05/29/14 — The Peña Nieto administration continued its kingpin strategy this month targeting Mexican organized crime leaders. Officials took down four prominent leaders from several powerful drug cartels—three from Los Zetas and one from the Gulf Cartel (Cartel del Golfo, CDG)—as well as a high-ranking member of street gang Los Rojos, which collaborates closely with the Beltrán Leyva Organization (BLO).
Within one week in mid-May, the notoriously brutal organized crime group Los Zetas lost three high-ranking members with the death of Galindo Mellado Cruz, alias “El Mellado” or “Z-9,” and the arrests of Fernando Martínez Magaña, alias “Z-16,” and Juan Fernando Álvarez Cortez, alias “El Ferrari.” El Mellado was killed in a firefight on May 9 in Reynosa, Tamaulipas, along with six other individuals—one of which was identified as a Mexican soldier. El Mellado was known as one of the founders of Los Zetas, the enforcement arm of the Gulf Cartel that split off in 2009 and 2010, though authorities believe he no longer served in a leadership role for the cartel.
Just days after El Mellado’s death, federal forces, including members of Mexico’s Navy (Secretaría de la Marina, SEMAR), arrested Z-16 on May 14. Z-16 was believed to be the Zetas leader in the Nuevo Laredo region of Tamaulipas, overseeing weapons-, human-, and drug trafficking through the U.S.-Mexico border state. He had been named as one of 12 main priorities to be dealt with under the new security strategy unveiled in Tamaulipas this month. With the strategy’s unveiling, according to National Security Commission (Comisión Nacional de Seguridad, CNS) Director Alejandro Rubido García, the suspect had fled Nuevo Laredo and was picked up in Monterrey, Nuevo León where he was allegedly in hiding. As reported by EFE, a Zetas financial operator was arrested just hours before Z-16, though it is unclear if the two arrests are connected.
Three days after Z-16’s arrest, the Zetas regional leader in Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas, was detained in an operation involving members of the Secretaries of National Defense (Secretaría de la Defensa Nacional, SEDENA) and Navy (SEMAR), and the Federal Police (Policía Federal, PF). On May 17, authorities arrested El Ferrari in Monterrey, Nuevo León, after he had fled Ciudad Victoria to avoid arrest. According to CNS Director Rubido García, El Ferrari—who was also named as a top objective of the new Tamaulipas security strategy—had connections to organized crime outside of Ciudad Victoria, including in the municipalities of El Mante, San Fernando, Hidalgo, Padilla, and Llera, Tamaulipas. He has since been placed under the watch of Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office (Procuraduría General de la República, PGR) for Special Investigations on Organized Crime (Subprocuraduría Especializada en Investigación de Delincuencia Organizada, SEIDO).
Meanwhile, authorities also arrested a regional leader for the Gulf Cartel (CDG) who controlled the territory along the Río Grande near the U.S.-Mexico border in Tamaulipas. Members of SEDENA led an operation on May 25 that resulted in the arrest of Juan Manuel Rodríguez García, better known as “Juan Perros.” Authorities believe Juan Perros was behind some of the recent violence that has erupted in Tamaulipas, having fueled the conflict between rival cartels Los Zetas and the CDG. According to CNS Director Rubido García, the suspect has a history of involvement in a variety of illicit activities, including homicide, kidnapping, and extortion. Not a single shot was fired as authorities detained Juan Perros in a hotel room in Nuevo León where he was staying with his wife and children. Rubido García said that Juan Perros, similar to Los Zetas’ Z-16 and El Ferrari, was suspected of having relocated to Nuevo León to avoid arrest following his identification as one of the top 12 priorities under the new security strategy. The suspect has been transferred to the Attorney General’s Office (PGR) for holding.
One week before Juan Perros’ detention, Mexico’s Federal Police (Policía Federal, PF) arrested the leader of the street gang Los Rojos (The Reds), Leonor “El Tigre” Nava Romero, in Guerrero. Authorities believe El Tigre worked closely with BLO leader Héctor Beltrán Leyva and was responsible for drug trafficking, kidnappings, extortion, and organized crime-related killings. As the Associated Press reported, CNS Director Rubido García added that El Tigre is suspected of being involved in the 2008 killings of eight Army soldiers in Chilpancingo, Guerrero. El Tigre’s arrest comes just one month after Federal Police arrested Los Rojos’ leader Antonio Reyna Castillo in April 2014.
The killings and arrests add to the ongoing success the Peña Nieto administration has had in removing cartel leadership in 2014, coming on the heels of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán’s arrest in February; the takedown of three of four Knights Templar Organization (KTO) leaders in a three-month span; the arrest of two Gulf Cartel leaders in February and April; and the arrest of the Beltrán Leyva Organization’s second-in-command in April, among others. As Justice in Mexico explains in “Drug Violence in Mexico: Data and Analysis Through 2013,” although President Enrique Peña Nieto promised to break from his predecessor’s kingpin strategy, his administration has done anything but that, and has continued in former President Felipe Calderón’s footsteps by targeting cartel leaders and high-ranking members.
Sources:
“Autoridades capturan a Leonor Nava, líder de ‘Los rojos’ en Guerrero.” CNN México. May 17, 2014.
“Mexico nabs drug gang leader in state of Guerrero.” Associated Press. May 17, 2014.
Redacción. “Detienen al jefe de ‘Los Zetas’ en Ciudad Victoria.” Proceso. May 19, 2014.
Ibarra, Porfirio. “Mexico captured alleged cartel capo near border.” Associated Press. May 25, 2014.
Vicenteño, David. “Segob confirma captura de ‘Juan Perros.’” Excélsior. May 26, 2014.
