27 indicted in Mexican Mafia drug case in Ventura County

Rival gangs allegedly cooperated on extortion schemes, drug deals and violent crimes. Authorities say this may be a sign that Mexican drug cartels are strengthening their grip in California.

From a prison cell outside California, an inmate known as "Evil" was making himself known on Ventura County's streets.

Martin Madrigal, 39, was squeezing drug profits from street gangs for the prison-based Mexican Mafia, according to a grand jury indictment released Tuesday. He was so feared that rival gangs cooperated on extortion schemes, drug deals and violent crimes, according to law enforcement officials.

The 35-count indictment portrays Madrigal as a powerful figure representing an efficient and merciless organization that law enforcement officials believe has been operating for decades, largely from behind bars, calling shots among street gangs. He was one of 27 people named in the indictment, 24 of whom have been arrested. Officials declined to disclose where or why Madrigal is serving time.

The forced cooperation among rival gangs alleged in the indictment may be a sign that Mexican drug cartels are attempting to extend their authority over California drug trafficking, according to Ventura County Assistant Sheriff Gary Pentis.

Madrigal operated as a kind of regional manager, with a Ventura County gang member named Edwin "Sporty" Mora enforcing his decisions on the street with a written hit list from Madrigal and "permission to conduct extortion on behalf of the Mexican Mafia," according to the indictment. In one of the document's counts, Mora is said to have indicated that a gang member named Little Rudy "was going to kick in money by Wednesday and if he can't make that happen, Mora wanted the fool in the dirt."

Dozens of weapons, including an AK47, were confiscated during a series of arrests starting in May and ending earlier this month.

The Ventura County probe, dubbed Operation Wicked Hand, started with two shootings in Moorpark in April and a heroin bust about the same time.

"We soon came to realize the incidents weren't happenstance," Ventura County Sheriff Geoff Dean said.

Sheriff's officials said investigators thwarted several crimes, including two planned killings and a drugstore robbery.

Officials would not reveal details of how the investigation was conducted. The indictment, returned Nov. 14, makes it clear authorities had access to text messages and phone calls that gang members made among themselves.

More than 70 officers from the Sheriff's Department participated in the investigation, as well as officers from the Oxnard Police Department and other agencies.

"This case has dealt a crushing blow to organized crime in Ventura County," Pentis said. "We have incapacitated the organization from the top through its geographic managers."

Bail for those arrested, including two juveniles, ranges from $1 million to $5 million. Dist. Atty. Greg Totten said a number of suspects are facing multiple charges, and three are facing possible life sentences under the state's three-strikes law.

Totten said his office submitted the case to a criminal grand jury rather than opting for a preliminary hearing because of its complexity and the ongoing investigation's need for secrecy.

The indictment names more individuals than any other in Ventura County's history, he said.

steve.chawkins@latimes.com

LATimes

NL Pollice Chief is "Comandante Sapo," Los Zetas' Cell Leader Detained with 7 Others

Monterrey. - The police chief of Aramberri was captured by State Highway Patrol suspected with links to Los Zetas.  They discovered he was combining jobs. As well as being a Los Zetas cell leader operating in the south of the state, Jose Enrique Gallegos Liñán, 30, was first commander of the Municipal Police of Aramberri in Nuevo Leon.

Jose Enrique Gallegos Liñán was arrested with Aramberri's second commander Jorge Elias Chavez Medrano, 32, and the commander of Doctor Arroyo Police, Esteban García Fuente, 30.

José Enrique Gallegos Liñán, as leader of Los Zetas, was identified as "Comandante Sapo" or "Commander Toad"   

It  was said besides being the Chief of Police in  the community of Aramberri, "Comadante Sapo" was leader of Los Zetas in the municipalities of la Ascension as well as in Doctor Arroyo and supposedly in Galeana too.   

The three police officials were arrested today in Doctor Arroyo, along with five youths in  Matehuala and San Luis Potosi, identified as hitmen. The detainees names are Edgar Vazquez Morales, 22, Martin Garcia Martinez of 21, Cesar Espinoza Torres, 23, Jose Francisco Alvarez Rodriguez, 18, and Jose Eduardo Rodríguez López, a minor less than 17. 

Others captured are Esteban García Puente, "La Chiva," 30 active police in Doctor Arroyo; César Espinoza Torres, "Palillo," 23 years as well as Jorge Elías Chávez Medrano, 32 years and an Aramberri active police officer.

A police source said that the detainees were secured with seven AK-47 known as goat horn, 30 magazines and about 100 rounds for firearms. 

The informant said that the detainees were caught in a Volkswagen Bora reported as stolen and a Nissan pickup that had hanging plates. Apparently the armed group went to Doctor Arroyo looking for drug dealers from a rival group to execute.. 

The State Highway Patrol, in response to anonymous calls, went to track them down until they were captured. 

Detainees are being investigated in relation to executions and other crimes committed in the south part of the state of Nuevo Leon.. 

Terra.com
YouTube Topic-Aramberri

19 Dead Bodies Abandoned Chihuahua

Eight dead men were found Saturday morning in a field.  The discovery was made approximately 100 meters off the highway leading from the town of Delicias to Satevó, in Chihuahua.

It is believed that some of those killed may be the same as some of the men  kidnapped the night before by gunmen arriving in a convoy of eight trucks abducting three men from the town of Jimenez Parral and two more from Valle de Allende.

A group of  gunmen executed five men Friday night, at different locations in the space of half an hour in Mequi... After seven in the evening, three men were shot inside a vehicle in the plaza of Guadalupe Victoria and minutes later a 17 old year was killed near community  El Torreon, in the same municipality. Another man was later executed  at his home, located in the neighborhood of Genaro Vazquez, and according to early reports, the five murders were allegedly committed by the same armed group 

The spokesman for the state attorney general, Carlos Gonzalez Estrada, confirmed the incidents and also confirmed that the eight victims were found half naked, having been apparently killed elsewhere then discarded in this manner near kilometer 46 off the road from Delicias to Satevó near the turn off  to Rancho San Miguel in Chihuahua.. 

He clarified that they were investigating whether the dead men  are some of the subjects who were kidnapped by gunmen on Friday in the town Jiménez and Valle de Allende.

There are reports of a message being left with the bodies but there are no details as to what it said.

State Forensic  Medical Examiner  transported the dead for autopsy and identification. (Semefo)

3 Captured Responsible for 93 Deaths, 10 Kidnappings in Nuevo Leon

Havana Pura

NarcoBolo

The State Public Safety spokesman Jorge Domene Zambrano announced the arrest of three alleged kidnappers and killers who are related to the murders of 93 people in the state of Nuevo Leon. During a press conference, Domene said that these criminals operated in metropolitan municipalities of Monterrey, Apodaca, San Nicolas, Escobedo and Guadalupe, and as well  in the towns of  southern towns of Santiago and Montemorelos.

He reported that detainees admitted that as associates of the Gulf cartel and under the orders of the organized crime group, they committed at least 10 kidnappings, sold drugs and were responsible for the attacks on several nightclubs and bars in Nuevo Leon among them Harem, Azul Tequila and Women.

Those arrested were identified as Rodolfo Ovalle Landeros, nicknamed "El Gordo" o El Oso, 37; José Ángel Ovalle Landeros, "El Calilla", 30; and Julie Stephanie García Quesada, "La July", 18 yrs.

The Ovalles are brothers to Juan Carlos, "El Charly," leader of the same criminal cell who was a plaza lider until he was arrested by federal police last October.

Domene noted that three criminals were apprehended by the State Investigation Agency (AEI) in two separate operations, the first of which they apprehended Jose Angel and Stephanie, when they were driving a Ford Escape.

José Ángel Ovalle Landeros, was found with 400 doses of cocaine, a rock of crack cocaine, 6,700 pesos and two cell phones, four rifles, a grenade launcher, 906 cartridges, tactical equipment and utensils for preparing drugs.

Following in another operation, they detained Rodolfo Ovalle and secured five assault rifles, a grenade launcher and 358 cartridges of various calibers.

Domene Zambrano revealed that the kidnappers obtained some 30 million pesos from the families of the hostages from paid ransoms. The detainees confessed to having committed kidnappings of several businessmen, a family of entrepreneurs, persons of a senior age, and the murder of two local traffic police, among other criminal charges.

Domene Zambrano indicated that with this capture the cell was almost dismantled

Click Read More for a list of victims