Mexicali, Baja California — Israel Leonardo Trigueros Muñoz, known as “El Isra,” was arrested over dinner Sunday night, October 25, near a state security base. Sonora prosecutors identify the 42-year-old as the alleged second-in-command of Los Rusos and say he was wanted for aggravated kidnapping and disappearance.
Federal authorities confirmed the arrest the next day and said he operated in the Mexicali Valley and San Luis Río Colorado, Sonora. Los Rusos answers to Juan José Ponce Félix, “El Ruso,” and belongs to the Mayiza faction of the Sinaloa Cartel, according to that account.
Sources in Durango tell me El Isra’s boss, El Ruso, is hiding in the Durango sierra under the protection of Los Cabreras.
ZETA reported that officers arrived at about 10 p.m. at Pampas, a Brazilian restaurant on Adolfo López Mateos Boulevard in the Centro Cívico district. Citing unofficial sources, the outlet said El Isra was eating with several people when federal and state officers moved in.
The kidnapping case in Sonora
The warrant was for aggravated kidnapping and disappearance committed by private individuals, Sonora prosecutors said in an October 27 statement. Their records list both Israel Leonardo and Israel Leonel “N.”
Prosecutors said two victims, Mirna Janeth “N,” 48, and Enghels Aralph “N,” 30, were rescued alive by the National Guard on August 7 in Ejido Independencia, in the Luis B. Sánchez area of Sonora. A third victim, Jared Ghiosckary “N,” remains missing.
He was flown to Hermosillo and taken to CERESO No. 1, prosecutors said.
Federal officials also linked him to the August kidnapping of corridos tumbados singer Enghles Aralp Gastélum Cartagena, known as “El Gordo Gadaffi.”
They went looking for him a year ago
El Isra appeared on a Baja California state security persons-of-interest poster in 2024 under the name Israel Leonardo Trigueros Muñoz.
On October 14, 2025, investigators searched a property at Quinta Córdoba in southern Mexicali. El Isra was not there. The property was left unguarded, and people later arrived in pickups, broke the official seals and took things away, ZETA reported.
Investigators have also examined possible links to attacks on state police. ZETA’s July investigation described the June 24 death of Mauricio Alarcón Fiscal, known as “El Compa Wicho” and identified as El Isra’s brother-in-law, during a confrontation with security forces.
Officer Rubén López Orduño and his wife were killed on June 26. Officer Manuel Enrique Guerrero Sánchez was killed the following day. Investigators examined whether the killings were retaliation for Wicho’s death and whether El Isra was involved.
Mica’s Analysis
I keep coming back to Quinta Córdoba. Investigators missed El Isra, left the property unguarded, and people came back in pickups to take things away. Who were they, and what happened to that investigation? A year later, I’d still like an answer.
Baja California Attorney General María Elena Andrade Ramírez has raised the possibility that a police agency protected him, according to Grupo Animal’s account of her remarks. I’d like to hear which agency she meant and what her office has done with that suspicion. If officers helped him stay out of custody, they need to be investigated too.
As for getting caught over dinner near a state security base, he certainly wasn’t making much effort to avoid the neighborhood.
They have him now. Jared is still missing, and I want to know whether this arrest brings investigators any closer to finding him.
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