Borderland Beat

After his arrest, Azul's son confirmed his father is deceased

Posted: 27 Aug 2014 12:09 AM PDT

Borderland Beat posted by Siskiyou_Kid

Juan José Esparragoza Jiménez, arrested last weekend by elements of the Ministry of the Navy, has pled not guilty of the charges of drug trafficking, and weapons charges against him before a federal judge, but said that his father, Juan José Esparragoza, el Azul, is dead, as was unofficially reported last June.

After his arrest, Esparragoza Jiménez gave his preparatory statement to the third district judge in matters of federal criminal processes in the State of Mexico, at headquarters in Toluca. He was arrested last Wednesday 20 in Culiacán, Sinaloa, although the apprehension was not known until Monday, the 25th. He is being detained in the Altiplano prison,

According to judicial sources, the detainee stated "deceased" in pertaining to his father, Juan José Esparragoza Moreno, one of the founders of the Sinaloa Cartel and who - according to the weekly Ríodoce, Culiacán-died after he was in a car accident.

Regarded as the "Godfather of Godfathers" for the relations he maintained with the authorities and other drug trafficking cartels, el Azul was a drug trafficking legend in Mexico. There are few known images of him, although in it's Edition 1963, June 15, Proceso magazine published photographs allegedly taken of the capo during the 2012 Christmas holidays.

With that alleged death and the arrest of Joaquín El Chapo Guzmán, the past February 22, also at the hands of the Navy, the Sinaloa Cartel will only be controlled by what remains of its founders, Ismael el Mayo Zambada.

Juan Ignacio Esparragoza Jiménez, eldest son of the el Azul and brother of the man arrested last, died in Guadalajara, four years ago, after having suffered an accident, falling from the top of a building, in Culiacán. He was interned at the Los Angeles hospital and despite the efforts of medical specialists over several weeks, they failed to save him.

Juan José Esparragoza Jiménez, el Cora, is the youngest son of el Azul, from his second marriage. He was arrested along with another person in a raid carried out by Marines in the Interlomas neighborhood, to the northeast of the capital of Sinaloa.

The Navy handed surrendered custody to the Federal District [DF] to the Attorney General of the Republic, which reported it Sunday 24 within the criminal case 65/2014. It accuses him as probable responsibility for crimes against health, in the form of methamphetamine production and possession for the purpose of trade in methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana.

According to the a bulletin issued by the federal government [Segob] José Juan Esparragoza Jiménez and Joel Vázquez Valdenegro were arrested with two bags with 27 and 47 grams of green grass, with the features of marijuana; a package with 369 grams of white powder, apparently cocaine; a rifle, a handgun and 75 useful cartridges, as well as 26 pounds and 50,000 ml of what appears to be methamphetamine, and 2,746,000 pesos in cash.

Elements of the army dismantled five methamphetamine laboratories allegedly run by José Juan Esparragoza Jiménez, operating in the states of Sinaloa and Durango. According to military information, one of the laboratories was secured in the vicinity of the town of Tamazula, Durango, with 1.5 hectares (15,000 sq meters) with features of a factory.

The Tamzula property had different areas, among them buildings for staging of chemicals, a mixing area, processing , finish and packaging, as well as a dormitory.

The military operations were carried out a few days after the arrest of the alleged son of Juan José Esparragoza Moreno, el Azul.

In addition to denying the charges, the detainees asked duplicity of the constitutional deadline for the judge handed down for automatic freedom or detention. The deadline expires next Saturday, the 30th of August at 11:20. [click image below to enlarge]

Sources: RioDoce-Proceso

Just like Dubai: Mercedes Benz patrol cars in Apatzingan

Posted: 26 Aug 2014 07:25 PM PDT

El Diario de Coahuila (8-26-2014)

Translated by un vato for Borderland Beat

Thanks to Pepe for the photos...
Just so we know we're getting into the big leagues, the former mayor of Tepalcatepec, Guillermo Valencia, gave us a glimpse of the police patrol units that are circulating around in his home town; Mercedes Benz models, no less.

Hearing rumors about the transportation that Fuerza Rural [Castillo's rural police] police are using in Apatzingan, the incredulous Valencia asked social network users to send him photographs as proof... and seeing such marvelous images, the deposed mayor could only think to compare the Michoacan city with Dubai... and how can you avoid the comparison, when it's only in those countries, where it seems that money flows - in some places--, that they have the luxury of using sports cars for public safety.

"It's one of the richest and most modern cities cities in the world. Proof of that is that its police force has a fleet of patrol vehicles that includes Lamborghini sports cars... In Apatzingan, Michoacan, they don't hold back, and the new Rural Police Forces also have them, but they use Mercedes Benz sports cars," Valencia said with irony.

But in the Michoacan municipality, they do things backwards; before transforming their city into a business focal point, they first create the appearance, and the new patrol vehicles are a sign of the growth that the region will have. They even give hope to those families that live in poverty, the former mayor points out.

But, well, not everything is luxury. While the Fuerza Rural drives all terrain BMW X5s, worth approximately one million pesos ($77,000.00), members of the new National Gendarmerie have to make do with Jeeps that cost about 450,000 pesos (approx. $35,000.00)

"The new police forces created by Commissioner Alfredo Castillo seem to be at the Viceroy's level of opulence, who, as a government official, earns more than the President of the Republic, since he (Castillo) receives a monthly salary of $194,000. plus benefits. This police force surpasses the privileged police forces of economic and petroleum superpowers like the police from the Arab Emirate of Dubai. I wonder if President Pena Nieto knows that his envoy's police force has more privileges than the federal government's new security force?" asks Valencia.

It's well and good that the authorities should be well equipped... but that well? And should they give themselves those luxuries?