THE 21-year-old leader of a notorious Mexican cartel has been killed in a shoot out with cops and the Mexican army.
Maria Guadalupe Lopez Esquivel, alias ‘La Catrina’, died after taking a fatal bullet to the neck after the shootout.
Blurry images are taken from a bodycam during the raid, that cannot be published here, show the young assassin looking frightened and disheveled collapsed behind a wall, her face and clothes covered in blood as she reaches up to the camera.
‘La Catrina’ was suspected of being one of the leading figures of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel and was well known for showing off her curves and dangerous weapons in social media snaps.
She led a team of hitmen within the Jalisco New Generation Cartel cell that carried out an ambush on state cops on October 14, 2019, in the municipality of Aguililla in Michoacan State.
According to local media, the young woman was staying in a safe house with several armed cartel members when the authorities received a tip-off and attacked them on Friday, January 10.
National Guard cops took on the gang and a deadly gunfight ensued.
In footage taken during the fight, Ms. Esquivel is seen struggling for breath on the ground as a cop tells her to remain calm and wait for the helicopter that is on its way to take her to hospital.
The officer says: “Calm down, kid. The helicopter is coming for you. It is coming now, easy, easy, you are going to be okay. Try to hang on.”
Local media said that she died from the gunshot wound several minutes after the helicopter took off.
It is believed that La Catrina joined the CJNG in 2017, having fallen in love with another leader, Miguel “El M2” Fernandez.
She rose rapidly through the ranks under El M2, living a glamorous lifestyle within the cartel.
When she died she was in charge of paying fellow criminals and lead assassinations, extortion, and kidnappings.
El M2 was allegedly also arrested during the raid.
Credit: CENTRAL EUROPEAN NEWS
The CJNG rose to prominence between 2013 and 2015 and is deemed to be the most dangerous and largest Mexican cartel under their leader, Ruben Oseguera Cervantes, aka “El Mencho”.
The gang operates in the Americas, Asia, and Europe.
National Guard officers also reportedly arrested several cartel colleagues identified as Alejandra, Everardo, Brayan, Juan Carlos, Octavio, Pedro, and Alejandro.
Police found 10 firearms with ammunition and seized several vehicles during a later raid, according to reports.
Source: The Sun, blogdelnarco
The Mazatlan Post
