“Char” for Borderland Beat
By: Ángel Hernández
It is not known if he was arrested or if he voluntarily turned himself in to avoid a head-on battle with one of the world’s most powerful cartels.
Elpidio Mojarro Ramirez is a name that members of the Jalisco Cartel – New Generation (CJNG) will never forget. A sworn enemy of Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, El Mencho, El Pilo, as Mojarro Ramirez was known, had disappeared from the Mexican criminal landscape until he reappeared in a US court to testify against one of the criminal organization’s financial operators: Gerardo Gonzalez Valencia.
Along with Oscar Nava Valencia, El Lobo, a former leader of the Milenio Cartel, and Jose Maria Guizar Valencia, a former Zetas operator, El Pilo helped US prosecutors request that Gerardo Gonzalez Valencia remain in prison until he dies. And he could also be part of the package of witnesses and evidence that US authorities have against all members of the CJNG, including the organization’s famed leader, El Mencho.
El Pilo came close to heading the criminal organization that succeeded the Milenio Cartel after the death of Ignacio Nacho Coronel, which split the organization into two factions: Los Torcidos, led by Erick Valencia Salazar, which eventually became the CJNG, and La Resistencia, with Ramiro Pozos Gonzalez, El Molca, at the head. There are no photographs or records of El Pilo’s criminal operations, other than an arrest in the United States for cocaine trafficking, for which he served a sentence, and the stories that other drug traffickers have told about him.
After El Molca’s arrest in September 2012, El Pilo was left in charge of La Resistencia. States such as Jalisco, Colima and Nayarit had already become a war zone as a result of the fighting between the two factions. Los Torcidos, backed by the Sinaloa Cartel, and La Resistencia with the support of Los Zetas and La Familia Michoacana.
According to El Pilo, Lalo or Flaco, as Gerardo Gonzalez was known, in addition to running a “well-financed and extensive cocaine distribution operation responsible for transporting tons of cocaine from South America to Central America and Mexico for importation into the United States and Europe” along with his brothers Abigael and Jose Gonzalez Valencia, he led a bloody battle against rival cartels, primarily Los Zetas.
“Although Abigael and Jose held leadership positions as well, Mojarro Ramirez explained that the brothers of the defendant (Gerardo) repeatedly asked for the defendant’s permission or approval before making decisions related to their cocaine trafficking operation.”
He further confirmed that Gerardo was behind the murder of Antonio Guízar Valencia in connection with the theft of a cocaine shipment belonging to Los Cuinis. To this end, Gerardo coordinated with Óscar Nava Valencia, El Lobo, so that on January 22, 2005, a group of hitmen would travel to Antonio Guízar’s ranch in Ostuacán, Chiapas, and execute him along with six other people.
Elpidio Mojarro, who was then an accountant for the Milenio Cartel, was in charge of getting the money to pay the hitmen. According to Mojarro Ramirez, Lalo also ordered the murder of his brother-in-law, Domingo Mendoza Sandoval, a collaborator of Los Cuinis who received the cocaine that was sent to Europe.
El Pilo said that Mendoza Sandoval himself asked him for help, as Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes himself tried to assassinate him on one of his ranches, but he hid and his brother and three of his workers were killed. Eventually, Domingo Mendoza was found and executed.
Elpidio Mojarro is in the United States, but it is not known in what capacity, other than as a cooperating witness. It is not known if he was arrested or if he turned himself in voluntarily to avoid a head-on battle with one of the most powerful cartels in the world.