Zonta Norte Tijuana boss 'El Mono' detained

Luis Rodriguez Toscano, longtime boss of retail sales in Zona Norte, was arrested last night for the third time in 30 months.  State Police, (PEP) made the arrest in colonia La Mesa.  Toscano, was traveling in a 2009 Nissan Murano, with a female passenger, Adelia Varella, 35 years old. 

Zona Norte is Tijuana's Red Light District, where locals and tourists travel for drugs, sex, and strip clubs, among other indulgences.  Many of the women are trafficked from southern Mexico, and forced to strip, prostitute themselves, while paying fees to organized crime.  Women come from San Diego to dance in bars like Hong Kong, men come to Adeltias, and Purple Rain, unknowingly or perhaps without care, supporting sex and human trafficking.  In a city where the elite dine in Baja/Med fusion restaurants, men and women sell crystal and themselves in Zona Norte.  Its the way of the city.  

Toscano has a longstanding feud with Los Litos, a rival retail drug operation in Zona Norte, and has survived assassination attempts, surviving through bloodiest times in Tijuana history.  Recent reports designate him as former CAF, but make no mention of his current loyalties.  Toscano, nearly identical to previous arrests was carrying a wrap of cocaine, a .38 caliber pistol, and chargers and ammunition for the weapon.  His brother were arrested in July of this year, Roberto Toscano, and Antonio Toscano, with weapons and drugs. 

He was first arrested in July 2012, on charges of organized crime, shortly after the arrest of 'El M4', Julio Salas, another longtime CAF operator.  He was quietly released sometime thereafter, and rearrested in October 2013, for firing a weapon in public.  Again, Toscano walked, and presumably has been continuing his enterprise in Zona Norte.  Although, based on recent events in Tijuana, and the facts of his arrest, it is debatable whether Toscano is still in a position of power, in relation to retail drug sales. 

Toscano is 37 years old, and a native of Manzanillo, Colima.  He has been involved with organized crime and Arellano Felix specifically for at least 5 years, and likely dating back to the mid 2000's.  Upper mid level guys like 'El Mono' often find themselves displaced, and while free, reduced to making drug sales and kidnappings, on their own, without the backing of more connected and powerful traffickers.  

They are free, but without alliances, usually are arrested and killed.  As the CAF continues to loose influence in the city, and chaos reins, as Sinaloa affiliated traffickers contest the plaza, many will not survive the latest rearranging of loyalties.  It's the ever continuing cycle of blood, crystal, and the dynamics of poverty and income inequality, which leaves a trail of corpses and arrests in it's wake.  'El Mono' and the valuable commodity of Zona Norte isn't going anywhere, not really. 

Sources: AFN Tijuana