Lieutenant de 'El Gross' attacked
Early Saturday morning in Colonia Indepencia, an alleged lieutenant or second in command of Arturo Herrera Gomez, aka 'El Gross' was gunned down, though he survived. El Gross represents CJNG in Tijuana, and Sanchez Tadoaba, as his main area of influence, his profile has raised significantly in the last year, as feuds between him and Sinaloa cells bloody the streets of Sanchez Tadoaba, and other areas.
Last month, three dismembered bodies were tossed in the street, initial reports claimed they were Arturo Herrera and his three closest lieutenants, though, these reports proved to be inaccurate. He was mentioned in the narco message, which hung from a bridge, below the disarticulated bodies. The message was from 'El Griego', a Sinaloa retail cell leader who has been warring with Gross for at least a year. Griego is aligned with Aquiles, considered the main rival of El Gross, and El JP, as they both worked for him, or on his behalf in earlier years.
There is little information on the attack of Marcos Eduardo Medina Rodriguez, 'El Loony', though he has a prior arrest in October 2015 for possession of a weapon, and retail drug sales, in Zona Central. He was also arrested in May of 2015 for the same offenses. It is reported he is seriously injured. If he recovers, it is unlikely, or at least unknown if he will face charges, on any outstanding warrants.
There is also little in available documents indicating he was a ranking member of Gross' crew. In the past, low level retail arrests would indicate he was not a person with a serious position, but now, it's common place for leaders and their council to be former retail drug dealers, barely removed from the globos and tienditas.
As their profiles slide into larger focus, expect more arrests and killings from the circle of Gross, though he is said to be operating from a state in the interior of Mexico, giving orders through cell phone and radio communications, as is standard procedure. Gross and his crew are all former retail drug dealers who came up under Teo, Aquiles, and Atlante, the new generation of Tijuana traffickers, known for their brutality, and decadence, in the form of partying, clubs, and corridos.
Sources: AFN Tijuana