava Valencia tried to justify himself by saying, on the one hand, that the United States Attorney's Office did not ask him specifically about García Luna until 2020 and, on the other hand, he said that he was afraid of possible reprisals against his family.

However, Miedel noted that in 2022, “El Lobo” told US security agents that he was retracting his statements regarding García Luna and that he had not met him, although after speaking with them, he decided to continue with his original testimony.

García Luna's lawyers maintain that the Eastern District Attorney's Office of New York has no "objective" evidence against their client, such as documents, recordings or videos, and that they are based on the testimonies of criminals, drug traffickers and murderers, who want to take revenge on those responsible for security and reach agreements to get out of prison as soon as possible.

"El Lobo" Nava Valencia concluded his testimony, with remarks from "El Menchito's" lawyer about how he took advantage of all his collaboration to be free after being a prominent drug trafficker.

"El Pilo" Testimony

The Milenio Cartel split into two in 2010 following the death of "Nacho" Coronel. Elpidio Ramírez, known as "El Pilo," expected to be the next leader of Milenio, but a faction backed "El Mencho," giving rise to the CJNG and El Pilo's La Resistencia who was fighting against them and seeking alliances with other cartels.

Journalist Angel Hernandez has been following the court proceedings and reported that, Elpidio "El Pilo" Mojarro Ramírez says that Abigael González Valencia, "El Cuini," was very close to his nephew, "El Menchito" and took him to meetings to learn about the business of cocaine, marijuana and methamphetamine trafficking.

“I always asked why they took that bunch of young people to the meetings that were their 'Chiquimafia,' he recalls about a group of young people to which Oseguera González belonged. “I saw him several times in the office, but there were only three meetings.”

According to El Pilo, El Menchito collected drugs and returned money to the Milenio Cartel: “He collected the merchandise that was delivered to Los Cuinis and took the money that Los Cuinis sent us. Many times I was present when they gave him the drugs or he received the money.”

"El Menchito's" defense revealed that at one point El Pilo said that he thought Oseguera González was too young and did not believe he was involved in drug trafficking.

Prosecutors also said they have photographs of the weapons that were used by the defendant and seized in Mexico, as well as statements from law enforcement officials from other countries.

Judge Beryl A. Howell was the same who sentenced Jessica Oseguera, El Menchito's sister, to 30 months in prison in 2021. "La Negra" was released in early 2022. Rubén and Jessica were born in California and have Mexican and U.S. passports.

It is believed the next witness will be an uncle of Ruben Oseguera González, "El Menchito."

Source Zeta Tijuana, Angel Hernandez, El Pais