Beto Leyva arrested in Tijuana in migrant-smuggling investigation

Reporting and context

Mexican authorities arrested José Alberto N, known as Beto Leyva, in Tijuana during court-authorized searches in an organized-crime investigation, according to El País México. Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch said the suspect coordinated migrant smuggling toward California and that migrants' relatives in the United States were asked for payments in exchange for their release.

Harfuch described the detainee as close to brothers René and Alfonso Arzate García, known as La Rana and El Aquiles. The newspaper identifies the brothers with the Sinaloa Cartel faction aligned with Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada. Those links and the alleged smuggling operation are attributed to the officials and reporting cited in the article.

El País México reported that federal sources also accused the suspect of running front operations and money-laundering centers for the Arzate brothers. Those sources alleged that he operated a network in the United States supplying weapons and stolen vehicles to the cartel.

Harfuch said information exchanged with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security helped make the arrest possible. Federal sources cited by the newspaper said Border Patrol arrested José Alberto N in El Cajón, California, in 2007 on allegations of smuggling undocumented migrants. The report also says he has a federal arrest warrant issued by the U.S. Marshals Service for failing to appear before a judge.

The Tijuana announcement followed a separate federal operation in Chiapas, where authorities reported arresting two regional Sinaloa Cartel leaders and 12 other suspects. The Security Cabinet said that operation yielded 12 long guns, 97 magazines, 882 rounds of ammunition and 17 tactical vests with ballistic plates. Those seizures belong to the Chiapas operation, rather than the Tijuana arrest.

Original publication: El País México.