“Socalj” for Borderland Beat

Francisco Jaramillo Valdovinos also known as “El Seriecito”, “El Serio” and “El Chico” was killed along with a female companion identified as Adriana around midnight, Sunday, August 27, 2023, in San Lorenzo Cacaotepec, near the La Garra soccer fields.


His death was reported by Iván García Álvarez, secretary of Security and Citizen Protection in Oaxaca. During a press conference offered on Monday, August 28, García Álvarez explained that on Sunday the body of a man identified as a leader of the CJNG based in Guerrero had arrived in Oaxaca half a year ago.

The two bodies were found inside a white Dodge Attitude car with around 40 bullet holes in it. Witnesses described two gunmen fleeing the scene on a motorcycle after following the couple and opening fire. 

Initial reports stated that the murdered man was Juan Pablo Guzmán Juárez. However, SSPC confirmed the identity of the man as “El Serio” on Monday.
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Guerrero Plaza Boss to Oaxaca

“We had a leader of the Jalisco Nueva Generación Cartel who lived in the state of Guerrero and settled in the state of Oaxaca for six months,” stated García Álvarez.

 

Last June, García Álvarez reported that the CJNG has an important presence in the municipality of Matías Romero. The interest of the criminal group is the Trans-Isthmic Train project, a flagship work of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador which could be used by criminal groups for the transfer of illicit substances.

“What interests [the CJNG] is to have control of the Transístmico due to the large amount of economy that is being managed in that area,” said Iván García.

According to Iván García’s statements, the alleged CJNG plaza boss arrived in Oaxaca because it has maintained a certain amount of security. “This type of situation is when the state maintains peace above the other states. This happened in other states like Puebla, large cartel bosses settled there and that is what is happening with the state, we are maintaining peace, so [the criminals] look for places of accommodation where they feel more comfortable to carry out their operations when its place of operation was in the state of Guerrero.”

Political & Cartel Family Connections

Francisco Jaramillo Valdovinos is the cousin of Gregorio Portillo Mendoza, former Morenista mayor of the municipality of Zirándaro, Guerrero. In 2019, La Familia Michoacana accused him of being involved with the CJNG. In February 2020, the mayor tried to have armed men who were detained in an armored CJNG vehicle in La Calera released from federal and state forces. He was kidnapped in March 2021 and released hours later.
His brother Marcelino Portillo Mendoza, is wanted by the DEA for conspiracy to traffic narcotics. Rogelio Portillo Jaramillo, nephew of the former mayor, was also wanted.
On April 24, 2006, the United States government charged the candidate’s father, Edilberto Portillo, “El Canario,” with conspiracy for the purpose of distributing cocaine out of his Carnaval nightclub in Houston, Texas. He pleaded guilty in 2009. He was also accused of money laundering and months later the accusation was expanded to include his son Rogelio Portillo.
Rogelio Portillo assured that this accusation was a dirty campaign against him by his political opponents and also denounced that it endangered his integrity and that of his family.
 

From May 2006 to June 7, 2021, Portillo was considered a fugitive from US justice after being included in an investigation against a drug cartel dedicated to the trafficking and distribution of cocaine in Texas.

One day after the 2021 elections in Mexico, the US government decided to shelve the investigation for drug trafficking against Rogelio Portillo Jaramillo, who was defeated in his bid for mayor of Huetamo. On the same day, U.S. District Judge Lynn N. Hughes signed the order dismissing the indictment and arrest requests.

The son of Edilberto Portillo Mendoza, founder of the group Beto y Sus Canarios. Marcelino and Edilberto Portillo would be part of the close circle of “El Serio.”

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“El Serio” Corridos & Parties

A video broadcast on social networks in November 2021 showed the moment in which Jaramillo Valdovinos allegedly appeared singing the song “El Seriecito de Guerrero” in the company of the group Los Dos de Tamaulipas. Other gunmen, some being dressed in GN uniforms fired rifles into the air in celebration.

According to the corrido, the father of “Chico” was assassinated before he was born and he grew up being familiar with weapons, activities typical of the ranches, and the cultivation of marijuana.

This information is also mentioned in “El Seriecito,” a song performed by Banda Los Costeños, which also refers to the fact that Jaramillo Valdovinos traveled to the north during his adolescence to obtain profits from the “mota” plantations and, upon returning to Guerrero, he was received with joy and respect for “his people”.

One of his most recognized friendships is the one he would have had with Leno Vega, alias “Comandante Leno”, operator of the Gulf Cartel born in Guerrero and assassinated in 2021 in Tamaulipas due to an apparent struggle within the organization.

In August 2020, local media in Guerrero spread the news that “El Serio” had been captured by National Guard agents in the town of Guayameo.

Last September, armed CJNG gunmen were seen participating in a religious parade alongside horses in Zirandaro de los Chávez, Guererro as well as CJNG-branded trucks. Media reported they were possible members of “Gente del Serio” or “Seriesada.”