Fausto Isidro Meza Flores Explained

Fausto Isidro Meza Flores
Birth Date:19 June 1982
Birth Place:Navojoa, Sonora, Mexico[1]
Alias:El Chapo Isidro
Allegiance:Leader of Los Mazatlecos and high-ranking of Beltrán Leyva Cartel
Charge:Drug trafficking, murder
Occupation:Drug Lord
Reward Amount:5 millions US$

Fausto Isidro Meza Flores alias "El Chapo Isidro", is a Mexican drug lord and leader of Los Mazatlecos. He has a high-ranking in the Beltrán Leyva Cartel and was the right-hand man of Alfredo Beltrán Leyva before he got incarcerated in United States.

Criminal career

Early life and ascension

Meza Flores (known in the criminal world as El Chapo Isidro) was born on June 19, 1982, in Navojoa, Sonora, Mexico.[2] [1] He began his criminal career in the 1990s, at first working for the Juárez Cartel under the tutelage of the then-leader Amado Carrillo Fuentes. After the drug lord died of plastic surgery complications in 1997, Meza Flores deserted the organization along with several other drug traffickers and decided to join the forces of the Beltrán Leyva Cartel. As a member of the Beltrán Leyva brothers, he proved to be a "skilled hitman, capable of daring, cunning and bravado."[3] When the leader Arturo Beltrán Leyva was gunned down and killed by the Mexican military in December 2009, many within the cartel deserted and left to form an independent criminal organization with Edgar Valdez Villarreal, known as La Barbie. Meza Flores, however, remained loyal to the Beltrán Leyva brothers and possibly forged an alliance with Vicente Carrillo Fuentes.[3]

Tubutama, Sonora shooting

A fierce gunfight between members of the Sinaloa Cartel (with the backing of Gente Nueva) and the Beltrán Leyva Cartel (with the support of Los Zetas and Los Mazatlecos Meza Flores' men) left about 30 dead in the town of Tubutama, Sonora in northern Mexico on July 1, 2010.[4] [5] The drug gangs clashed just a few miles across the international border with the U.S. state of Arizona – an area notorious for being a smuggling route for narcotics and human trafficking.[6] Reportedly, Meza Flores and a drug trafficker called Arnoldo del Cid Buelna (known in the criminal world as El Gilo) were the ones that carried out the surprise ambush attack on the gunmen of the Sinaloa Cartel.[3] Eleven late-model, bullet-ridden vehicles were found at the scene, along with dozens of assault rifles. Some of the vehicles had "X" painted on their windows, a method often used by the Mexican drug trafficking organizations to distinguish their vehicles from those of rival drug cartels during armed confrontations.[7] [8]

Los Mazatlecos era

His gang, Los Mazatlecos, is based in the region of Guasave, Los Mochis, Mazatlan in Sinaloa and Nayarit and is responsible for smuggling large quantities of methamphetamine, heroin, marijuana, and cocaine since 2000.[9] [10] He is one of the principal leaders of the Beltrán Leyva Cartel in the city of Mazatlán and in the mountainous areas of Sinaloa state. Since 2010, he is one of the leading rivals of the Sinaloa Cartel; the fight between the two drug trafficking groups has generated a wave of kidnappings and executions in Sinaloa.[11] [12] Meza Flores was the right-hand man of Héctor Beltrán Leyva (now deceased) the top leader of the Beltrán Leyva Cartel; his area of operations is in Mazatlán, Guamúchil, Los Mochis, Choix and Los Cabos. On April 28, 2010, Meza Flores was nearly captured by Mexican law enforcement in the mountains of Choix, Sinaloa. However, the operation left two soldiers dead and twelve of his gunmen killed, including his right-hand man Omar Alfonso Rubio (alias "El Chonte"). On December 12, 2013, one of Meza Flores's top lieutenants, Ignacio "Nacho" González was arrested in Guasave, Sinaloa by the Mexican Army.[13]

Status

Meza Flores is a fugitive wanted by the United States government on drug trafficking charges. The FBI is offering a US$5 million bounty.[14] His last known residence was in the state of Nuevo León, where he was reportedly seen with some of his family members at a youth basketball game in San Pedro Garza García on January 19, 2013.[15]

Kingpin Act sanction

The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the United States Department of the Treasury announced on January 17, 2013, that they froze the assets of Meza Flores, seven of his family members, and three companies that had connection with his criminal organization through the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act (sometimes referred to simply as the "Kingpin Act").[16]

Businesses included in the sanction
NameRegistration # Type Location Citations
Autotransportes Terrestres S.A. de C.V.N/A Automobile Guasave, Sinaloa
Auto Servicio Jatziry S.A. de C.V.12577 Gas station Guasave, Sinaloa
Constructora Jatziry de Guasave S.A. de CV.13554Construction Guasave, Sinaloa
Family members of Meza Flores
NameAlias Birth Status Relationship Citations
Fausto Isidro Meza AnguloN/AMarch 27, 1962FugitiveFather[17]
Angelina Flores ApodacaN/AJuly 21, 1958FugitiveMother
Araceli Chan InzunaN/AFebruary 8, 1985FugitiveWife
Flor Angely MezaN/ASeptember 20, 1989FugitiveSister
Pánfilo Flores ApodacaN/AJune 1, 1969FugitiveUncle
Samuel Flores ApodacaEl PelónOctober 23, 1962FugitiveUncle
Agustín Flores ApodacaEl NiñoJune 6, 1964ArrestedUncle

See also

Notes and References

  1. [OpenSanctions.org]
  2. Web site: MEZA FLORES: Drug Trafficking Organization . . January 17, 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130124064801/http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/Programs/Documents/20130117_meza_flores.pdf . January 24, 2013 . January 2013 . live . mdy .
  3. News: Chapo Isidro: A History . January 18, 2013 . . July 9, 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130120062243/http://www.borderlandbeat.com/2012/07/chapo-isidro-history.html . January 20, 2013 . live . mdy .
  4. News: El juego final de "Poncho Arce . December 14, 2012 . . November 7, 2011 . https://archive.today/20240526101516/https://www.webcitation.org/6Cu2CHznc?url=http://www.riodoce.mx/content/view/11492/42/ . May 26, 2024 . dead . Spanish . mdy .
  5. News: Pedraza . Iván . Sicarios de los Beltrán Leyva y Zetas atacan a gente del Chapo en Sonora . December 14, 2012 . . July 2, 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20131205182202/http://www.milenio.com/cdb/doc/noticias2011/7c954b2a681dd8c89db2c26caf9ab0a9 . December 5, 2013 . dead . Spanish . mdy .
  6. News: 21 die in Mexican gang gunbattle near Arizona border . December 16, 2012 . . July 1, 2010 . mdy .
  7. News: Mexico's drug war heats up near Arizona border . December 16, 2012 . . July 5, 2010 . . mdy .
  8. News: Beckhusen . Robert . Mexican hitman claims cartels bought guns from US Border Patrol . December 16, 2012 . . November 9, 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20121120022214/http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-11/09/mexican-cartel-buy-guns-from-us-border-patrol . November 20, 2012 . dead . mdy .
  9. News: Durán . Martín . Capturan a tres "mazatlecos" vinculados con matanzas de El Fuerte . January 17, 2013 . El Noroeste . August 22, 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20131214043256/http://noroeste.com.mx/publicaciones.php?id=805390 . December 14, 2013 . live . Spanish . mdy .
  10. News: Ficha EU a rivales del cártel de Sinaloa: los Meza Flores . . January 17, 2013 . https://archive.today/20130216115454/http://www.milenio.com/cdb/doc/noticias2011/640f14c3bba6f4cfe65887287be135d5 . February 16, 2013 . live . Spanish . mdy .
  11. News: Castillo . Gustavo . Los Beltrán Leyva declaran la guerra al Chapo por el control de Sinaloa . January 17, 2013 . . May 2, 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120705025143/http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2012/05/02/politica/015n1pol . July 5, 2012 . live . Spanish . mdy .
  12. News: Otero . Silvia . EU pone en lista de narcos a familia rival de El Chapo . . January 17, 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130120083034/http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/notas/896432.html . January 20, 2013 . live . Spanish . mdy .
  13. News: Cae lugarteniente de "El Chapo Isidro" en Sinaloa . December 14, 2013 . . December 13, 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20131214032620/http://www.proceso.com.mx/?p=360345 . December 14, 2013 . live . Spanish . mdy .
  14. https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/cei/fausto-isidro-meza-flores FBI Most Wanted: FAUSTO ISIDRO MEZA-FLORES
  15. News: Cedillo . Juan . El rival de 'El Chapo' señalado por EU no tiene cargos en México . January 22, 2013 . CNNMéxico . January 21, 2013 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20130122210805/http://mexico.cnn.com/nacional/2013/01/21/el-rival-de-el-chapo-senalado-por-eu-no-tiene-cargos-en-mexico . January 22, 2013 . live . Spanish . mdy .
  16. Web site: Treasury Designates Additional Sinaloa-Based Drug Trafficking Organization . . January 17, 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130121112746/http://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/tg1824.aspx . January 21, 2013 . live . mdy .
  17. News: EU anuncia sanciones contra cártel de los Meza Flores en México . . January 17, 2013 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20151208121005/http://www.oem.com.mx/eloccidental/notas/n2846384.htm . December 8, 2015 . live . Spanish . mdy .