Cop Connected to Former CJNG Member El Moreno Murdered in Tecate

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Authorities in Baja California announced that Jesús Manuel Aragón Estrada, a Tecate Municipal Police officer, was murdered on Sunday. He was believed to have been part of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG). Aragón Estrada was under investigation for his suspected cartel ties. He joined the police force in 2012 and was still under suspension on the day he was killed.

At approximately 6:00am on the morning of Sunday, June 28, 2021, Aragón Estrada was driving on Gutiérrez Durán Street in the Downey neighborhood of Tecate. When he reached a part of Gutiérrez street that was close to a Francisco I High School and an Autozone store, multiple unknown armed men riding aboard vehicles shot towards Aragón Estrada in his gray Honda CRV, hitting him multiple times.

Two white pick-up trucks with California license plates, one a Ford Lobo and another a Ford F-150, were abandoned at the scene. Witnesses said that the gunmen fled towards the highway leading to Tijuana. Multiple high-powered bullet shell casings were found near the scene. Surveillance cameras were present near the scene of the shooting and the footage will be reviewed by law enforcement as part of the investigation into Aragón Estrada’s death. 

Background

The agent was identified as one of the key figures in the rise of homicidal violence in Tecate, the Prosecutor’s Office said. It is presumed that Aragon Estrada was the CJNG’s liaison in the police force and prosecutor departments, which received weekly payments for providing information and security to the CJNG.

State authorities added that the police officer provided protection to El Moreno. The officer’s brother Juan Carlos Aragón Estrada is believed to be alias “El Guacho”, the head of sicarios and suspected right-hand man of El Moreno.

In addition, a source said that Officer Aragón Estrada was involved in drug sales and distribution in Tecate along with his mother, nicknamed “La Doña”, who reportedly has drug dealers in Infonavit Colosio and Paraiso neighborhoods.

According to several investigators who have interviewed multiple CJNG members, the police officer was a trusted member of the cartel under local kingpin Dany Isaac Ortíz Covarrubias alias “El Moreno”. El Moreno used to belong to the CJNG however it is believed that around August 2020, El Moreno left the organization. 

ZETA Tijuana weekly reports the Tecate rumors were “they took him out of the cartel, for being violent and por jalar la marca,” or “for hurting the brand”. Moreno has since been threatened multiple times in CJNG narcomantas that label him a traitor, such as one placed on December 23, 2020. 

Of note, El Moreno’s alleged second-in-command Jorge Andrés Quiñonez Ramírez alias “El Buches” was arrested alongside other El Moreno group members on April 26 2021, in the vicinity of the Loma Tova, Tecate. The men were found to be in possession of 3 short barrel firearms, 1 long barrel firearm, and 21 grams of meth. According to El Mexicano newspaper, useful data from their cell phones was able to be extracted by authorities.

Sources for Officer Aragón Estrada: 

Zeta Tijuana Article 1, Article 2, Milenio, El Mexicano 

Sources for El Moreno, El Buches: 

El Sol de Tijuana, El Mexicano, Zeta Tijuana Article 1, Article 2, Punto Norte