The Mexican Army intensifies its offensive against El Guano, the brother of Chapo Guzmán

A military operation between the borders of the Mexican states of Sinaloa, Durango and Chihuahua — a mountainous region better known in Mexico as the Golden Triangle — ended Monday afternoon with the arrest of three men close to Aureliano Guzman Loera, the older brother of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman Loera.

Aureliano “El Guano” Guzmán Loera is believed to be one of the leaders of the Gente del Guano (GDG), which is a branch of the Sinaloa Cartel. In addition to the three men, the Mexican Army and National Guard also arrested Luis ‘N’ alias “R-8,” El Guano’s security chief, following a confrontation. This is not federal security forces’ first attempt to reach El Guano’s inner circle. In 2023, another military operation ended with the arrest of three armed men and the seizure of weapons and ammunition from the GDG faction.

Mexican authorities believe El Guano is responsible for the violence in the mountainous area of the Golden Triangle. According to the Secretariat of National Defense (Sedena), the alleged criminals were arrested during “patrols in the vicinity of the town of El Durazno, in Tamazula,” in Durango. State forces also seized weapons exclusively used by the army. R-8 was in charge of coordinating El Guano’s security, and is accused of executing several people out of revenge. He has been identified by authorities as the person responsible for acquiring weapons and tactical equipment for the kingpin’s protection.

In a video shared on social media, the four men arrested by military personnel can be seen as they board an official plane, handcuffed and guarded by members of the National Guard and the Army. According to security specialists consulted by local and national media, this operation was yet another failed attempt to capture El Guano.

Last March, during a wave of mass kidnappings in Sinaloa, some media reported that there was an alleged armed confrontation between the GDG faction and Los Chapitos — the arm of the cartel that includes El Chapo’s sons and El Guano’s nephews — in Badiraguato, Sinaloa. According to the reports, hitmen under the command of El Guano were allegedly involved in the fighting, although the information was neither confirmed nor denied by authorities.

El Guano — who strongly resembles El Chapo — is also accused of violent acts on his home turf. In the mountains of Sinaloa, he is blamed for the April 2015 murder of his half-brother Ernesto Guzman Hidalgo. The motive was suspicion of treason. This death would have likely been forgotten if it weren’t for the fact that the victim was the father of the wife of Alfredo “El Mochomo” Beltran Leyva, the main enemy of the Sinaloa Cartel.

In 2021, the U.S. Department of State offered a reward of $5 million in exchange for information that could lead to the arrest of Aureliano Guzmán. In a press statement, the Department of State said it was also seeking to capture three other members of the Sinaloa criminal organization: brothers Ruperto Salgueiro-Nevarez, Jose Salgueiro-Nevarez and Heriberto Salgueiro-Nevarez. The four men have been accused by the state of Arizona of violating U.S. narcotics trafficking laws, and are charged with international conspiracy to distribute marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine, and fentanyl.

El Guano always played second fiddle to his brother El Chapo, three years his junior, who came to be considered the most powerful drug trafficker in the world. Initially focused on the marijuana business, it was his brother’s latest incarceration — El Chapo previously escaped from prison twice — that put El Guano on the front line. In 2016, he was put in charge of defending Badiraguato, the Guzmans’ home village and the nerve center of the group. Badiraguato is also the largest opium-producing area in the Golden Triangle. Although the main leader of the Sinaloa Cartel remains Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, security specialist Alejandro Hope told EL PAÍS in 2019, that El Guano’s position in the criminal organization was not known at that time.

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