Jalisco Governor Aristoteles Sandoval has vowed not to allow a war between drug cartels to be waged in the state after six suspected members of the Sinaloa cartel were abducted at gunpoint from a Puerto Vallarta restaurant/bar in the early hours of Monday.
One of the kidnap victims was Jesus Alfredo Guzman, the son of capo Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman who many believe inherited his father’s drug trafficking business when the Sinaloa Cartel leader was arrested in January.
Jalisco Attorney General Eduardo Almaguer said the commando raid was probably carried out by the relatively new, but increasingly powerful and violent Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG), now one of the Sinaloa Cartel’s main rivals. However, speaking with Milenio TV this week, national security analysts Guillermo Valdez and Eduardo Guerrero said the identity of the perpetrators is still unclear and the kidnapping could be the result of an internal struggle within the Sinaloa Cartel, or perhaps a move by the Betran Leyva family, known to have had fallings out with “El Chapo” Guzman.
The kidnappings also come on the heels of a reported attack on the home of “El Chapo” Guzman’s mother in June, when vehicles and other items were stolen.
If CJNG are responsible for the abductions, they are likely a ploy to gain the upper hand in the battle for dominance in the Pacific Coast drug trade following the capture of “El Chapo”. The fear in Jalisco is that if no accommodation can be made between the two groups, or if Jesus Alfredo Guzman is not released or, worse still killed, a bloodbath could break out along the coast.
With the international media giving the kidnapping major coverage this week, Governor Sandoval has been at pains to stress that Puerto Vallarta is “a safe place for tourists.”
Nonetheless, he drafted in extra state police officers, while additional federal forces and Mexican Army and Navy personnel also moved into the port.
Initial reports Monday suggested as many as 16 people had been kidnapped from La Leche restaurant, located on Vallarta’s main boulevard, Francisco Medina Ascencio, at around 1 a.m. on Monday, August 15.
Details subsequently provided by Almaguer clarified that five gunmen entered the restaurant and abducted six men. Nine women were released unharmed, while one man left just before the arrival of the gunmen.
Grainy surveillance footage taken from the restaurant’s security cameras that was leaked to a blog site this week clearly shows the gunmen entering the restaurant and making several of their victims kneel on the floor with their hands held behind their heads. No shots were fired, nor was there any violence.
Almaguer called the leak of the images “reckless” and vowed to hold those responsible within his department to full account.
The state’s chief prosecutor also acknowledged that two of the victims have not been identified and did not rule out the possibility that one of them may be Ivan Archivaldo Guzman, another of Joaquin Guzman’s sons, and the younger brother of Jesus Alfredo. According to some reports, the party at the upmarket restaurant may have been organized to celebrate Ivan Archivaldo’s 33rd birthday.
Jesus Alfredo Guzman was indicted in U.S. District Court in Chicago in 2009 for his alleged role in his father’s trafficking activities. In 2012, the U.S. Treasury Department designated him under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act as assisting his father in drug trafficking.
He is known for his flamboyant lifestyle, and has allegedly posted images of his planes, luxurious cars, gold-plated guns, opulent properties and Swiss watches on social media.
“El Chapo” Guzman has been married three times and has at least nine children. He is currently behind bars in Ciudad Juarez fighting efforts to extradite him to the United States.
In what appears to be another leak to the media, journalist Denise Maerker released a selfie of Mexican actress Kate de Castillo with Jesus Alfredo Guzman that was apparently found on his phone that had been discarded in the restaurant during the kidnapping. De Castillo helped set up the bizarre meeting between a fugitive “El Chapo” and actor Sean Penn in October 2015. It is presumed the photo was taken during that encounter.