Federal police have arrested a presumed senior operative for the violent Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) who is believed to be responsible for the March 2013 slaying of Jalisco Tourism Secretary Jesus Gallegos Alvarez in Guadalajara.
Daniel Quintero Riestra was detained on a tourist boat off Isla Mujeres in the state of Quintana Roo on October 12. He was on a Mexican government list of 122 priority criminal targets.
National Security Commissioner Renato Sales said Quintero was ”responsible for carrying out various illegal activities in Guadalajara on behalf of the criminal organization operating there.”
As well as the Gallegos Alvarez slaying, Quintero is linked to at least three other murders in Guadalajara, including that of Venezuelan model Daisy Ferrer, whose body was found in a canal in December 2012.
Gallegos had only been in his post a few days when he was gunned down in his vehicle outside a mall on Avenida Acueducto. State Governor Aristoteles Sandoval, also new to his job, insisted the killing was a “private matter.”
On Thursday, Guadalajara Spanish-language daily Milenio revealed details from Gallegos’ case file that suggest Quintero’s role for the cartel included paying 55,000 pesos to two Guadalajara police commanders each month. Milenio said the investigation file notes that he also bribed state police and Ministerio Publico officers to enable arrested members of the CJNG to go free.