Cartel member who oversaw security for El Chapo's sons is killed in shootout with Mexican military
A high-ranking leader Sinaloa Cartel leader who was responsible for the security detail of Joaquín ' El Chapo ' Guzmán's sons was killed in a gun battle with the Mexican military.
Jorge 'El Perris' Figueroa was shot dead Friday during a raid at a home in Novolato, a city in the western state of Sinaloa, public safety secretary Omar Garcia Harfuch revealed in an X post.
Garcia Harfuch said that a unit of Army soldiers were on the scene to arrest Figueroa when they were greeted with gunfire.
Video footage recorded by residents showed military helicopters flying over the area and a soldier lying on the ground and firing at a target.
A photo leaked on social media showed Figueroa's lifeless body covered in blood and lying on top of a bed in his home.
A member of Figueroa's team, José 'El Chema' Pérez, was also killed the shootout.
Renown crime journalist Carlos Jímenez reported that Pérez had been removed from the Mexico City police after he was photographed in January 2021 meeting with Vicente Rodríguez, who at the time was one of the capital's most wanted drug traffickers.
Figueroa was described as 'one of the main generators of violence' in the state of Sinaloa was accused of leading the cartel's war-like response in the Sinaloa town of Culiacán against the military and police following the arrest of El Chapo's son, Ovidio Guzmán, in October 2019.
The daylight assault left 13 people dead before then- President Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador greenlighted Ovidio's release despite an extradition request from the United States.
Figueroa was wanted by the United States government, which was offering a $1 million reward for information leading to his arrest and/or conviction.
According to the Department of Justice, Figueroa was allegedly in charge of setting up the security details for 'Los Chapitos,' a faction of the Sinaloa Cartel led by El Chapo's fugitive sons, Ivan Guzmán and Jesús Guzmán.
Figueroa shared cartel security duties with Nestor 'El Nini' Pérez - who was arrested and extradited to the U.S. on May 25, 2024 - and also oversaw his security and was in charge of coordinating Pérez's fentanyl business.
Figueroa and other Sinaloa Cartel members were indicted by a federal grand jury in the Southern District of New York in April 2023.
They were charged with conspiracy to import and traffic fentanyl, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, continuing criminal enterprise and money laundering.
Figueroa's death comes three weeks after Ovidio's mother and El Chapo's former wife, his sister and brother-in-law and 14 other family members allegedly presented themselves to federal agents at the San Ysidro Port of Entry.
The meeting took place three days after Ovidio entered a change of plea in an Illinois federal court.
Video footage showed multiple adults and children holding their luggage as they allegedly met with the FBI - which would be the latest sign that the jailed notorious drug lord's son has flipped on the transnational drug trafficking organization.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
How feared drug cartels including Sinaloa and MS-13 are now operating INSIDE Europe with gangsters setting up meth labs in soft-touch EU to avoid growing US pressure in Latin America
France 's Minister of Justice courted controversy last month when he declared that no corner of the country was safe from the scourge of drug dealing. Speaking to French podcast LEGEND, Gérald Darmanin said even the 'smallest rural town' in France is now blighted by the illicit drugs trade. 'Drugs have always existed, but today we can clearly see that in the smallest rural town, they know about cocaine, cannabis. 'Beforehand, drugs were simply in big towns [and cities] or the metro... it has become widespread, metastasised,' he added. Many dismissed the statement, in which he went on to rail against escalating violence and call for law enforcement crackdowns, as little more than political rhetoric laying the groundwork for a widely anticipated presidential campaign ahead of 2027. Two weeks later, authorities announced the bust of a luxury villa-turned methamphetamine manufacturing facility in the sleepy countryside commune of Le Val in southeastern France. Suddenly, Darmanin's warning didn't seem so alarmist. The secret lab was later found to be the first confirmed operation of Mexico's infamous Sinaloa cartel on French soil, raising fears that one of the world's biggest and most dangerous criminal organisations is looking to expand its operations into Europe. Police claimed the lab was set up by a group of Mexicans in 2023 who arrived in France and began renting the villa. It transpired they had been commissioned by the cartel to build a meth production facility, recruit and train people in France to run it, before moving elsewhere. That terrifying discovery came less than three months after Spanish police arrested 27 members of MS-13 - the Los Angeles-based gang formed by immigrants from El Salvador - that US President Donald Trump has designated a terrorist organisation. MS-13 representatives were reportedly seeking to rapidly expand their operations in Spain and had planned to carry out a contract killing. The shocking busts validate a 2022 report in which Europol claimed that its intelligence suggested Mexican cartels were dramatically scaling up their operations in Europe amid an increase in seizures of cocaine and methamphetamines. Europe's illicit drug market is now booming, worth at least €31 billion (£26 billion) according to a 2024 report by the European Union Drugs Agency (EUDA). Cocaine is the second most commonly used illicit drug in the EU behind cannabis and the second largest illicit drug market by revenue generated, accounting for roughly one third of revenues. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) figures suggest that the UK & Ireland, the Netherlands and Spain rank in the top five countries across Europe where cocaine use is most prevalent, with France, Italy and Spain also topping the charts for cannabis consumption. The majority of narcotics bought and sold in Europe, particularly cocaine, originates from Latin America, primarily Colombia, Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia. Cartels in these countries, as well as the likes of Brazil's PCC criminal organisation, leverage their formidable network of contacts with criminal enterprises and crime families across Africa and Europe to ensure their product makes it to consumers in the UK and on the continent. Some of the most notorious European groups involved in the trafficking include Italy's 'Ndragheta and Camorra crime families, Grupa Amerika and the Tito and Dino cartel in the Balkans, and the Kinahan clan and ' The Family ' in Ireland, and the Dutch-Moroccan 'Mocro Maffia'. Despite Mexico's reputation as a hub for some of the world's most feared and well-established drug trafficking operations, cartels here have traditionally favoured the US market over Europe. Their proximity and penetration into the American market meant Mexican cartels have long 'taken charge of the buying, trafficking and sale (of cocaine and other narcotics) in the United States', according to Rafael Guarin, a former presidential security adviser in Colombia. But the return of Donald Trump to the White House has seen a raft of measures designed to target cartel activity and limit the flow of fentanyl, among other drugs, across the border. Trump has pressured Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum into getting serious on tackling the cartel's outsized influence in her nation, offering to lend US military aid and increase intelligence sharing between Mexican authorities and American security services. This, coupled with the higher street value of cocaine and other drugs in Europe versus North America, may be forcing the likes of the Sinaloa cartel, MS-13 and their rivals to make efforts to diversify. Investigators inspect packages in a container in the port of Antwerp Federal agents seize submarine off Puerto Rico's Caribbean Sea coast carrying a record 2,500 kilos of cocaine Though the Sinaloa cartel will face the challenge of establishing its own criminal network in Europe if it hopes to muscle in on the continental market, the methods of transporting huge quantities of drugs across the Atlantic are already tried and tested. Hundreds of tonnes of narcotics enter Europe every year via gigantic shipping containers. Corrupt officials and cartel plants in place at both departure and receiving ports hide the drugs inside the containers and retrieve them at the other end. In the departure port, dock workers identify a container going to a port of interest, break into it, and stash the drugs among legitimate goods before sending its ID number to workers at the other end. At the receiving port, dockers make sure the dirty container is put in a specific spot where it is easy to access so it can be opened once again, the drugs removed and smuggled out of the port, and any security tags replaced with forgeries before it passes customs. Where smugglers cannot persuade the dockers to aid them, they sometimes send an empty container into the port with some of their men inside, who then break out and retrieve the stash in a method known as Trojan Horse. The Netherlands and Belgium have long served as the primary entry points for drug traffickers shuttling cocaine into Europe, particularly via port cities like Rotterdam and Antwerp. The latter last year topped the list of European cities where cocaine consumption is at its most voracious, with a March 2024 report by EUDA and SCORE group - a Europe-wide sewage analysis network - finding that 1,721 milligrams of cocaine were detected per 1,000 people per day in the port city. The Spanish region of Galicia is also renowned as one of the key gateways for drugs into Europe. Its ports were among the first to receive regular shipments from South American cartels as early as the 1970s and 1980s. More recently, cartels and criminal organisations have turned to yet more complex methods to ensure their product makes it into the hands of gleeful Europeans. To avoid seizures at ports, cargo ships are sometimes approached at sea by cartel fast boats. Either with money or force, the crew are persuaded to take the drugs on board before continuing their journey across the ocean. Before they reach land on the other end, more fast boats are dispatched to retrieve the drugs, meaning the cargo ship enters port as clean as when it departed. The cartels are so well funded that some have their own submarines designed to carry the maximum amount of weight possible while being operated by a crew of just three. Authorities estimate that each vessel costs around $1million (£750,000) to make and are painted sea blue, meaning they can leak just beneath the waves and surface under cover of night for their crew to emerge. 'Narco submarines are being built in rivers and mangroves. That's why, for example, the Amazon river in Brazil, is perfect. As soon as you open Google Maps, you realise it's a labyrinth of islets and mangroves and tributaries', Javier Romero, a local journalist, told the Wall Street Journal. 'You can hide a shipyard, then you can build it, put it into the water, and with the cover of darkness you launch it into the night.' Once the product arrives on the eastern side of the Atlantic, drug cartels and their European associates take advantage of vulnerable child migrants, using them as foot soldiers and mules to distribute their haul. Younger migrants, particularly those unaccompanied by older family members, are seen as ideal targets for recruitment. These children and young adults are typically in a precarious position - often with no means to support themselves and no legal status - and are therefore desperate for cash while their anonymity and perceived innocence make them less susceptible to detection by law enforcement. North African children, particularly Moroccans and Algerians, are thought to be those most at risk, with a recent EU police force investigation cited by the Guardian declaring: 'Sweden, Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain and France presented several concrete cases of the exploitation of hundreds of north African minors, recruited by drug trafficking networks to sell narcotics.' European police sources said the use of child drug mules was being conducted 'on an industrial scale'.
Daily Mail
4 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Truth over Nick Diaz's 'kidnapping' revealed as coach addresses claims UFC legend was drugged, flown to Mexico
Panicked UFC fans need not worry about Nick Diaz's reported kidnapping, drugging and involuntary commitment to a Mexican rehab facility: The 41-year-old MMA legend is just fine, according to his long-time coach. Cesar Gracie, who trained both Nick and his famous brother Nate during their UFC days, put a stop to the rumor mill on Instagram, where he posted a picture of the Stockton, California native putting in some work on the mat. 'Nick is healthy and well,' Gracie, a member of Brazilian jiu-jitsu's first family, wrote on Instagram alongside a photo of what looked like Diaz. 'Not cloned or kidnapped. Has not joined MS-13.' Fans had grown worried about the older Diaz brother after an Instagram user reported the bizarre claims days earlier. 'Nick has been forcibly taken by his cousin and transported across the border into Mexico, where he is confined in a rehabilitation facility against his will,' the since-deleted message began. 'He was drugged during this process and has made numerous attempts to escape, but the authorities consistently return him to the facility.' The unidentified Instagram user claimed Diaz's communication was 'severely restricted,' with all messages being relayed through someone named Ruben. Diaz hoped to return home to California, the user said, and wanted to know who had the power to keep him locked up at a drug rehab facility in Mexico. Nate Diaz poses with his brother Nick after his submission victory over Tony Ferguson in a welterweight fight during the UFC 279 event at T-Mobile Arena on September 10, 2022 As for the true identity of that Instagram user, that remains a bit of a mystery. The account features pictures of a woman alongside Diaz, who the user described as their 'love' in at least one post. But while this person may seem like Diaz's romantic interest, Gracie shot down that notion by writing that Diaz does 'not have a girlfriend but is probably looking.' Daily Mail has reached out to the person for comment. Further confusing the matter has been Diaz's own silence. This is just the latest bizarre story involving the older Diaz brother. In November, he took criticism from fans for selling personalized online messages through a company called Cameo, only for many to receive blank videos with static noise. 'A real scam, they sent me a three-second video with a black screen,' read a September 20 review. 'I spent 229 dollars on a three-second video with a black screen. Please, let no one else fall for this scam.' Diaz joined the platform in March 2022. While 54 percent of his reviews gave him five stars, 39 percent of his clients gave him the worst rating while 7 percent gave him two stars. In September 2015, Diaz was infamously handed a five-year ban from MMA after his post-fight drug test from UFC 138 came back with traces of marijuana metabolites. The Nevada State Athletic Commission also fined him $165,00 following a failed drug test from UFC 138. While Diaz lost to Anderson Silva at UFC 183, the result was later overturned after Silva's pre-fight drug test showed traces for drostanolone, which is an anabolic steroid. Following his appeal, the suspension and fine were reduced to 18 months and $100,000 in January 2016. However, Diaz would not fight again until 2021, losing to Robbie Lawler at UFC 266. Diaz holds a 26-10 MMA record with 13 knockouts and eight submissions as he gears up to face Vicente Luque at UFC 310 in December. The Stockton native's most notable run came between 2008 and 2011, winning 11 straight bouts. Following the win streak, he lost back-to-back title efforts against Carlos Condit and George St-Pierre before the infamous Silva fight. Nick is the older brother of Nate Diaz, another MMA legend who famously choked out Conor McGregor after stepping in on short notice at UFC 196 in 2016.
The Sun
6 hours ago
- The Sun
British ‘service person' arrested on suspicion of ‘raping' woman near army training camp in Kenya
A BRITISH "service person" has reportedly been arrested on suspicion of raping a woman near an army training camp in Kenya. The alleged rape happened last month, with the man arrested after a group of soldiers visited a bar in the area near the town of Nanyuki, BBC reports. 2 2 Military cops have questioned the bar owner and security guards who were working the night of the incident that occurred close to the British Army Training Unit Kenya (Batuk), The Sunday Times reports. According to the paper, the bar owner said: "They [soldiers] like this place and when I meet some of them in the supermarkets, they tell me they have been banned from coming here. "Sometimes they get too drunk and I drop them at the gate for free." An investigation is being carried out by the UK military police from the Defence Serious Crime Unit. The UK Ministry of Defence confirmed in a statement that a "service person" had been arrested in Kenya. A MoD spokesperson said in a statement: "We can confirm the arrest of a Service person in Kenya. "As the matter is the subject of an ongoing investigation by the Defence Serious Crime Command, we will not comment further." A UK-Kenya defence cooperation agreement allows thousands of Brit soldiers to train in the East African country every year. About 200 UK troops are based there permanently to train Kenyan soldiers. Some Kenyan people have complained for a long time about the soldiers behaviour alongside the atmosphere around their training camp near the town of Nanyuki. There was an outcry over the 2012 death of 21-year-old Agnes Wanjiru, who was last seen alive leaving a bar with British troops near their training camp. Her body was tragically later found in a septic tank. Wanjirus family has campaigned for years for the suspected perpetrator, a serving British soldier at the time, to be charged. In April, UK Defense Secretary John Healey met with Wanjirus grieving family in Kenya and vowed to help the family secure the justice they deserve. The British Army has launched an inquiry into allegations of unacceptable behavior by UK personnel in Kenya. The MoD said in a statement that all British personnel in the country "have clear direction about how to behave, on and off duty, must complete mandatory training and attend compulsory briefings on conduct." It added: "We will have zero tolerance for unacceptable behaviour."
