Fausto Isidro Meza Flores

Fausto Isidro Meza Flores
Born	June 19, 1982
Other names	El Chapo Isidro
Criminal charge	Drug trafficking, murder
Allegiance	Beltrán Leyva Cartel

Fausto Isidro Meza Flores (born June 19, 1982), commonly referred to by his criminal alias El Chapo Isidro ("Shorty Isidro"), is a Mexican drug lord and high-ranking leader of the Beltrán Leyva Cartel, a drug trafficking organization. He is also the alleged leader of Los Mazatlecos and the right-hand man of the drug lord Héctor Beltrán Leyva.

Criminal career

Early life and ascension

Meza Flores (known in the criminal world as El Chapo Isidro) was born on June 19, 1982.^[1] He began his criminal career in the 1990s, at first working for the Juárez Cartel under the tutelage of the then-leader Amado Carrillo Fuentes. After the drug lord died of plastic surgery complications in 1997, Meza Flores deserted the organization along with several other drug traffickers and decided to join the forces of the Beltrán Leyva Cartel. As a member of the Beltrán Leyva brothers, he proved to be a "skilled sicario, capable of daring, cunning and bravado."^[2] When the leader Arturo Beltrán Leyva was gunned down and killed by the Mexican military in December 2009, many within the cartel deserted and left to form an independent criminal organization with Edgar Valdez Villarreal, known as La Barbie. Meza Flores, however, remained loyal to the Beltrán Leyva brothers and possibly forged an alliance with Vicente Carrillo Fuentes.^[2]

Tubutama, Sonora shooting

A fierce gunfight between members of the Sinaloa Cartel (with the backing of Gente Nueva) and the Beltrán Leyva Cartel (with the support of Los Zetas and Meza Flores' men) left about 30 dead in the town of Tubutama, Sonora in northern Mexico on July 1, 2010.^[3][4] The drug gangs clashed just a few miles across the international border with the U.S. state of Arizona – an area notorious for being a smuggling route for narcotics and human trafficking.^[5] Reportedly, Meza Flores and a drug trafficker nicknamed El Gilo were the ones that carried out the surprise ambush attack on the gunmen of the Sinaloa Cartel.^[2] Eleven late-model, bullet-ridden vehicles were found at the scene, along with dozens of high calibre assault rifles. Some of the vehicles had "X" painted on their windows, a method often used by the Mexican drug trafficking organizations to distinguish the vehicles of rival drug cartels during armed confrontations.^[6][7]

Los Mazatlecos era

His gang, Los Mazatlecos, is based in the region of Guasave, Sinaloa, and is responsible for smuggling large quantities of methamphetamine, heroin, marijuana, and cocaine since 2000.^[8][9] He is one of the principal leaders of the Beltrán Leyva Cartel in the city of Mazatlán and in the mountainous areas of Sinaloa state. Since 2010, he is one of the leading rivals of Joaquín "El Chapo "Guzmán, the current leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, along with Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, and Juan José Esparragoza Moreno; the fight between the two drug trafficking groups has generated a wave of kidnappings and executions in Sinaloa.^[10][11] Meza Flores is the right-hand man of Héctor Beltrán Leyva, the top leader of the Beltrán Leyva Cartel; his area of operations is in Mazatlán, Guamúchil, Los Mochis, Choix and Los Cabos. On April 28, 2010, Meza Flores was nearly captured by Mexican law enforcement in the mountains of Choix, Sinaloa. However, the operation left two soldiers dead and twelve of his gunmen killed, including his right-hand man Omar Alfonso Rubio (alias "El Chonte", i.e. the mockingbird). On December 12, 2013, one of Meza Flores's top lieutenants, Ignacio "Nacho" González was arrested in Guasave, Sinaloa by the Mexican Army.^[12]

Status

Meza Flores was a fugitive wanted by the United States government for drug trafficking charges. His last known residence was in the state of Nuevo León, where he was reportedly seen with some of his family members at a youth basketball game in San Pedro Garza García on January 19, 2013.^[13]

Kingpin Act sanction

The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the United States Department of the Treasury announced on January 17, 2013 that they froze the assets of Meza Flores, seven of his family members, and three companies that had connection with his criminal organization through the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act (sometimes referred to simply as the "Kingpin Act").^[14]

Businesses included in the sanction

Name	Registration #	Type	Location	Citations
Autotransportes Terrestres S.A. de C.V.	N/A	Automobile	Guasave, Sinaloa	[1]
Auto Servicio Jatziry S.A. de C.V.	12577	Gas station	Guasave, Sinaloa	[1]
Constructora Jatziry de Guasave S.A. de CV.	13554	Construction	Guasave, Sinaloa	[1]

Family members of Meza Flores

Name	Alias	Birth	Status	Relationship	Citations
Fausto Isidro Meza Angulo	N/A	March 27, 1962	Fugitive	Father	[1][15]
Angelina Flores Apodaca	N/A	July 21, 1958	Fugitive	Mother	[1][15]
Araceli Chan Inzuna	N/A	February 8, 1985	Fugitive	Wife	[1][15]
Flor Angely Meza	N/A	September 20, 1989	Fugitive	Sister	[1][15]
Pánfilo Flores Apodaca	N/A	June 1, 1969	Fugitive	Uncle	[1][15]
Samuel Flores Apodaca	El Pelón	October 23, 1962	Fugitive	Uncle	[1][15]
Agustín Flores Apodaca	El Niño	June 6, 1964	Arrested	Uncle	[1][15]

See also

• Mexican Drug War

References

1. "MEZA FLORES: Drug Trafficking Organization" (PDF). Office of Foreign Assets Control. January 2013. Archived from the original on January 17, 2013. Retrieved January 17, 2013.
2. "Chapo Isidro: A History". Borderland Beat. July 9, 2012. Archived from the original on January 18, 2013. Retrieved January 18, 2013.
3. "El juego final de "Poncho Arce". Ríodoce (in Spanish). November 7, 2011. Archived from the original on December 14, 2012. Retrieved December 14, 2012.
4. Pedraza, Iván (July 2, 2010). "Sicarios de los Beltrán Leyva y Zetas atacan a gente del Chapo en Sonora". Milenio (in Spanish). Archived from the original on December 14, 2012. Retrieved December 14, 2012.
5. "21 die in Mexican gang gunbattle near Arizona border". MSNBC. July 1, 2010. Archived from the original on December 16, 2012. Retrieved December 16, 2012.
6. "Mexico's drug war heats up near Arizona border". MSNBC. The Associated Press. July 5, 2010. Archived from the original on December 16, 2012. Retrieved December 16, 2012.
7. Beckhusen, Robert (November 9, 2012). "Mexican hitman claims cartels bought guns from US Border Patrol". Wired UK. Archived from the original on December 16, 2012. Retrieved December 16, 2012.
8. Durán, Martín (August 22, 2012). "Capturan a tres "mazatlecos" vinculados con matanzas de El Fuerte". El Noroeste (in Spanish). Archived from the original on January 17, 2013. Retrieved January 17, 2013.
9. "Ficha EU a rivales del cártel de Sinaloa: los Meza Flores". Milenio (in Spanish). January 17, 2013. Archived from the original on January 17, 2013.
10. Castillo, Gustavo (May 2, 2012). "Los Beltrán Leyva declaran la guerra al Chapo por el control de Sinaloa". La Jornada (in Spanish). Archived from the original on January 17, 2013. Retrieved January 17, 2013.
11. Otero, Silvia (January 17, 2013). "EU pone en lista de narcos a familia rival de El Chapo". El Universal (Mexico City) (in Spanish). Archived from the original on January 17, 2013.
12. "Cae lugarteniente de "El Chapo Isidro" en Sinaloa". Proceso (magazine) (in Spanish). December 13, 2013. Archived from the original on December 14, 2013. Retrieved December 14, 2013.
13. Cedillo, Juan (January 21, 2013). "El rival de 'El Chapo' señalado por EU no tiene cargos en México". CNNMéxico (in Spanish). Turner Broadcasting System. Archived from the original on January 22, 2013. Retrieved January 22, 2013.
14. "Treasury Designates Additional Sinaloa-Based Drug Trafficking Organization". United States Department of the Treasury. Archived from the original on January 17, 2013. Retrieved January 17, 2013.
15. "EU anuncia sanciones contra cártel de los Meza Flores en México". El Occidental (in Spanish). Organización Editorial Mexicana. January 17, 2013. Archived from the original on January 17, 2013.