CJNG operative detained in Tijuana
For months rumors and banners have announced, implied, threatened, that the CJNG was in, or coming to Tijuana. These rumors had many versions, some claimed longer then a year ago, that the Arellano Felix remnants, left adrift after Inge's 2014 arrest, had many an agreement with Jalisco to traffic in Tijuana, and fight the Sinaloa cells.
These arrangements were said to be made when old members of Arellano Felix met Jalisco reps in prisons in Guadalajara state. Another 'El Gordo', Manuel Garibay, also known as 'El Manuelon' who was aligned with CAF, after his release from prison was said to have Jalisco contacts, and was later murdered in that state.
Garibay was one of the biggest traffickers in Mexicali, with Los Garibays, his families organization. He served time in Puente Grande, where he hooked up with CJNG, and people of Inge. When he was released he was said to be working with both groups.
Garibay was one of the biggest traffickers in Mexicali, with Los Garibays, his families organization. He served time in Puente Grande, where he hooked up with CJNG, and people of Inge. When he was released he was said to be working with both groups.
Other versions claim it was El Atlante, the former overweight cell leader, who, made an alliance with Jalisco. Maybe it was all of them. Now, banners and corridos have claimed CJNG is in alliance with CTNG, led by El Grosero, El JP, and Jose Soto 'El Tigre' Gastelum, former El Teo via Arellano Felix, via Inge loyalist, who was known to previously work with Sinaloa.
The first Jalisco member officially detained in Tijuana may be 'El Gordo', a hunched over, heavyset man, with an ill fitting long shirt, detained with several assault rifles in the Otay Mesa area, near the Friendship Park. His name is Esteban Ramirez Gonzalez, 44, native of Guadalajara.
He was in a 1999 Jeep Cherokee, and has confessed to being in Tijuana to smuggle weapons, assumedly coming from San Diego, and possibly to arm and support cells in Tijuana, under CTNG. The State Preventive Police, (PEP) are responsible for the arrest, what isn't clear is why he was arrested.
Gordo may be the first of many, if some of the banners and gossip are to be believed, as CJNG may send up cells to traffic and possibly fight for the plaza, if Aquiles and his people don't decide to quietly leave the plaza, which is incredibly unlikely. Gordo is likely, given his proximity to the weapons is just another runner, a proxy, a coordinator and facilitator of arms coming south.
Elements of Los Caballeros also smuggled weapons through San Ysidro, and trafficked crystal north, and their people were never violent in the city of Tijuana, they paid plaza to whom they had to, when it was needed.
Is this a calm before a storm, the beginning of an era, or another quiet arrest that will fade away, perhaps beginning with his release in a few weeks? It's difficult to tell, in an increasingly crowded and violent plaza.
Sources: AFN Tijuana