Security Forces Arrest Sinaloa Cartel Operator 'El Mex', Responsible for Air Operations from South America

“Parro” and “MX” for Borderland Beat

Gilberto Perez Camacho, alias “El Mex”, an alleged operator of the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico City, was detained by security forces over the weekend. El Mex is considered one of the main operators of the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico City.

Investigators say he was responsible for coordinating the cartel’s air operations from Mexico to South America. His cell hired pilots, some of them foreigners, to land aircraft loaded with drugs in the state of Puebla.

They said that El Mex also received and distributed drugs in the western part of Mexico City and used a home in Lomas de Vista Hermosa as a safeguard area.

His home is located an upscale community inside a golf club. Authorities seized three firearms, 85 packages of marijuana, 120 of cocaine, three cell phones, and a computer at his property.

Along with El Mex, authorities confirmed the arrest of the following Sinaloa Cartel members: Jacqueline Velázquez Olivas, 38; Gilberto Pérez Velázquez, 18; Zenaida Martínez Macedonio, 47; and María Teresa Espinoza Hernández, 40.

El Mex’s involvement with the Sinaloa Cartel was confirmed after three Mexicans and two Peruvians were arrested for drug dealing on April 1, 2020 in Mexico City.

As reported by Borderland Beat, Mexico City officials have been reluctant over the years in confirming the presence of major criminal groups like the Sinaloa Cartel in the metropolitan area. But several unprecedented drug seizures in Mexico City since February 2021 show that the Sinaloa Cartel is active there.

Sources: Riodoce; La Silla Rota; El Universal