“Morogris” for Borderland Beat
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| José Alberto García Vilano, alias La Kena, Ciclón 19, Cmdte or Comandante 19, was arrested near Monterrey, Nuevo León today |
Jose Alberto Garcia Vilano, also known as La Kena or Ciclon 19, the Gulf Cartel leader of the Matamoros faction, has been apprehended in a shopping center in San Pedro Garza Garcia, an upscale suburb in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon.
The apprehension took place as a collaborative effort between the Mexican Navy and operatives from the State Investigation Agency of the State of Nuevo León. Regarded as a priority target and “violence generator” in Tamaulipas, La Kena did not resist arrest.
He was arrested along with Jaime Humberto Escalante Soto, alias Escorpión 45, another high-ranking Gulf Cartel member.
Videos surfaced on social media, capturing the moment when La Kena was apprehended at Palacio de Hierro, the shopping center he was in. Authorities escorted him out while people inside the stores observed the event.
The Tamaulipas Attorney General’s Office had offered a bounty of MXN$2.5 million (approximately US$145,567) for information leading to the arrest of La Kena. This reward stood out as one of the highest bounties issued by the Mexican government during the presidency of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.
It has been disclosed that La Kena managed to mislead the authorities for several months by adopting a false name, Gilberto de la Rosa. The details regarding whether La Kena possessed an identification card under this name at the time of his arrest remain unclear.
The purpose of La Kena’s presence in Monterrey remains unclear. Investigators revealed that La Kena had been observed in the Monterrey area a few weeks before his arrest. However, he was typically protected by armed bodyguards. During his arrest, La Kena was accompanied by two or three individuals, but he lacked the usual security detail that regularly surrounded him in other locations.
Background
Following the kidnapping of four Americans in Matamoros on March 3, 2023, numerous news outlets published articles focusing on La Kena. These reports suggested that, among others, Kena played a significant role in the incident.
La Kena was thought to have served as the second-in-command and chief assistant to Jose Alfredo Cardenas Martinez, alias El Contador, during his tenure as the leader of the CDG Matamoros faction known as Los Escorpiones. It is believed that Kena was responsible for overseeing the faction’s daily operations under El Contador’s leadership.
In one of the songs depicting La Kena’s life, 5050 raps that he was born and raised in Matamoros and “started working with the cartel alongside El Señor of Doble T,” referring to Antonio Ezequiel Cárdenas Guillén (alias Tony Tormenta or TT), another member of the Cardenas Guillen family.
In September 2023, La Kena narrowly evaded arrest in Matamoros when security forces surrounded one of his homes in the Valle de los Reyes neighborhood. Taking advantage of the situation, he managed to divert authorities by orchestrating the departure of two vehicles from the premises, with La Kena himself in one of them. Subsequently, he switched to other vehicles, successfully eluding authorities and disappearing from their radar. The shootout that day resulted in the deaths of four cartel hitmen and one bystander injured, as reported by Borderland Beat.
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Sources: La Jornada; El Universal; El Financiero; TV Azteca; Excelsior; Silla Rota; Proceso; Milenio; ForoTV; Borderland Beat archives