Jose Noriel Portillo Gil, nicknamed El Chueco, has become the most wanted man in the north of the country after federal authorities identified him as the alleged killer of the two Jesuit priests in Urique, Chihuahua.
According to the newspaper Noroeste, in 2018, Portillo Gil was singled out for the murder of Patrick Braxton Andrews, a professor from the United States.
For its part, Grupo Fórmula highlights that the alleged perpetrator is also investigated for his possible responsibility in the murder of journalist Miroslava Breach as well as the kidnapping and murder in 2019, of activist Cruz Soto Caraveo.
Portillo’s Background
José Noriel Portillo Gil, is the alleged leader of a criminal group that controls the Sierra Tarahumara and who has also been linked to the Sinaloa Cartel.
El Chueco has been wanted by both state and federal authorities since 2017, after he ordered an attack on the facilities of the State Investigation Agency (AEI) in Urique.
In addition, information from the newspaper Milenio indicates that Portillo Gil could also be involved in the crimes of illegal logging and copper theft.
Read: “People like this do not abound in this country”: this was the work of Joaquín Mora and Javier Campos, Jesuits murdered in Chihuahua
The alleged perpetrator, who is around 30 years old and is originally from the municipality of Urique, would have his area of operations in areas of the Sierra Tarahumara such as San Rafael, Ciénega de Trejo, Guadalupe Coronado, Mesa de Arturo, Cerocahui and Bahuichivo.
Photo: Secretariat of Security and Citizen Protection
Arrest warrant
During the morning press conference, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador stated that the alleged murderer of the Jesuits, Javier Campos Morales and Joaquín Mora Salazar already has an arrest warrant since 2018, however, he was never arrested.
While the Secretariat of Security and Citizen Protection reported that a search card has already been activated for José “N”, alias El Chueco, for qualified homicide against the religious and allegedly of a tourist guide.
“According to the investigations, he has been seen in the regions of Cerocahui, Bahuichivo, Porochi, Poblado Rodeo and Urique, in that entity,” the document reads.
However, in an interview with Joaquín López Dóriga, Ricardo Palma, son of Pedro Palma, the tourist guide, explained that at the moment there is no confirmation that his father is the third victim of homicide.
“My father was not being chased, he was eating in a hotel with tourists and these armed men came in and put him in a van, there was no chase as such,” Ricardo said.
Meanwhile, the Prosecutor’s Office of Chihuahua announced the reward of 5 million pesos for information that helps the capture of the Chueco, “the highest reward that has been offered in the history of the state,” according to the state prosecutor, Roberto Fierro.
FGE offers reward of up to 5 million pesos for capture of “El Chueco”
• We will not give up in the fight against impunity: Prosecutor Fierro
•It is the highest reward that has been offered in the history of the State https://t.co/lzaWKgiHo6#FGEChih pic.twitter.com/t0DJYfhvOK
— Attorney General’s Office of the State of Chihuahua (@Fiscalia_Chih) June 22, 2022
Last Monday, June 20, the Jesuit community in Mexico reported on the murder of the priests that occurred inside the temple of a community in Cerocahui.
According to Lopez Obrador, the priests tried to help a man who entered the church fleeing the group of armed people.
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