Mexican cartel leader captured
Man known to be ‘El Chapo’s’ right-hand man arrested in morning raid, officials say
MEXICO CITY— One of the Sinaloa cartel leaders who launched a struggle for control of the gang following the re-arrest of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman was captured Tuesday, Mexican prosecutors said.
The attorney general’s office said that soldiers and prosecution agents carried out a morning raid to capture a drug gang leader it called “Damaso N.”
Afederal official confirmed the suspect is Damaso Lopez, known by the nickname “El Licenciado” — a title for college graduates. Lopez was long considered Guzman’s right-hand man and helped him escape from a Mexican prison in 2001.
Lopez, 51, is believed to have been locked in a dispute with Guzman’s sons for control of the cartel’s territories. The head of Mexico’s federal detectives’ agency, Omar Garcia Harfuch, said Lopez was “one of the main instigators of violence in Sinaloa and the southern part of Baja California.”
The Baja California twin resorts in Los Cabos have been hit by a string of killings, apparently related to disputes between Lopez and other Sinaloa traffickers and the Jalisco New Generation cartel.
Garcia Harfuch also said Lopez was looking to ally himself with another cartel, and that his arrest diminished possibilities of forming that alliance. He did not name the other cartel, but the federal official confirmed that he was looking to ally with the Jalisco cartel, Mexico’s fastest-growing drug gang.
Soldiers in full battle gear guarded the entrance of an upscale apartment building on a major boulevard in Mexico City, not far from downtown, where Lopez was arrested.
The soldiers and police later escorted a man who appeared to be Lopez out of the building under heavy guard. Lopez would not be the first high-level drug suspect from outlying provinces captured in the capital. While Mexico City officials say drug cartels do not control territory in Mexico City, they acknowledge that drug lords have sometimes lived in the city and moved drug shipments through the capital.
The cartels apparently like upscale properties. One of Lopez’s alleged lieutenants was arrested Tuesday in Santa Fe, one of Mexico City’s most expensive neighbourhoods.
Garcia Harfuch said the lieutenant was Lopez’ financial and logistics coordinator and rented properties in Mexico City as hideouts for his boss.
Lopez was caught with methamphetamines, but apparently no guns. He faces organized crime charges in Mexico, as well as a provisional extradition request from the United States.