Mexican Federal Police arrest one of Chapo Guzman’s bosses, El Jabalí, and he provides interesting insight into the battle for the Arizona-Sonora corridor.
I don’t have time to follow the day-to-day killings, arrests and developments of the drug wars in Sonora but I do read several Mexican newspapers daily to try to keep up. When I see something out of the ordinary (daily killings have become ordinary), I’ll point you that way.
The Sunday arrest of one of Chapo Guzman’s big guns, José Vázquez Villagrán, aka El Jabalí, and the subsequent information he divulged to Mexican Federal Police is definitely an intriguing story. Vazquez was arrested on Sunday in his hometown of Santa Ana, Sonora.
In an interview with Mexican Federal Police, the 40-year-old said he ran the aerial smuggling of marijuana and cocaine for the Sinaloa cartel, run by Chapo Guzman. The story here says he deserted the U.S. Army in 1990 after getting his citizenship.
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If you read Spanish, you can read the full story here.
And you can watch a video of his testimony on this YouTube clip in the "More" box located to the left.
If you don’t speak Spanish, here’s a summary of his claims:
* He said that in 1996 he began charging $1,000 per vehicle to pass drugs through his ranch in Magdalena de Kino, which is located about 45 miles south of Nogales in Sonora, Mexico.
* He became a boss in the area, bought two airplanes and started using them to transport drugs for Chapo Guzman and Beltrán Leyva brothers. He created his own gang, called “Los Jabalíes.” They were known for using high-caliber weapons.
* When Chapo Guzman and the Beltran brothers split, he kept working for both until the Beltranes aligned with the Zetas. At that time, he decided to work exclusively with Chapo.
* In November 2009 at a meeting of bosses in Ciudad Obregón, they decided to eradicate the kidnappings, extortions and robberies being committed by the Beltrán Leyva cartel. Vázquez said Chapo Guzman instructed him to get rid of anybody that was trying to extort, kidnap or try to charge money to use the plaza. He said Chapo Guzman wanted everything to be calm in the area.
* He said Chapo Guzman has control of the Sonoran border.
Also on the drug war, a story from the Washington Post today that the “U.S. to embed agents in Mexican law enforcement units battling cartels in Juarez”
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