The Chihuahua state prosecutor’s office announced that two of the victims shot to death at a clandestine cockfight arena recently were ranking members of the Sinaloa Cartel.
Breitbart Texas reported on the incident where hooded gunmen opened fire on those present at the “Club Gallístico Santa María,” killing or wounding numerous individuals before fleeing. The shooting was captured on surveillance video and was released to the media.
The video depicts two hooded gunmen entering the cockfighting arena and opening fire–one appears to have a weapon malfunction or operator error and is not able to fire a single round.
The state prosecutor’s office confirmed the identities of the two cartel-connected victims as Héctor Murillo Tavares, aka “El Cochiloco” and Josué Otero. According to Eduardo Esparza, spokesman for the state prosecutor’s office, “El Cochiloco” and Otero both worked for Manuel “Don Meny” Arzola Campos, leader of the Sinaloa Cartel in the capital of Chihuahua. Esparza related that “El Cochiloco” was in charge of the south zone and Otero was responsible for drug distribution in the north. Otero was already being sought for arrest by the state prosecutor’s office for his illegal drug activities, according to local reports.
The state attorney general’s office further noted that “El Cochiloco” was the nephew of Sinaloa operative Karla Gutiérrez, aka “La China,” who is linked to “Los Salazar” also known as “La Gente Nueva de Salazar,” an armed wing of the Sinaloa Cartel which ordered the murder of journalist Miroslava Breach Velducea.
According to state intelligence information, “Don Meny” controls a criminal group dubbed “Gente de Don Meny” (People of Don Meny). They are responsible for the distribution of narcotics in Chihuahua and linked to the Gente Nueva.
The state prosecutor’s office further related that the gunmen responsible for the deadly shooting are believed to be members of La Linea, the armed wing of the Juarez Cartel and deadly rivals of the Sinaloa Cartel. The remnants of the Juarez Cartel are now calling themselves El Nuevo Cartel de Juarez, which is also being supported by the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG).
Breitbart Texas previously reported on the hostilities between the Juarez and Sinaloa Cartels and aligned criminal groups. Both criminal groups are engaged in a deadly struggle for the valuable drug smuggling routes heading to the north and for the lucrative street sales of narcotics.
Robert Arce is a retired Phoenix Police detective with extensive experience working Mexican organized crime and street gangs. Arce has worked in the Balkans, Iraq, Haiti, and recently completed a three-year assignment in Monterrey, Mexico, working out of the Consulate for the United States Department of State, International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Program, where he was the Regional Program Manager for Northeast Mexico (Coahuila, Tamaulipas, Nuevo Leon, Durango, San Luis Potosi, Zacatecas.)