The manhunt launched by the Sinaloa Cartel against police officers who stole a drug shipment in Tijuana

It sounds like a story straight out of a mafia movie, but it’s happening in Mexico. On November 27th, Zeta Weekly revealed that the shooting attack that occurred that month against a building belonging to the Attorney General’s Office (FGR), located in Tijuana, was revenge for the theft of cocaine and methamphetamine by state and federal police. Not only that. To date, several agents believed to be linked to the robbery have been murdered.

For the attack on FGR They were arrested Luis Gerardo Lara Vidrio It is Jesus Angel Rodríguez Clemente, who will be accused of attempted murder. They will also be charged by the Public Prosecutor’s Office for possession of long weapons for exclusive use by the Army. Both subjects did not want to testify.

TO LOOK: Ethan Crumbley, the teenager who killed four classmates when he was 15 and who will never get out of prison

He Zeta Weekly Indicated that Luis Gerardo Lara Vidrio is part of a criminal group in Tijuana who is at the service of Sinaloa Cartelwhile the other person involved has no criminal record.

According to the AP agency, two of the agents suspected of participating in the robbery were murdered. When seeking to establish the link to third-party theft three police officers killed.

Both authorities and the press believe that The drug cartel may have launched widespread retaliation against Tijuana police officers.

How was the robbery? According to Zeta Weekly, on November 17th, a Mixed Base of Operations (BOM) type commandformed by elements of the Tijuana Municipal Police, National Guard and plainclothes agents, invaded a house located at Privada Altitude 58, Manuel Jesús Clouthier 17100, Fraccionamiento El Lago.

According to the witnesses’ version and by a surveillance video who recorded the incident, the agents entered at around 3 am, without an order from the judge.

So when they left the property They allegedly took several kilos of cocaine and methamphetamine.

In a video released last week, a police van is seen leaving the scene with large bundles of cocaine wrapped in plastic.

The AP agency detailed that state prosecutor María Elena Andrade confirmed that three state detectives were being investigated in the case, along with a similar number of municipal police officers from Tijuana.

Alberto CapelaTijuana’s former police chief from 2007 to 2008 and again from 2011 to 2013, told the AP that the cache belonged to the Sinaloa Cartelspecifically to the faction controlled by the drug trafficker Ismael ‘El Mayo’ Zambadahistorical leader of the group that commands the most powerful gang in the city.

Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada.

Zeta Weekly revealed that the Sinaloa Cartel sent a group of assassins, probably brought from the interior of Mexicowith the order to assassinate the agents Oscar Gauci Orozco It is Melissa Ramos Curiellike the Tijuana municipal police Martin Carrillo Grande and six elements assigned to the National Guard vehicle with number GN 303307, and all those who allegedly participated in the theft of the drugs.

The municipal police Martin Carrillo Grande He is the brother of a former police officer arrested in 2009 and is related to the Arellano Félix Cartel, which operates in Tijuana, according to Zeta.

Apparently, the AP indicates, the Sinaloa Cartel He knew almost immediately who had committed the robbery.

After the agents involved in the robbery were identified by their bosses, someone betrayed them to criminals.

On November 18, a few hours after the robbery, armed men fired at least 30 shots at an FGR building in Tijuanaleaving marks on the facade of the building.

After an hour, one of the municipal police officers allegedly involved in the robbery was shot dead on a street in that city. The agent was identified as Leon Bueno Loreto51 years old, who on the day of the robbery was co-pilot with his partner Martin Carrillo Grande aboard municipal patrol BC585A-1, a unit that was also registered at the time of the robbery, according to Semanário Zeta.

On November 24, armed men attacked the state attorney’s office with a hail of gunfire; No one was injured, the AP reported.

On November 27, a state detective investigated in the robbery was shot to death in his car while filling up his gas tank at a Tijuana gas station. Apparently, the police officer anticipated the attack and managed to start the car and advance a few meters before colliding with a pillar and dying at the wheel. The attackers fled on a motorcycle, according to AP. He was identified as Salvador Vargas Ruiz40 years.

The AP agency spoke with an official from the Public Ministry about the case and confirmed that two of the agents investigated in the scandal were shot dead in broad daylight on the streets of Tijuanain apparent revenge signal.

The former police chief Alberto Capela told the AP that at least three other agents have died since the robbery, suggesting the cartel may have launched widespread retaliation for the robbery and not just against those directly responsible.

Source: Elcomercio