The Avendaño Special Forces, the Hardest Side Hit of ‘La Mayiza’

The weakest part of El Mayito Flaco’s troops in their war to exterminate Los Chapitos and survive the federal government’s siege is called the FEA (Special Forces of the Avendaños). And this isn’t an adjective, but an acronym: the Avendaño Special Forces, one of their most recognized armed wings in Sinaloa.

MILENIO conducted a count based on press releases from the security cabinet and news reports and found that among La Mayiza’s main armed wings, the FEA (Special Forces of the Avendaños) have lost the most “captains”—important leaders who are difficult to replace given the level of internal knowledge of El Mayito Flaco’s organization—due to the actions of the authorities led by Secretary Omar García Harfuch.

This weekend, federal agents arrested in Los Mochis, Sinaloa, one of the FEA’s top operational leaders, Jesús Miguel Avendaño or Rosendo Avendaño, El Chendo or El 16, who is only below Juan Avendaño, El Viejo Mayor, leader of the family group.

Along with El 16, Jayson Ariel Tapia, Flaco Avendaño; José Antonio García; and José Vizcarra were arrested. These three are accused of being part of the division responsible for criminal logistics: from the transportation of cash to finance “the war in Sinaloa” to the transfer of drugs to the United States, primarily fentanyl and methamphetamines.

“It’s a strong move by the federal government, because only a few people know the routes the FEA uses to move weapons and drugs.

“And among those few are El 16, ‘Flaco,’ José Antonio, and José. “It’s like killing the chef who has the secret recipe for the restaurant’s favorite dish: it’s knowledge that you lose and that you have to rebuild,” said a soldier stationed in Sinaloa who has been part of operations against organized crime.

With this quadruple blow, the FEA has lost ten “captains” since the conflict escalated on September 9 of last year due to the kidnapping and rendition of Ismael Zambada to the United States thanks to a plan hatched by Los Chapitos.

In contrast, the Los Rusos faction has lost seven “captains”; Los Flechas MZ or Flechas Mayo Zambada, six; La Sombreriza and Los Rugrats, five each; and finally, there are Los Ántrax, who are outnumbered and, therefore, have lost only two irreplaceable operatives. 

In total, La Mayiza has said goodbye, so far, to 35 “captains” who didn’t even last 365 days in the fight for the Cartel’s black markets. Sinaloa.

Founders of the FEA

The founders of the FEA, the Avendaño clan, are one of those legendary families in Sinaloa drug trafficking. So powerful as to be indispensable in the war; so discreet that their name doesn’t resonate at the federal level.

Founded in the 1980s by brothers Martín, Héctor, Ignacio, and Sergio Avendaño Ojeda, they dedicated themselves to trafficking marijuana and cocaine to the United States for the Sinaloa Cartel. When they dominated the trafficking routes, Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán asked them to invest the profits in companies based in Culiacán, Sinaloa, so he could launder dirty dollars and convert them into clean Mexican pesos.

“At first, the brothers were just drug dealers, but when they started laundering money, their attitude changed. They brought the rest of the family into the business, and then their relatives’ partners. Suddenly, they were no longer four brothers making their way in drug trafficking, but a strong clan specialized in opening businesses. That’s their strength,” says the source consulted.

The Avendaños operated in the shadows in the 1980s, 1990s, and the first decade of the 21st century. When the Beltrán Leyva brothers broke with El Chapo and El Mayo in 2008, the clan sided with the old bosses.

Their loyalty was rewarded with truckloads of money and more business deals in the Sinaloa capital where, unusually, payment by check, debit card, or credit card wasn’t allowed. Only cash. Authorities in the United States were alert to the possibility of a money laundering scheme.

By 2011, the plot was uncovered. The United States Treasury Department found that a car rental company in Ensenada, Baja California, and the Autódromo Race Park in Culiacán were simulating the purchase and sale of luxury auto parts to launder money. The Avendaños were exposed.

Five years later, in 2016, Héctor fell. Three months later, Martín was apprehended. Ignacio seems to have been swallowed up by the earth. Sergio is a fugitive and operating.

“They were finished, everyone was leaving for other groups to regain power. Then the Culiacazo fiasco arrived, and they took advantage of the chaos,” the military official asserts.

The afternoon of October 17, 2019, gave the Avendaños the opportunity they had hoped for: to prove that, even though they were wounded on two sides, they could fight for the Sinaloa Cartel. Upon learning of Ovidio Guzmán’s capture, they brought their troops into the streets. They faced the bullets and won: El Ratón was returned to his brothers, and the Avendaños regained their place of honor.

Suddenly, they realized the clan had transformed. They were no longer money launderers, but an armed wing, so they changed their name to reflect the new era.

They were reborn as the Avendaño Special Forces, and, as a nod to the childhood symbols used by Ovidio Guzmán to identify themselves, the FEA adopted Daniel El Travieso, a problem child, as their icon, whose caricature they embedded in guns using fine rhinestones.

The FEA remained with Ovidio and his brothers, Joaquín, Iván Archivaldo, and Jesús Alfredo. Their loyalty to Los Menores, they boasted on banners hung around Navolato and Los Mochis, was beyond question.

And they made this known when the Sinaloa Cartel’s leadership split in two: the Avendaños chose Los Chapitos to fight La Mayiza.

However, that changed two months ago, according to military intelligence in Sinaloa: Los Chapitos stopped supporting the FEA with institutional protection and rivers of money and weapons; In revenge for the broken pacts, their old allies turned their backs on them and joined “El Mayito Flaco” in an unforgivable move.

“Historically, La Mayiza has been more difficult to neutralize because they operate in areas where their leader, El Mayo, had felt safe when he was free: rural areas, the mountains, and even from caves that only people born in the mountains know well. That always makes operations difficult.

“On the other hand, La Chapiza operates like its father, El Chapo, who liked to be seen in expensive restaurants, good hotels, and residential areas. It’s an eminently urban group. That makes our work easier. And when people who worked for them, like the FEA, join forces with La Mayiza, they blend in and make our job easier, because they don’t know each other and make mistakes,” the military official said of the change of sides.

Almost a year into the “war in Sinaloa,” no alliance is set in stone. All are sandy pacts in the midst of a storm.

Source: Milenio