“Socalj” for Borderland Beat
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| Despite the fact that José Antonio Yépez Ortiz, alias El Marro, was arrested on August 2, 2020, the head of the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel continued to give orders from prison, according to military reports. |
Information derived from documents leaked from the Secretary of National Defense (Sedena) by the Guacamaya group revealed that El Marro continued to operate the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel. Through a document entitled Western Region Criminal Panorama dated December 2021, it was reported that El Marro remained in charge of the criminal group.
Since José Antonio Yépez is behind bars, he relied on his brother, Juan Rodolfo Yépez Ortiz, alias El Rudy, who was the operational coordinator of the criminal group. For her part, the sister of these two individuals, Karem Lizbeth Yépez Ortiz, would be in charge of finances.
On November 8, El Rudy was arrested, along with three other individuals in the municipality of Tecate, Baja California. El Marro’s brother was insured after reviews by authorities in which 60 thousand USD and 40 thousand 500 pesos were found because they could not prove the legal origin of the money.
On November 8, El Rudy was arrested, along with three other individuals in the municipality of Tecate, Baja California. El Marro’s brother was insured after reviews by authorities in which 60 thousand USD and 40 thousand 500 pesos were found because they could not prove the legal origin of the money.
The information about his death was shared during the morning conference of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador in the Zero Impunity section. On that occasion, Berdeja stated the following: (El Zermeño) “was part of the criminal organization Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel, whose head is José Antonio ‘N’, alias ‘El Marro’, and after having generated a break with this criminal organization he would have joined the Jalisco Cartel Nueva Generación, provoking various acts of violence and homicides”.
It should be noted that the alias Zermeño appeared in different drug messages from the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel, on one of the occasions hitmen who carried out a massacre at the Bar Lexuz in the municipality of Apaseo el Alto. The armed men arrived at the strip club and opened fire inside killing 9.
On another occasion, members of the CJNG attacked a property linked to the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel because allegedly wounded hitmen were being treated at San Fermín Clinic. The events occurred in Celaya, Guanajuato, on Tuesday, November 8. Municipal authorities received calls indicating the presence of armed men who entered the building around 10:00 in the morning.