Edelio López Falcón
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Edelio López Falcón (1965 – 6 May 2003), commonly referred to as El Yeyo, was a Mexican suspected drug lord and former high-ranking member of the
Gulf Cartel The Gulf Cartel ( , or ''Golfos'') is a criminal syndicate, Drug cartel, drug trafficking organization, and U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization, which is perhaps one of the oldest organized crime groups in Mexico. It is currently bas ...
, a criminal group based in
Tamaulipas Tamaulipas, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tamaulipas, is a state in Mexico; one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 federal entities of Mexico. It is divided into 43 municipalities. It is located in nor ...
, Mexico. Prior to his involvement in drug trafficking, López Falcón owned a flower business in Miguel Alemán. He was part of the cartel during the 1990s and was a trusted enforcer of the former kingpin
Gilberto García Mena Gilberto García Mena (born 1954), also known as El June, is a Mexican convicted drug lord and former high-ranking member of the Gulf Cartel, a criminal group based in Tamaulipas, Mexico. He began his criminal career as a small-time marijuana s ...
. López Falcón's role in the cartel was managing drug shipments from Tamaulipas to the United States. Security forces believed López Falcón was not a violent crime boss; he preferred to indulge in his personal interests, which included promoting music and entertainment, managing his restaurant chains, and running his horse-breeding business. After joining the cartel, he continued to pose as a legitimate businessman to keep a low profile. In the late 1990s, López Falcón encountered problems with García Mena, who sought the support of the cartel's leader
Osiel Cárdenas Guillén Osiel Cárdenas Guillén (born 18 May 1967) is a former Mexican drug lord and the former top leader of the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas. Originally a mechanic in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, he entered the cartel by killing Juan García Abrego's fri ...
to oust him. López Falcón broke ties with the Gulf Cartel and forged alliances with the
Sinaloa Sinaloa (), officially the (), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, compose the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 18 municipalities, and its capital city is Culiacán Rosales. It is located in northwest Mexic ...
,
Milenio ''Milenio'' is a major national newspaper in Mexico, owned by Grupo Multimedios. It is published in 11 cities across Mexico, including Monterrey, Mexico City, Guadalajara, León, Pachuca, Puebla, Villahermosa, Tampico, Torreón, Toluca, an ...
, and Juárez cartels. The Gulf Cartel reportedly blamed López Falcón for the April 2001 arrest of García Mena and plotted to kill him. He fled to
Nuevo León Nuevo León, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Nuevo León, is a Administrative divisions of Mexico, state in northeastern Mexico. The state borders the Mexican states of Tamaulipas, Coahuila, Zacatecas, and San Luis Potosí, San Luis ...
, where he established his center of operations. López Falcón survived an attempt on his life a month later but he was killed in
Guadalajara Guadalajara ( ; ) is the capital and the most populous city in the western Mexican List of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco, as well as the most densely populated municipality in Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population ...
in May 2003. His murder remains unsolved, but investigators believe his killers were probably members of
Los Zetas Los Zetas (, Spanish for "The Zs") is a Mexican criminal syndicate and designated terrorist organization, known as one of the most dangerous of Mexico's drug cartels. They are known for engaging in brutally violent " shock and awe" tactics suc ...
, the Gulf Cartel's former paramilitary group.


Personal life and career

López Falcón, who is commonly referred to by his nickname El Yeyo, was born in
Miguel Alemán, Tamaulipas --> Miguel is a given name and surname, the Portuguese and Spanish form of the Hebrew name Michael. It may refer to: Places * Pedro Miguel, a parish in the municipality of Horta and the island of Faial in the Azores Islands *São Miguel (disamb ...
, Mexico, in 1965. Before becoming involved in drug trafficking, López Falcón owned a flower business in Miguel Alemán. He later joined the Tamaulipas-based criminal group the
Gulf Cartel The Gulf Cartel ( , or ''Golfos'') is a criminal syndicate, Drug cartel, drug trafficking organization, and U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization, which is perhaps one of the oldest organized crime groups in Mexico. It is currently bas ...
and worked as a smuggler under the kingpin
Gilberto García Mena Gilberto García Mena (born 1954), also known as El June, is a Mexican convicted drug lord and former high-ranking member of the Gulf Cartel, a criminal group based in Tamaulipas, Mexico. He began his criminal career as a small-time marijuana s ...
("El June"). López Falcón and García Mena worked with the drug trafficker Fidel Hinojosa ("El Choco"); Ricardo Garza Manríquez, the former Miguel Alemán Public Security Department head; and
Zeferino Peña Cuéllar Zeferino Peña Cuéllar, also known as Don Zefe, is a suspected Mexican drug lord and high-ranking member of the Gulf Cartel, a criminal group based in Tamaulipas, Mexico. He was part of the cartel during the 1990s and was a trusted enforcer ...
("Don Zefe"), the former head of the Miguel Alemán Municipal Police. In the Gulf Cartel, López Falcón was reportedly responsible for coordinating drug trafficking shipments from
Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas Nuevo Laredo () is a city in the Municipality of Nuevo Laredo in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. The city lies on the banks of the Rio Grande, across from Laredo, United States. The 2010 census population of the city was 373,725. Nuevo La ...
, to the United States. In 1999, the
Secretariat of National Defense The Mexican Secretariat of National Defense (SEDENA; ) is the government department responsible for managing Mexico's Army and Air Forces. Its head is the Secretary of National Defense who, like the co-equal Secretary of the Navy, is directly answe ...
(SEDENA) identified López Falcón as a rising drug smuggler. Security forces suspected he kept a low-profile status and posed as a businessman. He used the pseudonyms Gilberto Salinas and Edelio Flores to hide his real identity. López Falcón's cousin
Rolando López Salinas Rolando López Salinas (1948/1953 – September 2018), also known as El Rolis, was a Mexican suspected drug lord and former high-ranking member of the Gulf Cartel, a criminal group based in Tamaulipas, Mexico. López Salinas started his criminal ...
("El Rolis") was reportedly his personal assistant. López Salinas acted as López Falcón's personal bodyguard and head of his security services. Murder operations conducted by López Salinas were ordered directly by García Mena; López Falcón allowed this because he preferred not to be linked to that part of the business. According to Mexican security forces, López Falcón was not known to be a violent criminal leader. He reportedly avoided ordering murders, preferring to focus on drug trafficking and his other interests, which included promoting
ranchera Ranchera () or canción ranchera is a genre of traditional music of Mexico. It dates to before the years of the Mexican Revolution. Rancheras today are played in the vast majority of regional Mexican music styles. Drawing on rural traditional fo ...
music and entertainment, cockfighting, managing his restaurant chains, and
equestrianism Equestrianism (from Latin , , , 'horseman', 'horse'), commonly known as horse riding ( Commonwealth English) or horseback riding (American English), includes the disciplines of riding, driving, and vaulting. This broad description includes the ...
and horse breeding. His affinity for breeding fine horses earned him the nickname "El Señor de los Caballos" (English: The Lord of the Horses). López Falcón was one of the wealthiest people in Miguel Alemán; he owned multiple properties, including an estate known as The Bougainvilleas (Spanish: ''Las Bugambilias''), where he hosted the city's anniversary parties and multiple horse-racing events. García Mena and the Miguel Alemán mayor
Raúl Rodríguez Barrera Raul, Raúl, Raül, and Raüll are forms of a common first name in Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Galician, Asturian, Basque, Aragonese, and Catalan. The name is cognate of the Anglo-Germanic given name Ralph or Rudolph and the French R ...
sometimes attended these events. Other invitees included local officials, members of the Mexican military, and bettors from across Mexico. Authorities suspected his horse-breeding business was a
money laundering Money laundering is the process of illegally concealing the origin of money obtained from illicit activities (often known as dirty money) such as drug trafficking, sex work, terrorism, corruption, and embezzlement, and converting the funds i ...
front and that he used a
strawperson A straw man is a figure not intended to have a genuine beneficial interest in a property, to whom such property is nevertheless conveyed in order to facilitate a transaction. See also * Straw deed * Straw owner * Straw purchase A straw p ...
to manage it. One of López Falcón's last public appearances was on 22 June 2000 when he was seen at the opening of a restaurant in Monterrey; nine pictures of the event were leaked to the Monterrey-based newspaper '' Diario de Monterrey'' two years later. López Falcón appeared with multiple people, including the Nuevo León governor
Fernando Canales Clariond Fernando de Jesús Canales Clariond (born July 21, 1946) is a Mexican politician and businessman affiliated with the National Action Party (PAN). He succeeded his cousin, Benjamín Clariond as governor of Nuevo León in 1997. He also served a ...
. Other attendees included the
Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...
mayor
Eduardo Manuel García Garza Eduardo is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the male name Edward. Another version is Duarte. It may refer to: Association football * Dudu (footballer, born 1992) (Eduardo Pereira Rodrigues), Brazilian footballer * Eduardo (footballer, born 1 ...
and the priest Alejandro Leal, who conducted the inauguration blessings. López Falcón was with his girlfriend María Eugenia Garza Díaz, the daughter of the restaurant owner. When López Falcón was not attending his businesses in Tamaulipas, he spent his time in Texas, where he reportedly continued to run drug trafficking activities. According to the
Texas Department of Public Safety Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous state in the South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the west, and has an international border wi ...
, López Falcón was a legal U.S. resident and lived at a house in
Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...
with a female named Yolanda and a male named Roberto Pérez López. Security forces suspected that López Falcón used Houston as a safe haven; he had a criminal background in Houston where he was identified as an illegal people smuggler. On his Texas driver's license, his name was listed as Adelio López Falcón. He was listed as being tall and weighing . His date of birth was listed as 26 June 1955, whereas in Mexico his year of birth was listed as 1965. The U.S. driver's license was once suspended by a Texan judge; López Falcón was released on parole and was re-issued with a new license with the same Houston address.


New alliances

López Falcón and García Mena began having disagreements in the late 1990s. The differences started after López Falcón began diversifying the Gulf Cartel's portfolio and started smuggling
cocaine Cocaine is a tropane alkaloid and central nervous system stimulant, derived primarily from the leaves of two South American coca plants, ''Erythroxylum coca'' and ''Erythroxylum novogranatense, E. novogranatense'', which are cultivated a ...
to the U.S. from Tamaulipas. García Mena primarily smuggled
marijuana Cannabis (), commonly known as marijuana (), weed, pot, and ganja, List of slang names for cannabis, among other names, is a non-chemically uniform psychoactive drug from the ''Cannabis'' plant. Native to Central or South Asia, cannabis has ...
through this corridor. García Mena sought support from
Osiel Cárdenas Guillén Osiel Cárdenas Guillén (born 18 May 1967) is a former Mexican drug lord and the former top leader of the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas. Originally a mechanic in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, he entered the cartel by killing Juan García Abrego's fri ...
, the top leader of the Gulf Cartel, to try to oust López Falcón. López Falcón sided with López Salinas and sought the support of rival organized crime groups. In mid-2000, López Falcón and López Salinas met with members of the
Sinaloa Cartel The Sinaloa Cartel (, , after the native Sinaloa region), also known as the ''CDS'', the ''Guzmán-Loera Organization'', the ''Federation'', the ''Sinaloa Cartel'', or the Pacific Cartel, is a large, drug trafficking transnational organized cri ...
and brokered a drug deal without the Gulf Cartel's approval. López Falcón eventually left the Gulf Cartel and formed an alliance with the Sinaloa Cartel, which promised López Falcón larger profits in exchange for allowing them to smuggle drugs in Tamaulipas. This prompted García Mena and the Gulf Cartel to fully cut ties with López Falcón and his group. López Falcón forged an alliance with the Sinaloa Cartel,
Milenio Cartel The Milenio Cartel, or Cártel de los Valencia (Valencia family Cartel), was a Mexican criminal organization based in Michoacán. It relocated to Jalisco in the early 2000s. The Jalisco New Generation Cartel was born from the splintering of the ...
, and
Juárez Cartel The Juárez Cartel (, ), also known as the Vicente Carrillo Fuentes Organization, is a Mexican drug cartel based in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, across the Mexico—U.S. border from El Paso, Texas. The cartel is one of several drug trafficking ...
, which operated as a triangle organization. In 2000, the
Attorney General's Office The Attorney General's Office (AGO) is a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It supports the Attorney General and their deputy, the Solicitor General (together, the Law officers of the Crown in England and Wales). It ...
(PGR) confirmed an alliance between López Falcón and
Arturo Beltrán Leyva Marcos Arturo Beltrán Leyva (September 27, 1961 – December 16, 2009) was a Mexican drug lord who, alongside his brothers, founded and led the Beltrán-Leyva Cartel. Prior to founding his own organization, Beltran-Leyva was a longtime high-ra ...
, a kingpin who had ties with the drug lords
Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada Ismael Mario Zambada García (born 1 January 1948), also known as El Mayo, is a Mexican former drug lord and top leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, an international crime syndicate based in the Mexican state of Sinaloa. Before he assumed leadership ...
and
Ignacio Coronel Villarreal Ignacio "Nacho" Coronel Villarreal (1 February 1954 – 29 July 2010) was a Mexican suspected drug lord and a founder of the Sinaloa Cartel, a criminal group based in Sinaloa. He worked alongside Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, Mexico's most-wa ...
. According to information provided by United States
Drug Enforcement Administration The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is a Federal law enforcement in the United States, United States federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Justice tasked with combating illicit Illegal drug trade, drug trafficking a ...
(DEA), López Falcón also worked closely with the Milenio Cartel kingpin
Armando Valencia Cornelio Armando may refer to: * Armando (given name) * Armando (artist) (1929–2018), the name used by Dutch artist Herman Dirk van Dodeweerd * Armando (producer) Armando Gallop (sometimes written as Armando Gallup) (February 12, 1970 – December 17, ...
. López Falcón was reportedly the Milenio Cartel's main intermediary in
Monterrey, Nuevo León Monterrey (, , abbreviated as MtY) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern Mexican state of Nuevo León. It is the ninth-largest city and the second largest metropolitan area, after Greater Mexico City. Located at the foothills of th ...
. Investigators also believed López Falcón allowed the Milenio Cartel to smuggle drugs from Nuevo Laredo to Texas. Intelligence reports, however, indicated Valencia Cornelio did not fully trust López Falcón because he believed he was a law enforcement informant. To defend himself from the Gulf Cartel's front, López Falcón also sided with
Dionisio Román García Sánchez Dionisio, a variant of Dionysius, may refer to: People Given name * Dionisio Lazzari (1617–1689), Italian sculptor and architect * Dionisio Aguado y García (1784–1849), Spanish classical guitarist and composer * Papa Isio (1846–1911), Dioni ...
("El Chacho"), a former state police officer and head of a Nuevo Laredo-based smuggling group known as Los Chachos. Los Chachos had an alliance with the triangle organization López Falcón worked with and helped them smuggle drugs in Tamaulipas. Los Chachos also helped López Falcón's group fight off the Gulf Cartel's forces in their turf. In his new role, López Falcón continued to pose as a legitimate businessman. He was tasked with ensuring his new organization had political support and protection from the police, especially because they were operating in a locale they were not originally from. To gain political support in northern Mexico, López Falcón's new leaders tasked him with finding an influential politician to support them. López Falcón reached out to the National Action Party (PAN) politician
Mauricio Fernández Garza Mauricio Fernández Garza (born April 2, 1950 in Monterrey) is a Mexican people, Mexican politician, businessman and collector directly related to the Fernández Ruiloba wealthy and prominent family; owners of PYOSA (Pigmentos Y Oxidos SA). He w ...
, who was running for governor of Nuevo León in 2003. According to Fernández, López Falcón contacted him in early 2003 for a meeting; López Falcón once visited his office to deliver several suitcases filled with U.S. dollars. The money was reportedly intended to help Fernández finance his campaign in exchange for his political support and permission to operate in Nuevo León should Fernández win the election. Fernández said he did not accept the money.


Downfall

On 22 September 2000, the Gulf Cartel carried out an armed attack against López Salinas in Miguel Alemán. He was not injured in the attack but his chauffeur Héctor Arias was wounded. The attack was presumed to be carried out on García Mena's orders. Five days later, six gunmen were arrested in
Ciudad Camargo, Tamaulipas Camargo is a municipality in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. It is located on the US border, across from Rio Grande City, Texas. It has an official population of 14,933 inhabitants (2010 census). The municipal seat is Ciudad Camargo, with a po ...
, following an anonymous tip provided to the
Tamaulipas State Police The Tamaulipas State Guard (), previously known as the Tamaulipas Force (), is a state agency of law enforcement in Tamaulipas, Mexico. It operates public safety services. It is a division of the Secretariat of Public Safety of Tamaulipas (). His ...
. In their confession to the police, the gunmen said they were hired by López Salinas and were from the Sinaloan cities of
Culiacán Culiacán, officially Culiacán Rosales, is a city in northwestern Mexico, the capital and largest city of both Culiacán Municipality and the state of Sinaloa. The city was founded on 29 September 1531 by the Spanish conquistadors Lázaro de ...
and
Guamúchil Guamúchil (, , ) is a city located in the state of Sinaloa in Northwestern Mexico. It is located 100 km north of Culiacán, the capital of Sinaloa. The city serves as the seat of the municipality of Salvador Alvarado and is the economic ...
. They also said they were stationed in
Nuevo León Nuevo León, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Nuevo León, is a Administrative divisions of Mexico, state in northeastern Mexico. The state borders the Mexican states of Tamaulipas, Coahuila, Zacatecas, and San Luis Potosí, San Luis ...
and ordered to make incursions into Tamaulipas. This alarmed the police of the presence of organized crime members from other turfs outside Tamaulipas. On 27 November 2000, the Miguel Alemán Rural Police chief Pablo Gaytán Mejía was murdered by four gunmen, presumably on López Falcón's orders. Gaytán Mejía was reportedly a close friend of García Mena and helped facilitate his drug operations. After the attack, García Mena's henchmen killed the four gunmen. Fearing for his life, López Falcón fled Miguel Alemán and settled in Monterrey. His family fled the area after learning about his issues with García Mena. López Falcón's estate was abandoned but he continued to visit the city discreetly. On 9 April 2001, the Mexican Army arrested García Mena after a week-long manhunt in Guardados de Abajo, Camargo. The Gulf Cartel suspected López Falcón plotted against him by informing Mexican authorities of his whereabouts. They also believed the way security forces raided several properties containing drugs and the house where García Mena was hiding was unusually specific, which led them to believe López Falcón had betrayed them. The Gulf Cartel thus carried out a search to kill López Falcón and other aligned with his faction. To increase law enforcement and media attention against López Falcón and several of his accomplices, Cárdenas Guillén's lawyer
Juan Jesús Guerrero Chapa ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. The name is of Hebrew origin and has the meaning "God has been gracious." It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking countries around the world and in the Philippi ...
leaked a false rumor that López Falcón was part of a new Nuevo León-based criminal group known as the Monterrey Cartel (Spanish: ''Cártel de Monterrey'') to the national press in mid-2001. This media strategy was also employed to help ease the increasing law enforcement pressure the Gulf Cartel was experiencing in Tamaulipas following the arrest of García Mena and to help refocus their efforts against Cárdenas Guillén's turf competitors. Federal and state officials later stated that the Monterrey Cartel did not exist.


Assassination attempt

On 13 May 2001, López Falcon attended a
Vicente Fernández Vicente Fernández Gómez (17 February 1940 – 12 December 2021) was a Mexican mariachi singer, actor and film producer. Nicknamed "Chente" (short for Vicente), "El Charro de Huentitán" (The Charro from Huentitán), "El Ídolo de México" (Th ...
music concert inside a
cockpit A cockpit or flight deck is the area, on the front part of an aircraft, spacecraft, or submersible, from which a pilot controls the vehicle. The cockpit of an aircraft contains flight instruments on an instrument panel, and the controls th ...
arena in
Guadalupe, Nuevo León Guadalupe is a city and surrounding municipality located in the state of Nuevo León, in northern Mexico. It is part of the Greater Monterrey Metropolitan area. The municipality of Guadalupe, which lies adjacent to the east side of Monterrey, al ...
. At around 4:00 am, approximately fourteen gunmen from the Gulf Cartel's former paramilitary group
Los Zetas Los Zetas (, Spanish for "The Zs") is a Mexican criminal syndicate and designated terrorist organization, known as one of the most dangerous of Mexico's drug cartels. They are known for engaging in brutally violent " shock and awe" tactics suc ...
stormed the arena searching for him. Authorities confirmed that the gunmen were carrying
AK-47 The AK-47, officially known as the Avtomat Kalashnikova (; also known as the Kalashnikov or just AK), is an assault rifle that is chambered for the 7.62×39mm cartridge. Developed in the Soviet Union by Russian small-arms designer Mikhail Kala ...
s and .38 calibre firearms, identified themselves as members of the army, and ordered people to stay on the ground. The gunmen entered the arena and fired their guns into the air to create confusion among the attendees and force López Falcón to flee outside, where the gunmen planned to kill him. Surveillance videos captured López Falcón in the front seats of the event sitting next to a blond woman. He was able to leave before the gunmen entered the arena after his bodyguards alerted him of the presence of armed men outside. López Falcón had at least twenty bodyguards posted inside and outside the arena. He left the premises escorted by his gunmen and by merging with the crowd of concert attendees. He did not suffer any injuries. Outside the premises, Los Zetas shot at multiple vehicles and injured a bystander but they failed to kill their intended target. Authorities initially suspected García Mena ordered the attack as retaliation for López Falcón's alleged involvement in his arrest. Other authorities suspected Cárdenas Guillén ordered the attack because he saw López Falcón as a threat to his hegemony and wanted to eliminate the competition on his turf. Investigators stated the Gulf Cartel was tracking López Falcón's whereabouts in Nuevo León and were reportedly close to killing him at his home in Monterrey days prior. Upon discovering that López Falcón was planning to attend the event that night, the Gulf Cartel mounted an operation against him. Prior to the attack, López Falcón was a relatively unknown crime boss outside his area of influence. Los Zetas was also a newly formed group within the Gulf Cartel and was not well known outside Tamaulipas. The attack catapulted to fame both Los Zetas and López Falcón to national attention. Among politicians, the incident raised worries about the presence of drug lords in Nuevo León and the alleged existence of the Monterrey Cartel. On 3 June 2001, a picture of López Falcón sitting in the arena's seats was published by the Monterrey-based newspaper ''El Norte''. A few days later, an anonymous citizen issued a memo to the PGR and ''El Norte'' with pictures of López Falcón accusing him of being in public places in Miguel Alemán with armed men and that local authorities did nothing to stop him. Authorities suspect this memo was submitted by his rivals. Later that month, the PGR and Nuevo León authorities confirmed López Falcón did not have a pending arrest warrant or a formal indictment at a federal and state level. Both levels of government agreed to work together to formally start an investigation against López Falcón's alleged criminal activities. PGR investigator
Mario Roldán Quirino Mario (; ) is a Character (arts), character created by the Japanese game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the star of the ''Mario (franchise), Mario'' franchise, a recurring character in the ''Donkey Kong'' franchise, and the mascot of the Ja ...
opened an investigation against him. Roldán Quirino, however, was murdered on 21 February 2002.


Aftermath and manhunt

Following the assassination attempt, authorities increased their efforts to arrest López Falcón, one of the most-wanted criminals in northern Mexico. On 5 June 2001, the Mexican Army carried out a secret operation in Mier, Miguel Alemán, and Camargo to arrest López Falcón and suspected Gulf Cartel trafficker Alesio García Peña ("El Huarachón"). They raided multiple properties, including two houses in Mier tied to García Peña, a ranch owned by García Mena, and a property in Camargo, where they seized of marijuana. The Army also set up a checkpoint in front of López Falcón's estate but did not raid it. The PGR confirmed the drugs were not linked to the traffickers for whom they were searching and one person was arrested in the operation. The operation lasted less than a day; the federal troops returned to their barracks before midnight. Local authorities supported the measures carried out by the Army and the PGR, and stated that they expected more secret operations to be carried out in the area in light of the growing presence of organized crime activity in northern Mexico. On 4 August 2001, a shootout between López Falcón's and López Salinas' gunmen broke out outside a cockfighting arena in Reynosa. According to police reports, the gunmen got into a verbal dispute at the parking lot of the arena after the
Bobby Pulido José Roberto Pulido Jr. (born April 25, 1971), known professionally as Bobby Pulido, is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and actor. He is acclaimed for pioneering the dissemination of Tejano music to a youthful audience, subsequently a ...
music concert ended. Three people were injured in the attack. Authorities drew similarities with the shootout in Nuevo León months prior in which López Falcón was targeted. On 30 October 2001, approximately fourteen gunmen stormed an estate in Monterrey to kill Peña Cuéllar. One person was killed and two others were injured but Peña Cuéllar was not present when the incident occurred. According to police reports, the attack may have been ordered by López Falcón as vengeance after he discovered Peña Cuéllar had started the rumor that López Falcón was responsible for García Mena arrest. Security forces suspected that by framing López Falcón, Peña Cuéllar wanted to earn a high-ranking position within Cárdenas Guillén's chain of command. García Mena had originally framed López Falcón as his informant and blamed him for his capture. On 20 November 2001, López Falcón's bodyguard Juan Martínez Torres ("El Banano") was kidnapped in Miguel Alemán. A few days later, López Falcón's lead accountant Jaime Barrera Peña was also kidnapped; police suspected they were probably kidnapped by Cárdenas Guillén's faction. On 28 November 2001, eighteen gunmen broke into an estate owned by Gabriel Garza Rodríguez, a suspected Gulf Cartel member, in Cadereyta. The gunmen killed one of the property guards and injured two children. The PGR and the Mexican Army raided the property a few days later in search of López Falcón, and continued their searches in Monterrey to arrest him and several of his associates, including Mario Ramírez ("La Gata") and René García Solís ("La Pata de Garra"), Raymundo's sibling. The attack was reportedly carried out on López Falcón's orders because René was linked to Peña Cuéllar. The gunmen mistook Raymundo's estate for René's. On 13 May 2002, the Gulf Cartel kidnapped López Falcón's associate García Sánchez in Monterrey; he was tortured and killed, and his corpse was abandoned in Nuevo Progreso, Tamaulipas, a few days later. Killings and attacks between the Gulf Cartel and López Falcón's faction continued in Nuevo León through the rest of the year. The escalating dispute between both groups led to additional military deployments of the Mexican Armed Forces in Tamaulipas and Nuevo León.


Closing in on López Falcón

In late 2002, authorities seized multiple drug shipments reportedly owned by López Falcón's group. On 9 October 2002, former Tamaulipas State Police chief Carlos González Pamatz was arrested in Houston with of cocaine from López Falcón's group. The following day, federal policemen stationed in
China, Nuevo León China is a municipality in the Mexican state of Nuevo León. China is approximately northeast of Monterrey. According to a 2010 census done by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography The National Institute of Statistics and Geog ...
, arrested suspected drug traffickers Jorge Calzada García and Patricia Rodríguez Madrigal, who were in possession of of cocaine in a vehicle. In their police confession, Calzada García said he was hired by a man named Evelio or Edelio, who went by the alias El Yeyo. He said he did not recall this man's last name. Policemen suspected he was referring to López Falcón. Calzada García was paid US$4,000 to transport the drugs; he said he was told to collect the vehicle filled with drugs at a shopping center in
San Pedro Garza García San Pedro Garza García (also known as San Pedro) is a city-municipality in the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Mexican state of Nuevo León and part of the Monterrey Metropolitan area. It is a contemporary commercial suburb of the larger met ...
and drive it to
Reynosa Reynosa () is a border city in the northern part of the state of Tamaulipas, in Mexico which also holds the municipal seat of Reynosa Municipality. The city is located on the southern bank of the Rio Grande in the international Reynosa–McAlle ...
, where he initially brokered the deal and received the vehicle's keys from El Yeyo. Rodríguez Madrigal said she was not aware of the drug deal. The couple was driving a
Peugeot Peugeot (, , ) is a French automobile brand owned by Stellantis. The family business that preceded the current Peugeot companies was established in 1810, making it the oldest car company in the world. On 20 November 1858, Émile Peugeot applie ...
that was bought in the state of
Jalisco Jalisco, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Jalisco, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. It is located in western Mexico and is bordered by s ...
but had Tamaulipas license plates. Investigators began investigating a drug link between Monterrey, Reynosa, and Guadalajara. While facing a judge, however, Calzada García retracted his statement and said he did not recall the exact name of the man who hired him. He said the man's name was Edelio Ramírez or Rodríguez, that his nickname was La Yeya, and that he lived in
McAllen, Texas McAllen is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Hidalgo County. It is located at the southern tip of the state in the Rio Grande Valley, on the Mexican border. The city limits extend south to the Rio Grande, acros ...
. This was the second largest drug seizure in Nuevo León in 2002 and showed the PGR López Falcón was likely operating in Monterrey and trying to take over the turf from Cárdenas Guillén. Reynosa was generally considered a turf controlled by Cárdenas Guillén. On 14 March 2003, the Mexican Army arrested Cárdenas Guillén in Matamoros. Prior to his capture, the Gulf Cartel experienced several major blows from law enforcement crackdowns, including the arrests of some of Cárdenas Guillén's lieutenants such as García Mena, Adán Medrano Rodríguez,
Rubén Sauceda Rivera Reuben or Reuven is a Biblical male first name from Hebrew רְאוּבֵן (Re'uven), meaning "behold, a son". In the Bible, Reuben was the firstborn son of Jacob. Variants include Reuvein in Yiddish or as an English variant spelling on the ...
, and José Manuel Garza Rendón. Authorities believed Cárdenas Guillén's possible successors were Peña Cuéllar, Víctor Manuel Vázquez Mireles,
Gregorio Sauceda Gamboa Gregorio Sauceda Gamboa is a Mexicans, Mexican illegal drug trafficker of the Gulf Cartel. Sauceda was a former investigative police officer, who helped smuggle an average of 10 tons of cocaine and 30 tons of marijuana across the border each mo ...
, and
Jorge Eduardo Costilla Sánchez Jorge Eduardo Costilla Sánchez (born 1 August 1971) is a former Mexican drug lord and top leader of the criminal drug trafficking organization known as the Gulf Cartel. He was among Mexico's most-wanted drug lords, until his arrest in 2012. H ...
. They reiterated that one of the major targets was López Falcón, who they regarded as one of the top-three Gulf Cartel leaders in the past two years. They said unlike other gangs like Los Chachos, López Falcón had the operational capacity to confront the Gulf Cartel. The Army and the PGR thus refocused their efforts to apprehend him; they feared he had become one of the leading drug lords in northern Mexico and south Texas. They also suspected he no longer lived in Tamaulipas and had relocated to Nuevo León, where he reportedly owned several money laundering fronts.


Death

On 6 May 2003, two gunmen murdered López Falcón in a restaurant in
Guadalajara, Jalisco Guadalajara ( ; ) is the capital and the most populous city in the western Mexican List of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco, as well as the most densely populated municipality in Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population ...
. The gunmen sat at a table close to López Falcón, who was having breakfast with horse breeder Óscar Alejandro Coker Preciado and an unidentified woman. López Falcón finished his food and chatted for over an hour afterwards. When he ordered the check, the gunmen stood up and began walking towards the restroom. On their way, they passed next to the table where López Falcón was sitting and shot him from behind. Investigators confirmed López Falcon was shot three times in the head at
point-blank range Point-blank range is any distance over which a certain firearm or gun can hit a target without the need to elevate the barrel to compensate for bullet drop, i.e. the gun can be pointed horizontally at the target. For targets beyond-blank range ...
and died at the scene. According to investigators, López Falcón arrived at the restaurant after being dropped off by someone else. He had no bodyguards with him. Authorities requested the closure of the restaurant until further notice so evidence from the crime scene could be gathered. López Falcón was at the restaurant discussing the purchase of a pure-bred horse, which he wanted to take to one of his ranches in Texas. Coker Preciado and López Falcón had previously met in Texas and Monterrey. Coker Preciado was unharmed in the attack but suffered a nervous breakdown and was attended to by emergency staff when they arrived at the scene. The other person who was eating with them left moments before the murder. A police officer guarding a nearby bank heard the gunshots; he thought a bank robbery was underway and called for reinforcements. The Guadalajara Municipal Police were the first to arrive at the scene; they discovered López Falcón's body sitting next to his table. When he died, López Falcón had with him four cellphones, a push-to-talk device, US$1,260 and MXN$6,200 in cash, several credit cards, his Texas driver's license, a Rolex watch, a gold ring and necklace, and a business card from a McAllen-based construction company.


Investigation

When news of the murder was made public, it was not known that the victim was López Falcón and/or a suspected crime boss. Preliminary reports described the victim as a businessman from Monterrey; rumors the businessman was a crime boss, likely López Falcón himself, began circulating. Mexican authorities doubted the victim was López Falcón because they thought it was unusual that he was in Guadalajara, which was far from his center of operations. Investigators had information that he was hiding in McAllen. López Falcón's identity card named him by his alternate first name Adelio. Jalisco authorities suspected the victim was probably López Falcón and federal authorities did not discard this possibility. His identity was confirmed by the Jalisco authorities on 8 May after they cross-referenced his identity cards with information federal authorities had on file. Jalisco authorities confirmed that López Falcón had no pending criminal charges in Jalisco but said he was suspected of being involved in drug trafficking in Tamaulipas and Nuevo León. The same day, Jalisco's attorney general Gerardo Octavio Solís Gómez confirmed the PGR was taking over the case and placing it under federal jurisdiction; the case would be headed by the Specialized Unit Against Organized Crime (UEDO), one of the PGR's former branches. State officials requested the PGR's assistance on the case because of López Falcón's criminal profile and his alleged involvement in drug trafficking, a crime that falls under federal jurisdiction. The UEDO said the investigation would also include the charges of illegal possession of military-exclusive firearms and organized crime involvement against the suspects. They were expecting Jalisco authorities to open a separate homicide case under state jurisdiction. Federal authorities asked state officials to withhold information about the case from the public and recommended secrecy in the investigation. The federal government dispatched troops from the
Federal Investigation Agency The Federal Investigation Agency (; reporting name: FIA) is a border control, criminal investigation, counter-intelligence and security agency under the control of the Interior Secretary of Pakistan, tasked with investigative jurisdiction on u ...
(AFI) and the PGR to Guadalajara. They were planning to increase security in Jalisco and Nuevo León to prevent a violent response from organized crime groups. López Salinas was the suspected successor to López Falcón; authorities believed a turf war between his faction and those aligned with Cárdenas Guillén was a possible aftermath. The UEDO also took Coker Preciado to
Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...
for questioning. Coker Preciado confirmed to investigators that there were two gunmen in the attack and that they escaped the crime scene in a white vehicle. Eyewitnesses said López Falcón's killers were dressed in white and walked away from the scene after killing him but most were unable to provide investigators with physical descriptions of them. The policeman at the bank said he saw the gunmen; he was the only person who provided the PGR with this information. Some eyewitnesses said a woman arrived at the restaurant moments after the murder to inspect the scene but investigators could not link her with López Falcón. At the scene, investigators discovered two .45 pistol bullet casings. According to the PGR and SEDENA, their main line of investigation was that López Falcón was killed by members of Los Zetas on Cárdenas Guillén's orders. They suspected Jesús Enrique Rejón Aguilar ("El Mamito"),
Heriberto Lazcano Lazcano Heriberto Lazcano Lazcano (25 December 1974 – 7 October 2012), commonly referred to by his aliases Z-3 and El Lazca, was a Mexican drug lord and the leader of Los Zetas drug cartel. He was one of the most-wanted Mexican drug lords. Lazcano j ...
("El Lazca"), Luis Alberto Guerrero Reyes ("El Guerrero"), and/or Óscar Guerrero Silva ("El Winniepooh") may have participated in the murder. Before joining organized crime, these men were members of the Mexican Army's Special Forces Airmobile Group (GAFE) and were hired by Cárdenas Guillén as part of his security circle. Another line of investigation suggested López Falcón may have been killed by a gambling group within the horse-racing or cockfighting industries; he was known for gambling millions on these sports and the police believed the method the gunmen used to kill López Falcón was one not usually used by Tamaulipas-based criminal groups. The police did not discard the possibility López Falcón may have been betrayed and killed on orders of the Milenio Cartel's leadership circle, or by members of Los Texas, a Nuevo Laredo-based gang that was a rival to both López Falcón and the Gulf Cartel.


Body handling and funeral

López Falcón's corpse was first kept at the Forensic Medical Service in Jalisco, where authorities expected his family members to reclaim it. They wanted to interview his relatives about the case. On 8 May, a man who identified himself as López Falcón's nephew telephoned the morgue asking how to reclaim the body but he did not arrive in person. Another man called the morgue asking for similar details; he grew angry at staff and told them he would forcibly take the body if they did not give it to him. This incident alarmed authorities, and forced them to guard the morgue and López Falcón's body using security forces from
Guadalajara metropolitan area The Guadalajara metropolitan area (officially, in ) is the most populous metropolitan area of the Mexican state of Jalisco and the third largest in the country after Greater Mexico City Greater Mexico City is the conurbation around Mexico City, ...
, the Jalisco State Police, the PGR, and AFI, until further notice. On 9 May, López Falcón's sister traveled from
Roma, Texas Roma is a city in Starr County, Texas, United States. Its population was 11,561 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. The city is located along the Rio Grande, across from Ciudad Miguel Alemán, Tamaulipas, Ciudad Miguel Alemán in Tamaul ...
, to Guadalajara to confirm the identity of the corpse. She was accompanied by her two attorneys to start the body reclamation process. The UEDO interviewed his sister before meeting with the Jalisco Institute of Forensic Sciences, who gathered her blood samples and conducted DNA tests on the body. The test results were expected to be ready in one or two weeks, and Jalisco authorities stated that the corpse would not be given to relatives until their family link was confirmed. The PGR were responsible for setting the date when the body would be given to López Falcón's family. After the DNA tests, his sister returned to Texas and awaited the notification from Mexican authorities. The police thought his family would hold a wake in Miguel Alemán or Mexico City, and that López Falcón would be buried in Guardados de Arriba, a rural community in Miguel Alemán where his wife, who died in the 1990s, was buried. On 11 May, the
Secretariat of Health The Secretariat of Health ( Spanish: ''Secretaría de Salud'') is the government department in charge of all social health services in Mexico, and an integral part of the Mexican health system. The Secretary of Health is a member of the Executive ...
approved López Falcón's transfer; his corpse was flown from Miguel Hidalgo International Airport in Guadalajara to
General Lucio Blanco International Airport Reynosa International Airport (); officially ''Aeropuerto Internacional General Lucio Blanco'' (General Lucio Blanco International Airport) () is an international airport located in Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Mexico, near the Mexico–United States bor ...
in Reynosa. The body was then transported to the U.S. and sent to a funeral home in
Rio Grande City, Texas Rio Grande City is a city in and the county seat of Starr County, Texas, United States. The population was 15,317 at the time of the 2020 census. The city is west of McAllen. It is connected to Camargo, Tamaulipas, via the Rio Grande City ...
, where it was prepared for burial. At Roma–Ciudad Miguel Alemán International Bridge, the Mexican Army set up a checkpoint to search for suspicious vehicles and individuals with drugs or weapons. They questioned drivers about their destination and purpose of their travel, and were wary of vehicles with license plates other than Tamaulipas' and of luxurious vehicles. A wake and mass were held on 12 May; his sister said López Falcón would be buried in Roma on 14 May. At the morgue and funeral, his family asked the local police to control attendees' access; visitors were eventually allowed to visit López Falcón's services but the police did not allow the media to access the area. Multiple
corrido The corrido (Spanish pronunciation: Help:IPA/Spanish, oˈriðo is a famous narrative metrical tale and poetry that forms a Ballad (music), ballad. The songs often feature topics such as oppression, history, daily life for criminals, the vaqu ...
and
mariachi Mariachi (, , ) is a genre of regional Mexican music dating back to at least the 18th century, evolving over time in the countryside of various regions of western Mexico. The usual mariachi group today consists of as many as eight violins, two ...
songs were composed for López Falcón and played during his funeral.


See also

*
List of unsolved murders These lists of unsolved murders include notable cases where victims were murdered in unknown circumstances. * List of unsolved murders (before 1900) * List of unsolved murders (1900–1979) * List of unsolved murders (1980–1999) * List of unsol ...
*
Mexican Drug War The Mexican drug war is an List of ongoing armed conflicts, ongoing Asymmetric warfare, asymmetric armed conflict between the Federal government of Mexico, Mexican government and various Drug cartel#Mexico, drug trafficking syndicates. When the ...


Footnotes


References


Bibliography

* * * * * * * * *


Further reading

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lopez Falcon, Edelio 1965 births 2003 deaths Gulf Cartel members Mexican people convicted of money laundering Mexican racehorse owners and breeders Murdered Mexican gangsters Criminals from Houston People from Monterrey People from Miguel Alemán, Tamaulipas People murdered in Mexico Unsolved murders in Mexico