Mica for cartelinsider.com
During the year 2023, the Sinaloa Cartel suffered two heavy blows in its criminal organization, following the arrests of Ovidio Guzmán López, son of ‘El Chapo’, as well as Néstor Isidro Pérez Salas, better known as ‘El Nini’, former security chief of ‘Los Chapitos’. These actions were made possible thanks to the contributions of protected witnesses, collaborators, and informants.
In exchange for reduced sentences, many former members of the criminal group from the Pacific decide to collaborate with the authorities of the United States, while continuing to have agents who manage to infiltrate as employees and obtain information about their operations, as well as their constant locations.
Ovidio Guzmán López, José Guadalupe Tapia Quintero, Rafael Caro Quintero, and more recently Néstor Isidro Pérez Salas, are some of the bosses of the Sinaloa Cartel who have been located thanks to the contribution of protected witnesses and collaborators, who provided information, photos, videos.
Having enough material now, the next step is to issue the arrest warrant. Afterwards, they have two hours to execute the operation, which sometimes can even be planned months in advance. With proper security, they proceed to go after them.
“They are operations that are sometimes carried out in as little as an hour, because as an authority, we receive the information and consult with our superiors immediately. Once we are given the green light, it only takes a few minutes to request the special forces teams to prepare everything and go,” said a general from the presidential staff.
Through their agencies, it is that both governments receive intelligence information, in order for the DEA, the FBI, and the CIA to act, for which informants or collaborators are paid large amounts of money with the promise of immunity or less severe penalties.
“It is no longer necessary, because now agents do not have to penetrate criminal organizations, as there are people within the same cartels who provide information on the whereabouts of their leaders, their movements, routes, and the type of vehicles they use. And the protected witnesses are the ones who reveal the growing drug lords, how they operate, what type of drugs they move, etc.,” said Mike Vigil, former undercover agent of the DEA.
From the 70s to the 90s, agents like Mike Vigil, George Gavito, Joe Bon, and Mike Davis posed as drug buyers in order to infiltrate criminal organizations and gather important information.
The director of the documentary series Narco Circus, Romain Bolzinger, showcased on HBO Max some protected witnesses whom he interviewed for his research. In his message, he indicates that it is difficult to locate the witnesses and the only way is through the same agents with whom negotiations begin.
Data from the DEA and FBI agents indicate that their job is to locate low-level employees such as informants, hitmen, and drug couriers, to gather information about their cell leaders or higher-ranking lieutenants. They track these individuals through phone conversations, analyzing who they talk to and about what.
“Once they have them well located, they present charges against them. And they go after them, then they are told that they will spend the rest of their days in jail, unless they cooperate, which would mean a much shorter sentence for having cooperated with the United States,” explained Mike Davis.
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Mica
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