At his peak, he was known as “El Choro”, a prominent gangster and presumed head of the Nueva Plaza Cartel, a criminal organization based in Guadalajara, Mexico.
But in the end, he was just Carlos Enrique Sanchez, and his body remained wrapped in plastic on a park bench in downtown Tlaquepaque, Jalisco, Mexico.
El Choro, a former member of the infamous Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), was once considered the right arm of El Mencho, one of the most desired drug trafficking organizations in the US Drug Enforcement Administration.
Cartels are vying for supremacy to become America’s leading drug supplier by delivering ultra-high-purity, ultra-deadly drugs such as methamphetamine, heroin, and fentanyl.
Who is Elmencho? He is the most powerful drug king you have never heard of
However, according to a Jalisco-based Mexican security source who demanded anonymity for fear of retaliation, El Choro told El Mencho about the robbery that El Choro allegedly committed. After ordering the killing of Hernandez, he separated from the cartel in 2017.
El Choro formed his own gang, the Nueva Plaza Cartel, financially backed by one of CJNG’s greatest enemies, the Sinaloa Cartel. CJNG and the Nueva Plaza Cartel have fought for years to rule the western states of Mexico.
In a video that became a hot topic on the Internet, a heavily armed man kept a handcuffed man talking to a camera.
“My name is Carlos Henrique Sanchez Martinez, also known as El Choro,” said the man in a Spanish video. “I met Omar Garcia Halff (Mexico City Police Chief) in Mexico City and asked for help, because we are both enemies of the CJNG.”
The man who claims to be El Choro has finished a video advising his supporters to stop following him.
“You guys who still support me, stop and give to my family,” he said. “See how I ended up.”
Jalisco’s Attorney General Gerald Solis said all the signs suggest that the man in the video is Carlos Sanchez Martinez, or El Choro.
In June 2020, Harfuch blamed CJNG for an attempted assassination, which he was seriously injured and killed two friends. “Our country must continue to face timid organized crime,” he tweeted.
More: A ruthless Mexican drug trafficking empire seizes control of a small American town and destroys its familyAt least 12 suspects who are members of the CJNG cartel were detained after the attack, according to the Attorney General of Mexico City. However, El Mencho, whose name is Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, remains free.
El Choro wasn’t so lucky. On March 18, the same day the video was word-of-mouth, the body was left on a bench in a park near Tlaquepaque City Hall, in Jardin Hidalgo.
His body was wrapped in plastic and stabbed with two knives holding a sign that says “Betrayal, El Choro.”
The Attorney General’s office in Jalisco said the family identified the body as El Choro.
Authorities said investigations were underway on the vehicles and people who participated in throwing the bodies into the main square.
Such practices are nothing new to CJNG, known for its bloody killings, dismemberment corpses, and recorded videos of their actions.
“Unfortunately, decapitated bodies, corpses hanging from bridges, and corpses with Narco blankets remaining have been experienced in many parts of the country,” said David Saused, a security analyst based in Mexico. It is part of the daily landscape of violence. “
More: Chinese citizens used US banks to wash millions of dollars in Sinaloa Cartel drug profits
In the first two months of 2021, Jalisco officially registered 494 deaths.
On December 18, former Governor of Jalisco, Aristotle Sandbar, was shot dead at a restaurant in Puerto Vallarta. Last year, Mexican authorities found a mass grave of 559 people in a country with more than 80,000 missing people. Authorities have recovered about 1,100 bodies — 433 in Jalisco.
Further violence was expected after Elchoro’s death, and experts predicted a dangerous attack by the Nueva Plaza cartel on the Elmencho cartel.
Instead, there was a surprising, but tense, calm in the city, said security analyst Saused. “I was hoping for a positive response from the Nueva Plaza cartel, but it wasn’t. The cartel seems to have been okay with the killing.”
But it’s clear that Elmencho was sending the message, Saused said.
“Leaving the body in the daytime threatens the enemy,” Saused said. “‘El Choro’ was not killed during the clash. He was captured, cross-examined, tortured, and finally killed.”
“This is a message from Elmencho to his own people. Any member of the CJNG who dares to rebel or leave the organization will achieve this goal,” he added.
This article was originally published in the Louisville Courier Journal: Cartel boss El Choro becomes victim of Mexican drug war