A multi-part Chihuahua state police operation captured an accused Mexicles gang leader and dismantled a violent crew suspected in 25 homicides in Juárez in recent months, officials said.
Gerardo L.G. alias “El Tokio,” also spelled as “El Tokyo,” is accused of leading a group suspected in 29 acts of violence, including 25 homicides and four shootings resulting in injuries, Chihuahua State Public Safety Secretary Gilberto Loya said at his weekly news conference on Monday, July 27.
State police officers and investigators from the state prosecutor’s office working alongside the Mexican military arrested 24 suspected gang members and associates on various charges as part of an investigation that started in March, Loya said.
‘El Tokyo’ arrested in Juárez operation
The investigation culminated in two simultaneous, parallel operations at 6:30 a.m. on July 21 when the state attorney general’s office in coordination with the military arrested “El Tokyo” while at the same time state police officers and National Guard troops arrested seven members of the reputed gang leader’s armed “security circle,” Loya said.
The Mexicles is a longtime prison-street gang that over the decades has been allied with the Sinaloa and Juárez drug cartels. The gang was formed by Mexicans in the Texas prison system who grouped together for protection in the late 1980s or early 1990s.
“El Tokyo” is accused of ordering dozens of gang-related attacks and killings since February, Loya said during a news conference presentation.
The most recent violence included a homicide on July 19 and a nonfatal shooting on July 17 in the Urbivilla area in the southeastern edge of Juárez and a nonfatal shooting on July 18 in Riberas del Bravo area, across the Rio Grande from Socorro, police said.
The Centinela (Sentinel) public safety camera network tracked vehicles used by the gang as investigators reconstructed crimes and revealed the gang’s organization, operations, members, weapons and vehicles, Loya said.
“The value of each arrest and intervention produced new information” and helped investigators build the case, Loya said.
Loya said that the arrests last week resulted in a reduction in the daily homicides in Juárez, which has had more than 30 killings so far this month compared with a total of 52 in all of June, according to the state’s attorney general’s office.
Daniel Borunda may be reached at dborunda@elpasotimes.com and @BorundaDaniel on X.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Police capture ‘El Tokyo’ in Juárez gang takedown
Reporting by Daniel Borunda, El Paso Times / El Paso Times
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By Daniel Borunda, El Paso Times | USA TODAY Network
