Scion of Juárez cartel captured

Vicente Carrillo Leyva, the 33-year-old son of Juárez cartel founder Amado Carrillo was arrested in Mexico City, where he was living under an assumed name. He is accused of being one of the finance chiefs of the cartel, which is now run by his uncle Vicente Carrillo Fuentes. (His father died in 1997 after a botched plastic surgery.) He becomes the third person on the PGR’s most wanted list to be captured in as many weeks. (Universal, Proceso 4/2)

PRI nominates alleged narcos for office

The PRI in Chihuahua nominated Héctor Murguía to run for congress, despite long-standing allegations of corruption and links to trafficking. Murguía was mayor of Ciudad Juárez, and his former head of security is currently imprisoned in Texas on drug charges. In addition, the PRI in Colima nominated Mario Anguiano, the former mayor of the capital city of Colima, as their candidate for governor. His brother Humberto is serving a 10 year sentence for trafficking methamphetamines, and his cousin Rafael is in jail in Los Angeles. The PAN is circulating a crossword puzzle titled “13 characteristics of the PRI” that include the words corruption, crisis, complicity, and narco. (Universal 3/30, Excelsior 3/25)

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Army bulldozes ‘Holy Death’ chapels

The army used excavators to destroy 30 chapels dedicated to Santa Muerte, “Holy Death,” the patron saint of drug traffickers, on the highway between Nuevo Laredo and Monterrey. The chapels, including at least one with two stories, started proliferating in 2007. According to one official, “When you enter or leave Nuevo Laredo, you see these chapels, which are impressive—a spectacle—but the people were constantly complaining that they leave the impression that it was a place of criminals.” (Reforma 3/25)

Government provides rewards for most wanted

The Justice Ministry published a list of the most wanted drug lords, with rewards of up to Ps. 30 million for information leading to their capture. The list of 37 includes the leaders and top operators of the Gulf Cartel and their Los Zetas paramilitary wing, the Pacific Cartel, the Beltrán Leyva gang, the Carrillo Fuentes gang, La Familia, and the Arellano Félix cartel. The same day, the army captured one of the most wanted: Héctor Huerta Ríos, La Burra, described as the chief operator for the Beltrán Leyvas in Monterrey. (Reforma 3/23, Universal 3/25)

Top operator for Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas captured

The authorities captured Sigifredo Nájera, 24, known as “El Canicón,” who is said to be the top operator for the Gulf Cartel and their Los Zetas paramilitary wing in Nuevo Leon. Nájera is wanted for the killings of nine soldiers last November, as well as for the grenade attacks on the U.S. consulate and Televisa studios in Monterrey. The Templo Mayor column eulogized the government’s actions: “The capture of the leader of Los Zetas in Nuevo León … makes clear one more time that in the war against the narcos the Army today is very different from previous administrations. First is effectiveness. In just a few months, the troops have struck hard at organized crime with high level arrests such as ‘El Hummer’ and ‘El Vicentillo,’ during operations that reflect intelligence work and a new ability to carry out urban missions that, so far, have left civilians unharmed. The second is even handedness. The Army, as never before, has been hitting the two strongest criminal gangs equally, with the rhythm, ‘Gulf [cartel],’ ‘Sinaloa [cartel],’ ‘Gulf,’ ‘Sinaloa,’ in a way that almost seems planned.” (Reforma 3/20, 22)

Reach of the Cartels

The NY Times published a good interactive graphic showing the approximate areas of operation of the major cartels in Mexico, and the spread of their activities in the U.S.