The Mexican Navy’s Secretariat (Semar) in coordination with municipal police from Boca del Río, Veracruz, and elements of the Attorney General’s Office (FGR) seized an arsenal, linked to the nephew of drug trafficker Rafael Caro Quintero, founder of the Guadalajara cartel.
Personnel from the Third Naval Region, based in the Port of Veracruz, in coordination with authorities from the three levels of government, carried out the seizure that was the result of joint work and coordination between this Institution, the Attorney General’s Office (FGR) and the Municipal Police of Boca del Río, which resulted in a search warrant executed by the FGR.
With this, the Caborca cartel, led by José Gil Caro Quintero, suffered a hard blow to its criminal structure.
In total, 279 long weapons, 14,979 cartridges, 861 magazines and 79,698 kilograms of crystal were seized. The operation took place in a house in the Costa de Oro subdivision on June 25.
The rifles were hidden in a closet. They are assault weapons that have been rarely used. According to sources consulted, the seizure represents significant damage to the criminal apparatus of the Caborca cartel, a criminal group founded by drug trafficker Rafael Caro Quintero, who after his arrest in 2022, was succeeded by his nephew José Gil Caro Quintero.
According to federal information, to which MILENIO had access, the Caborca cartel’s center of operations in Veracruz is the municipality of Nautla —even— the municipal president Miguel Verjel Vázquez, along with six of his collaborators, were arrested on August 31, 2023 and released a month later, for alleged links to Gil Caro Quintero, after being caught in possession of an arsenal.
It should be noted that this institution, at the request of the corresponding authority, remains in charge of the custody of the property in question, once the competent authority carries out the expert tests, weighing and other corresponding procedures.
In this way, the Navy through the Mexican Navy contributes to the combined efforts to combat the illicit activities of organized crime, through coordinated actions of the three levels of government, with the aim of helping to maintain the internal security of the country.
Where does the Caborca cartel operate?
The Caborca cartel operates in Veracruz to be able to export drugs to Europe through the port, but it also has a presence in the states of Sonora, Chiapas, Oaxaca, Guerrero, Jalisco and Quintana Roo, in this last entity it has gained ground on its rivals: the Jalisco Nueva Generación and Sinaloa cartels.
In Bacalar, Quintana Roo, the Caborca cartel made its way under the cover of violence.
In the town of El Gallito, Bacalar, armed men, under the orders of nephew Caro Quintero, burned houses, ranches, sowing machinery, and shot several residents to death, causing the forced displacement of more than one hundred families; some residents stayed in their homes to confront the criminal group.
In October 2023, José Gil Caro Quintero, El pelo chino, was allegedly arrested by elements of the municipal police of Tulum and agents of the state prosecutor’s office of Quintana Roo.
But after apparently bribing the police, he was released, the incident was recorded by restaurant employees, however, the state prosecutor’s office denied that the person who appears in the images was a relative of the Sinaloa drug lord.
While in the south of the country, the Caborca cartel is trying to gain territory, in the north it faces a bloody war with Los Chapitos, of the Sinaloa cartel, for control of drug trafficking.
Source: milenio
