Mexico Identifies Sinaloa Cartel Cell Possibly Tied to Massacre of Mormon U.S. Family

Mexican authorities identified the cartel cell that is likely responsible for murdering three women and six children in a brazen attack on U.S. citizens not far from the New Mexico border.

On Monday, several women and children from the Lebaron family were driving between Sonora and Chihuahua when a group of cartel gunmen attacked–killing three women and injuring six children, Breitbart Texas reported.

A cell of the Sinaloa Cartel called “Jaguares” currently led by Francisco “El Jaguar” Arvizu controls the region, said Chihuahua State Attorney General Cesar Augusto Peniche during a radio interview with Grupo Imagen. While their involvement was not exhaustively confirmed, the criminal organization controls the turf and is likely behind the attack, he said.

“We know that a so-called ‘Arvizu’ is controlling a part of Los Jaguares,” Peniche said in the interview, fingering the regional Sinaloa Cartel head in Agua Prieta, Sonora.

Los Jaguares is a cell within the Gente Nueva faction of the Sinaloa Cartel, the public official said. He explained the criminal organization is dealing with internal strife and a series of attacks for territory by La Linea and Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion.

“The closeness to the border, along with the well-known smuggling of drugs, has led to these criminal groups proliferating in the region with the intent of holding on to their crossing territories into the U.S.,” Peniche said.

The attack against the Lebaron family comes at a time when convoys of heavily armed gunmen were reported roaming the streets of Agua Prieta and clashing with rivals early Tuesday morning.

Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com. 

Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.