OJINAGA — On Friday morning, authorities in Ojinaga found eleven bodies — two of which were decapitated — dumped outside of the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) facility in Ojinaga. The bodies were accompanied by a note that said a similar fate awaited traitors, Attorney General César Jáuregui Moreno confirmed to the press on Saturday.
Friday’s grisly discovery was the latest in a string of cartel-related violence in the area around Ojinaga. The conflict began over the weekend of September 6, when six people were murdered in an area called the “Ojinaga Triangle,” which also includes the small towns of Manuel Benavides and Coyame del Sotol.
A 300-strong surge of state and federal police descended upon the border city earlier this month. Law enforcement have continued carrying out security operations on the ground and from the air.
On September 12, seven men were arrested on a dirt road between Ojinaga and Manuel Benavides. Supervisory Judge Nora Espino ended up releasing three of the suspects and declining to bring the other four to trial over concerns about due process, El Diario of Juárez reported.
Gilberto Loya, secretary of public safety for the State of Chihuahua, slammed Espino’s decision, arguing that a choice made “from the comfort of her office, with the air conditioning running” did not respect the realities of high-pressure police work in some of the state’s most remote and extreme environments. “What worries me most is the lack of commitment to the citizens,” he said, referring to the thousands of people in Ojinaga waiting for the violence to end.
Since the arrests, authorities have elaborated on earlier statements that the shootouts are the result of a “purge” within La Línea — the cartel in control of the Ojinaga Triangle.
Authorities cited statements from confidential informants alleging that the violence was sparked by a cartel member who uses the alias “El 04,” who was expelled from La Línea by former boss Sergio “El Menchaca” Pizarro. (Menchaca was arrested by American authorities in Presidio not long after.)
El 04 went to work recruiting members of Los Cabreras, sicarios, or hitmen, for a splinter group of the Sinaloa Cartel in Durango. The informants claimed that the raids earlier in September were sparked by a raid carried out by El 04; the most recent murders were retaliation against his men. “Don’t get yourselves mixed up, people, because this is how everyone who follows this p ––– ‘s lead will end up,” the note accompanying the bodies allegedly read.
Authorities made a less morbid discovery on Saturday, when an investigation into a series of shootings in Coyame del Sotol yielded the recovery of a stolen vehicle, lots of ammunition, and a liger.
The big cat — a cross between a male lion and a female tiger — was reported to be a little over a year old and in good health. She was liberated from her cage by federal officials and is under the care of environmental protection officers. (The El Paso Times noted that tigers and other exotic pets are favored by “drug traffickers and others” across Mexico.)
The international bridge between Ojinaga and Presidio, Texas, has remained open throughout the conflict — but the violence has had an impact beyond the realm of the narcos.
Last Friday, Federico Baeza Mares, president of the Business Coordinating Council of Chihuahua, said that sales in the border city were down 30% as folks who travel from out of town to go shopping have avoided making the trip. “There’s been an impact, it can’t be denied,” he said.