“Ricardo Ozuna Tirado49 years old, is identified as one of the main leaders and financial operator of a criminal cell in Los Chapitos, in the municipality of La Cruz de Elotain Sinaloa,” federal sources informed EFE.
According to the Security Cabinet in a statement, the criminal leader was a “priority objective” and he was arrested along with five other people from the same criminal group in the coastal and tourist municipality of Mazatlán, in an operation in which firearms, chargers and cartridges were seized, as well as various doses of drugs, currency, telephone and computer equipment and two cars.
After surveillance work, the agents located the individuals in two properties that, presumably, used for the “commission of crimes”so they proceeded to arrest him.
Members of the Ministry of the Navy (Semar) and the Ministry of Security and Citizen Protection (SSPC) participated in the operation, as well as the Attorney General’s Office (FGR) and the National Intelligence Center.
Los Chapitos is one of the main factions of the powerful Sinaloa Cartelan organization designated as a terrorist organization by the US last year.
Currently the state of Sinaloa, cradle of the homonymous cartel, is experiencing an internal war between rival organized crime groups, mainly carried out by Los Chapitos and Los Mayos.
This conflict has left at least 3 thousand murders, thousands of displaced and missingdespite the extensive military deployment of the federal government.
According to a report published by the International Crisis Group (ICG) in June, the episodes of violence have not completely dissipated, as they are now more “punctual” and They have moved to the rural areas of Sinaloa.
Months ago, Washington caused a political earthquake in that state by formally accusing the governor on leave, Rubén Rocha Moya, and nine other high-level officials of collaborating with Los Chapitos in exchange for bribes and political favors.