The Beltran Leyva Cartel is an illegal drug trafficking organization run by the Beltran Leyva family. The cartel operates along Mexico’s Pacific west coast with a base of operations in Michoacan and Guerrero states. Until the January 2008 arrest of Alfredo Beltran Leyva, the group was the enforcer arm of the Sinaloa Federation alliance, known as Los Negros. Rumors that Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, the leader of the Sinaloa cartel, tipped off Mexican police facilitating Alfredo’s arrest led to Beltran’s split from the alliance.
Following the breakdown of the Federation in early 2008, violence erupted in western Mexico as Arturo Beltran Leyva moved to secure strategic trafficking routes into Arizona. The organization aligned itself with former rival organizations, such as Los Zetas and the Gulf cartel.
Since its independence from the Federation the organization has grown more organized and significantly more influential.
• Retired Colombian general and organized crime expert Luis Montenegro indicated to local media sources the Beltran Leyva cartel is the strongest drug-trafficking organization in Mexico.
The group demonstrates its willingness to assassinate high-ranking government officials, in attempts to intimidate the government and law enforcement institutions. The most notable example was the May 9, 2009 assassination of acting federal police director Edgar Millan Gomez as retribution for the arrest of Alfredo Beltran Leyva.
Mexican media reported in January and February of 2009, the Beltran Leyva brothers met with the leaders of the Sinaloa cartel, the Juarez cartel, the Arellano Felix Organization, and Los Zetas to negotiate a truce to end major territorial disputes in Sinaloa, Sonora, and several other states. Despite the alleged agreement, violence in the region continued to escalate, as many low-level hit men were left unemployed and turned to violent crime and extortion to earn a living.
During January 2009, the Beltran brothers began operations in order to take control of Mexico City’s drug-trafficking network. The Office of the Mexican Attorney General indicated numerous low-level Beltran hit men were arrested in the city, many of which claimed to be sent by Beltran leadership to assume control of the area.
THREAT GROUP PROFILE META DATA & ANALYSIS
Group Activities: • January-February 2009: Beltran brothers reach alleged truce with Juarez, Sinaloa, Tijuana, and Los Zetas cartels in Sinaloa and Sonora. • January 23, 2009: In Mexico City, two Beltran hit men were arrested. During interrogations the suspected stated "We came to take over control of Mexico City...We work for Arturo Beltran Leyva." • October 28, 2008: In Mexico City, authorities arrested an Interpol agent working at the United States (US) Embassy suspected of feeding classified information regarding anti-trafficking operations to the Beltran Leyva cartel. • May 9, 2008 – Gunmen associated with the Beltran Leyva cartel assassinate acting federal police director Edgar Milian Gomez.
Individuals Involved: Leaders: Marcos Arturo Beltran Leyva aka El Barbas: After the arrest of his brother, Arturo Beltran Leyva assumed full leadership of the Beltran Leyva cartel. He remains the leader of the organization and relies on a number of close relatives as his key lieutenants. Alfredo Beltran Leyva aka “El Mochomo”: Incarcerated Alfredo was the former head of the group before it attained independence from the Sinaloa Federation. His arrest, the result of betrayal by Sinoloa cartel leader Joaquim Guzman, precipitated Beltran's withdrawal from the Federation and initiated a bloody war for control of western drug routes. Searches of Alfredo's house turned up documents that implicated members of the Mexican Army and Attorney General's Office in corruption and bribery schemes. Lieutenants: Mario Beltran Leyva, Hector Beltran Leyva, and Carlos Beltran Leyva The men are brothers of Alfredo and Arturo Beltran Leyva and chief lieutenants of the organization. The cartel remains a tight-knit family-operated business and any high ranking official is related, either by blood or marriage, to the Beltran Leyva brothers. Edgar Valdes Villarreal aka “La Barbie:” Before the Beltran Leyva cartel's withdrawal from the Federation, they maintained an enforcer gang similar, but less sophisticated than their rival Los Zetas. The gang was called Los Negros and was headed by American national Edgar Valdes Villarreal. Villarreal reported directly to the Beltran brothers and following the split, Villarreal sided with the Betran brothers and Los Negros incorporated into the cartel. The group is known to operate training camps in northern Mexico to train hit men and also employs street gangs like the Mexican Mafia and the Salvadoran MS-13 to carry out murders and other illegal activities. • Villarreal escaped prosecution for a 2002 drug arrest through corruption and bribery. Sergio Villarreal Barragan aka El Grande: Villarreal Barragan is a 6 foot 5 inch former detective and an enforcer. He is a trusted lieutenant of the Beltran Leyva cartel and operates in Durango, Coahuila, and Sinaloa states. In 2004, he financed Francisco Leon Garcia's PRD campaign for mayor of Gomez Palacio in exchange for assurances that the Beltran Leyva cartel would be allowed to operate in the Durango municipality. Harold Mauricio Povedo Ortega: Poveda Ortega organizes purchases and shipments of high-quality Colombian cocaine for the cartel and maintains alliances with the Norte del Valle organization.
Operating Region: The group's primary territory lies along the southern Pacific states, including Michoacan, Guerrero, parts of Jalisco and in Mexico City. However, the organization is involved in trafficking activities throughout Mexico, especially in highly contested areas in northern Mexico.
External Aid: The Beltran Leyva cartel purchases much of its cocaine supplies from the Colombian cartel “Norte del Valle.” Beltran lieutenant Harold Mauricio Poveda Ortega maintains the Colombians and coordinate maritime drug shipments and payment. • On January 29, 2009, authorities arrested Beltran lieutenant Geronimo Gamez Garcia, a cousin of the Beltran brothers, along with Pablo Emilio Robles Hoyos, a member of the Norte del Valle cartel. The Mexican Public Safety Bureau reports that Gamez Garcia was in charge of buying cocaine from the Valle del Norte cartel and organized its transport from Colombia to Mexico's southern border, through the Federal District, and on to Sinaloa. • On July 31, 2008, Mexican authorities arrested Ever Villafane Martinez, a Colombian national with ties to both Mauricio Poveda Ortega and the Norte del Valle Cartel. • On October 21, 2008, authorities arrested Teordoro Fino Restrepo, a Mauricio Poveda Ortega's operator and Colombian national who arranged sea-borne cocaine shipments from Colombia to the Beltran Leyva Cartel. The Beltran Leyva Cartel's alliance with the Norte del Valle cartel remains strong despite the recent arrests, primarily due to Harold Mauricio Poveda Ortega who remains at large and is assumed to still be a point man for Colombian shipment coordination.
Status: Active
Date posted: April 26, 2014
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