Los Erres leaders arrested
Less then two weeks after the arrest of Issac Chavez Alhiu Cabera, 'El Puma', second in command of Los Erres/Los Pelones a distribution/trafficking and enforcement cell, the third in command in Tijuana has been detained. Mario Alberto 'El Chichi' Gonzalez was detained by the PEP in Zona Centro on Sunday in Tijuana, Chichi had a warrant against him for crimes against health. Chichi is accused of executions related to drug distribution of rivals, and kidnapping.
Authorities allege he was responsible for the distribution of crystal in colonias in Tijuana, including Zona Norte and Zona Centro, highly contested territory in recent months, between groups of Aquiles, El Gross, the remaining family and cell of 'El Mono'. Los Pelones/Los Erres were birthed in the Teo and Inge days of 2008, and originally trafficked in Mexicali, after many were arrested and imprisoned for various organized crime offenses, the group fell from power. Their benefactor and alleged director, Jose Soto Gastelum 'El Tigre', an upper level Sinaloa cell leader in the area, is said to have gotten many of them released, in 2013 through bribes and lawyers, to reunite the cell, under the Los Erres banner. Their leader was killed in Mexicali in 2013, Adrian Beltran Cabera, R-4, and assuming command was his younger brother Javier Beltran Cabera, El Javi, and the already arrested 'El Puma'.
'El Puma' is said to have been responsible for the attempted murder of Jhared Carlos Rodriguez, in a popular Tijuana restaurant in June 2014. The PEP claims they have mostly dismantled Los Erres, only their leader, and his boss remain free. El Tigre is also accused of having in his group a man whom Border Patrol officials claim threw a rock at an agent, with intent to kill or harm, while being pursued, leading immigrants across the border.
Tigre, after being placed on the DEA's most wanted list 2 years ago, has evaded the kind of press and indictments that have ensnared Aquiles, and his brother, who both face federal trafficking charges in San Diego County, and are said to be under pressure in Tijuana, to maintain control of their operations. Aquiles and La Rana continue to direct their people in the bloody struggle for control of the retail market, their newest rival is Arturo Herrera, "El Gross', a former Aquiles loyalist, who is said to have switched teams, and is now working with CJNG, though this is unconfirmed.
As one group may fall from power, another rises, complicating the already blurry and bloody Tijuana plaza.
Sources: AFN Tijuana