“HEARST” and “Sol Prendido” for Borderland Beat
Cartel hitmen left the dismembered human remains of two men at the entrance to San Carlos, Sonora, a popular beach town during a peak time for foreign tourism.
Warning: Very graphic images below this point.
The Dismembered Remains and Narco Sign
At approximately 2:00 pm on April 6, 2023, the emergency phone line received a call which reported the discovery of an ice cooler with human remains at the main entrance to San Carlos. The caller noticed the ice chest as they were walking towards an entrance to a beach, according to Expreso.
Tribuna newspaper writes that the initial caller may have told the dispatcher that they witnessed the ice chest being thrown out of a moving vehicle.
The cooler was found on Tetakawi Boulevard, near the Buenos Aire neighborhood. Municipal police officers were dispatched to the area and they confirmed the report. They were soon joined on scene by soldiers from the National Guard and officers from the State Police.
The remains appeared to belong to two males, according to Tribuna. A later post by Sonora Informativo alleges it was actually 4 males.
The dark green ice cooler was accompanied by a narco message sign with a message scrawled on cardboard.
The message reads as follows, as translated by Sol Prendido:
This message is for the government. Don’t fucking get involved in this matter. If you do you will end up fucking yourself. The purge is about to begin.
This is for the State and Municipal government personnel. Don’t get involved or choose sides. Because you will end up dying.
The cartel group likely selected the date, time of day, and dump site location based on creating the maximum visibility to foreign tourists.
Now, the group doesn’t directly gain anything from scaring tourists, but the move leverages the government’s and local industry’s vested interest in maintaining foreign tourism.
Authorities from the three levels of government immediately responded to a report of a dead man, at the entrance to Guaymas. He was allegedly executed in a possible settling of scores between antagonistic criminal groups.
The State Police, Army, Navy and Municipal Police operations continue to patrol the area to preserve the tranquility of vacationers. The State Attorney General’s Office will release further information as the investigation progresses.
The Cartel Landscape of the Area
The most well known group in the San Carlos and Guaymas area is Caborca Cartel’s La Plaza. The group is led by Francisco Javier Espinoza Camacho, alias “El Picipi”. El Picipi’s head of hitmen and possible second-in-command is Antonio Castro Valenzuela, alias “El Castro”.
Two of their lieutenants, who go by the aliases “El Huracán” and “El Lobo” have been known to post videos interrogating rival cartel hitmen. The specific identities of El Huracán (The Hurricane) and El Lobo (The Wolf) have yet to be determined.
La Plaza allegedly reports under Caborca Cartel capos like Jose Gil Caro Quintero, alias “El Pelo Chino”, and the brothers Roy Antonio Soto Quintero, alias “Tony Navidad” and Juan Pablo Quintero Navidad, alias “El 25”.
El 25 is currently serving time in a federal penitentiary however in October 2022, it was reported that authorities were investigating the possibility of El 25 still giving out orders to his cartel group from inside prison. If you want to read more about Pelo Chino, Tony Navidad or El 25, please see this previous story or this previous story.
La Plaza’s control over the Guaymas area is contested by the Salazars crime family, who are associated with the Chapitos faction of the Sinaloa Cartel. Two of their major leaders in the southern part of Sonora are José Luis Yocupicio Castillo, alias “El Luisito” and Jesús Adahír Salazar del Villar, alias “El Azteca”.
Who Left the Message
The narco message, as far as we can see, is unsigned. So, who wrote it? The local cartel news Facebook group Sonora Informativo claims it was La Plaza, however they fail to cite their reason for believing this. Whether they have insider knowledge of the case or if they simply have a favored cartel group is unclear.
Now, the narco message left with the remains was a warning against getting involved meant for “the government”, likely referring to both police officers and soldiers in the area. It stands to reason that the author of the message belongs to whichever of the two groups (La Plaza or Los Salazars) has less influence over local government forces.
But which group is that? Well, for years La Plaza has claimed that Salazars bribe local Marines into acting as their ally, such as this July 2020 banner.
There were even accusations that a local Marine captain who became the new Guaymas police director in August 2019 was on Salazar payroll.
In December 2021, a banner accused the state’s Attorney General and a leader of a law enforcement task force of working for los Salazars.
That being said, in February 2022, a former congressman was abducted from Guaymas and said, while being interrogated, that he was working to aid La Plaza.
In June 2022, a banner was placed in nearby Empalme, Sonora, which accused specific units of the Marines, as well the Public Security Director, of carrying out executions on behalf of La Plaza.
In October 2022, Salazars claimed La Plaza figure El Castro was actively serving as a Marine, all while moonlighting as the second in command of the cartel group.
Sources: State Police Official Statement, Nacion 321, Expreso, Tribuna, Calvarie Locus, El Sol de Hermosillo, Radar Sonora, Whats Up San Carlos, Sonora Informativo, Alejandro Mneta, Frontera RC