Tijuano for Borderland Beat
Benjamin Arellano Felix.
The body of a man identified as Roberto Navarro Vazquez, 45, was found inside a vehicle in the Tijuana neighborhood of Lomas de Aguacaliente.
Police sources confirmed that the body was found yesterday at about 8:00 am in the exclusive residential zone. Neighbors claimed they heard gun shots and called the local police and firemen, they thought the hit man tried to burn the victim´s car.
Roberto Navarro´s car after the execution.
A police operation was conducted in the area, several corporations were part of it, even the State Preventive Police (Policia Estatal Preventiva, PEP) helicopter was used, but no suspects were arrested.
Navarro Vazquez´s body remained in the driver´s seat, inside his Chevy Trail Blazer. The unit had signs of smoke in the left quarter panel, at first neighbors thought that the hit men tried to burn the unit, but police reports indicate that this wasn´t the case.
The official report indicates that the victim was a lawyer and that he was executed with a 9mm hand gun, apparently he was “hunted” by his killers, who waited outside his house the whole night until he stepped out and got into his car. Then, a man driving a Buick Le Sabre, caught up with him and made him slow down to “say hello”, then shot him several times.
Witness reports Navarro was shot several times, one of the shots hit on his head, this made him loose control of the vehicle and hit a wall. His foot was still on the accelerator so the car´s left tire keep rotating, this caused smoke the smoke that prompted neighbors to believe someone tried to burn the vehicle. Police found 5 shell casings, and according to the State Attorney General Office, the weapon hasn´t been used in previous crimes.
Soon after the murder, the victim´s brother (an active officer in the State Preventive Police) arrived at the scene and identified the body.
Roberto Santiago Navarro Vazquez, was the former defense attorney for Benjamin Arellano Felix, Tijuana´s cartel former boss.
Julio Cesar Salas Quiñones, aka "M4"
Unofficial reports given to Agencia Fronteriza de Noticias(Border News Agency) indicate he also worked in several “Organized crime” cases, mainly those of members of the Tijuana cartel. Navarro worked as defense attorney for several years, his clients were mostly members of the Tijuana cartel. Recently he was in charge of the defense of Julio Cesar Salas Quiñones, aka “El M4”. Some sources told AFN that Navarro recently asked for the records of Teodoro Garcia Simental, aka “El Teo” a former Tijuana cartel member who collaborated with enemies of the Arellano Felix brothers.
El Mayo´s nephew is killed in Tijuana
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Two men were executed last Saturday inside an apartment room in Tijuana, a third man was also shot and identified as a prison guard working for the State Preventive Police. Two members of the Mexican Army were presented as witnesses.
At about 11:00 pm, the local police responded to a gunshots report in the area. When they arrived at the scene they found two corpses with gunshot wounds in the head, the victims were believed to be State Preventive Police agents, but the corporation denied it, and claimed only the wounded man was a prison guard working for the State Security Council.
The execution was conducted with 9mm handguns and took place in the Astiazaran street, belonging to the Jardines del Rubi neighborhood.
At the moment nobody knew the identities of the dead men, but one of the victims was later identified as Jose Angel Luna Garcia, 22, nephew of Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada Garcia. The other victim was a US citizen by the name of Joseph Flores, 25, who apparently worked as a car salesman in California and was Luna Garcia´s roommate. Neither Luna Garcia, nor Flores had criminal records in Baja California.
Jose Angel Luna Garcia was born in Culiacan and -according to witnesses- worked in a paper supply store in Tijuana. His body was buried in Culiacan, Sinaloa.
Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada Garcia.
This isn´t the first time that relatives of “El Mayo” have problems in Tijuana, María Isabel Gutiérrez Zambada, identified as Zambada´s niece, was kidnapped in 2010 by a group of criminals believed to be under the orders of Juan Francisco Sillas Rocha, a former CAF lieutenant. In April. 2012, two nephews of Zambada Garcia were arrested by the local police with help of the Mexican Army.
Sources used for this stories: