State police have captured a leader of the Milenio Cartel linked to the massacre of 18 people whose dismembered bodies were dumped in two SUVs found just off the Chapala-Guadalajara highway May 9. Meanwhile, missing body parts of the murder victims were discovered in one of four criminal gang safe houses raided in the Chapala area over the past week.
Juan Carlos Antonio Mercado, alias “El Chato,” was detained in the municipality of Tala, around 40 kilometers west of Guadalajara, and presented before the media on Saturday, May 12.
He is one of six suspects arrested in relation to the massacre and the kidnapping of another 14 people who were destined to be slain. Of these, 12 were rescued alive last week and two were found shot dead in the municipality of El Arenal.
“El Chato”, 27, told the media that he belonged to the Milenio Cartel but also worked for a member of Los Zetas, known only as “Fernando” or the “R-2.” The suspect admitted responsibility for the random kidnapping of 14 people being held at a safe house in Ahuisculco, Tala.
He said they originally planned to kill the victims and leave the bodies beneath Guadalajara’s Millennium Arches on May 10 to “cause terror” among the population. Members of Milenio and Los Zetas dumped 26 corpses in the same location last November, but “El Chato” said the heavy presence of state police prevented them from fulfilling their plan.
Twelve of those being held were freed after one escaped and alerted authorities. No arrests were made at the time but four other suspects were detained in Tala on May 11.
The Jalisco Public Security Agency (SSP) said the suspects were acting on the orders of “El Chato” and were linked to the kidnapping of those killed and dumped beside the Chapala highway on Wednesday, May 9. Several weapons and 30 kilograms of marijuana were uncovered in the raid.
On May 8, the eve of the massacre, state police arrested Laura Rosales Sanchez, 25, who was identified by the kidnap victims who had been held in the Ahuisculco safe house. Rosales later told the authorities that last week’s slaughter was carried out in revenge for the killing of 23 suspected Zetas in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas on May 4, which she attributed to the Sinaloa Cartel.Headed by billionaire fugitive Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, the Sinaloa Cartel is locked in a bloody turf war with Los Zetas across several Mexican states. The Sinaloa Cartel controls Jalisco in alliance with the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion, but recent insurgencies by Los Zetas have led to increased bloodshed in areas such as Lake Chapala.
Lakeside hideout raids
In the aftermath of the May 9 slaughter, intelligence gathered by the SSP, local police and the Mexican Army has led to the discovery of at least four properties in the Chapala area allegedly used by the Milenio gang as safe houses.
State police seized an arsenal of 10 AR-15 and AK-47 assault rifles, four pistols and five grenades in one of two hideouts located in San Nicolas de Ibarra, several kilometers outside the municipal seat.
An anonymous tip pointed Mexican Army troops to a house in the upper reaches of Riberas del Pilar on May 12, where officers found two industrial size freezers, one broken and the other containing miscellaneous body parts presumably pertaining to several of the massacre victims.
Agents at Chapala Ministerio Publico (district attorney’s office) revealed that the grisly discovery included five torsos and eight limbs frozen into a solid block. The remains were taken to the state forensics institute (Semefo) for testing and possible identification with the 18 dismembered corpses.
To date, only 10 of the victims have been formally identified.
The SSP executed its latest raid, Tuesday, May 15, at a house located in a gated community in Rancho del Oro, on Ajijic’s western outskirts. In a search of the premises officers confiscated four assault rifles, two grenade launchers, three M-67 fragmentation grenades and a huge cache of ammunition. They also came across a notebook containing annotations of expenditures for food, water, gasoline and the purchases of two “refrigerators,” which are believed to be those found in the Riberas safe house.