The Mexican authorities reported that they arrested Jesús Aurelio Ibarra Ramiro, alias “El Comandante Aurelio”, the alleged head of the Sinaloa Cartel plaza and the group known as “Los Chapitos”.
Although his capture was not reported until this Tuesday, his arrest occurred on Monday at 4:50 p.m. local time, according to the National Registry of Detentions.
The man known as “El Comandante Aurelio” was detained in a safe house in the La Botella neighborhood of the city of Sonoyta, in the northern state of Sonora, on the border with Arizona, United States.
Agents from the State Public Security Directorate transferred Ibarra Ramiro to the facilities of the Attorney General’s Office (FGR) in the municipality of Plutarco Elías Calles, in the middle of a security operation to prevent his accomplices from trying to rescue him.
“El Comandante” is accused of being one of the leaders of “Los Chapitos”, a faction led by the sons of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, former boss of the Sinaloa Cartel.
“Los Chapitos” are among the most wanted criminals in the United States, which in April announced charges against four of Guzmán’s children for trafficking fentanyl.
Aurelio Ibarra is one of the presumed operators of the most important cartel in the state of Sonora and is considered one of the main generators of violence in the area.
The capture comes as pressure mounts from Washington against Mexican drug cartels that traffic fentanyl, a synthetic drug that the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) maintains is made in Mexico from chemical precursors from Asia.
In the region of the Upper Gulf of California, where it operated, organized crime groups are dedicated, in addition to trafficking drugs, weapons and undocumented migrants, to the illegal trade in marine species such as the totoaba crop and the cannonball jellyfish, whose fishing began this Tuesday.
This last species is considered the new business of criminal groups in the region, who seek to control their fish market to take charge of the transfer of the species to Korea, Singapore, Japan, Vietnam and China, where there is a high demand for jellyfish for human consumption, the pharmaceutical and cosmetology industry.
In the last fishing season, between 80,000 and 100,000 tons of jellyfish were exported from the northwestern region of Mexico to Asian markets.
Keep reading:
· Who are the “Chapitos” and why the DEA offers $10 million dollars for them
· The US accuses four sons of “Chapo” Guzmán in the largest operation against fentanyl trafficking in the world
· Ovidio Guzmán, son of “El Chapo”, is arrested, Mexican authorities confirm