Ranking Los Aquiles lieutenant detained
In the midst of a lull in the civil wars and conquests for Tijuana, a figure close to the premier Sinaloa distributors in Tijuana was arrested. His name has been mentioned in the previous months as being a top level lieutenant and enforcer, along with the elusive 'Alexy', Raul Miranda Ortiz, another enforcer who has pushed the Los Aquiles agenda in Tijuana for years, through killings and kidnappings.
Earlier this week saw a spasm of controlled violence in various areas in the city, 4 shootings and killings in the same 24 hour period, and a body dropped off the day after, prior to that, there had been a familiar tense calm to the violence. Two members of the CAF, or displaced traffickers were quietly murdered at taco stands, and in the their neighborhoods, but no banners, or bloody announcements were seen.
In the wake of the ton seizure of cocaine from an unnamed group, there was no violence, no banners, not a word. The presence of the CJNG grows from whispers and rumors to news articles and references by DEA in San Diego, they haven't full revealed themselves, but their immersion into Tijuana seems to be more realized by the week. La Rana and Aquiles are said to have long fled Tijuana, some reports indicate they operate in Mazatlan, from the comfort of the breezy, gorgeous Pacific coast city, and it's dozens of resorts and condos. 'El Secre', who may bring La Rana and Aquiles one step closer to arrest, and extradition to San Diego on federal trafficking charges, was arrested near Rosarito, by Los Pepos (State Preventative Police) He was alone, driving a 2007 Mercedes Benz with no plates, and was pulled over, in possession of an AR-15 and 900 grams of crystal meth. The drug which has flowed through Tijuana, enriching few, but devastating many. It's price has dropped to around 250 an ounce in San Diego, and a purity level of 95% plus.
Jose Luis Martinez Hernandez, 'El Secre', is 33 years old, and began work as a thief in Zona Norte, in 2009, before being recruited into the organization of Luis Manuel Toscano, killed last year in La Mesa. The Colima native, Toscano, ran Zona Norte with his brothers, cousins, and immediate family, on behalf of CAF, until his death in 2015, after numerous arrests and releases. After the killing of Manuel Toscanco, and the arrest of 'El Jackal', a cousin of Toscano and Zona Norte/CAF loyalist, he flipped to Los Aquiles. He was in charge of collecting debts owed to Los Aquiles, likely for piso, and the sale of meth, to the retailers in the colonias.
The cards are being shuffled, constantly, re aligning, re organizing, retreating and regrouping.....What will the next 6 months hold for the faces and names of the Tijuana plaza.....
Sources: AFN Tijuana