“Char” for Borderland Beat
This article was reposted and translated from Proceso Magazine
According to the official, each kilo of cocaine was sold for between 13,000 and 14,000 dollars, equivalent to a little more than 235,600 pesos.
MEXICO CITY (apro) – Police from the Secretariat of Citizen Security (SSC) seized more than 200 kilos of cocaine and arrested five people, including Mario Alberto “N”, leader of a criminal cell that trafficked the drug from Guerrero and Morelos and distributed it in the Iztapalapa, Iztacalco, Coyoacán, Xochimilco and Gustavo A. Madero municipalities.
Omar García Harfuch, head of the agency, explained in a conference that, as a result of four raids, three properties and a warehouse in the Xochimilco district were seized, in whose basement they hid, in addition to the drugs mentioned, a laboratory used to package them.
In addition, authorities seized around 572,000 pesos and more than 100,000 dollars in cash; three firearms, 16 cartridges, 14 vehicles, a motorcycle and 16 pieces of telephone equipment, and 215 of the aforementioned packages.
According to the chief of the capital police, during the four months that the investigation of this cell lasted, they discovered that they brought the drugs by land, by highway in “normal vans”. They used buildings for storage and distribution that they disguised as mechanic and sheet metal workshops in various districts.
According to the official, each kilo of cocaine was sold for between 13,000 and 14,000 dollars, equivalent to a little more than 235,600 pesos.
This criminal cell also maintained territorial conflicts with cells of local groups, including the Tepito Union, and generated violence in the aforementioned municipalities. Allegedly, they had relations with criminal groups from Morelos and Guerrero and, “being an already structured cell, they sold drugs wholesale to other smaller groups in the CDMX,” he said. They were in contact via WhatsApp.
In order not to be arrested, he explained, members constantly changed their places of residence, as well as the vehicles and telephone numbers they used. In this way, they avoided being identified and located by the authorities and antagonistic groups, including La Unión Tepito.
“Strong blow to criminal structure”.
The four raids were carried out last Friday 22 in homes located in Coyoacán, Iztapalapa and Xochimilco. Elements of the SSC, the Mexico City Attorney General’s Office (FGJCDMX), the Secretariat of National Defense (Sedena), the National Guard and the National Intelligence Center (CNI) participated in the raids.
The arrest of Mario Alberto “N”, identified as the leader of the gang, was made in flagrante delicto in the Del Valle neighborhood, in the Benito Juarez district. The subject was also seized drugs, a submachine gun with a magazine, useful cartridges, cash, a vehicle and three telephone sets.
The other three men and the woman arrested were identified as his main collaborators and trusted associates.
García Harfuch emphasized that these arrests “represent a strong blow to the criminal structure of this organization”, in addition to the fact that, with the money and drugs seized, “an important flow of economic resources was prevented from being used by the members of this criminal cell to strengthen their criminal operations and continue generating violence in Mexico City”.
Finally, the police chief clarified that the seized drugs will be handed over to the Mexico City Attorney General’s Office, which will be in charge of the corresponding legal proceedings.