Fifty One Homicides in Juarez so Far in July; 589 So Far This Year

Murder Scene Shortly Before Midnight July 10.  Photo La Polaka

With the midnight assassination of a man last night in Juarez (covered in La Polaka) the body count so far this month is 51.  The bullet-ridden body was lying on the street between two cars in the Del Carmen neighborhood.

On Monday afternoon, Diario de Juarez reports that Adrián Flores Gutiérrez was killed by eight bullet wounds while waiting for his wife and two children to enter his car in front of the mall known as El Pueblito, on Ave. Lincoln, near the Bridge of the Americas.  Preliminary reports suggest the man was an active member of the "Old School" faction of the Azteca gang.  Photographs show he was driving an expensive late-model Audi, so he was presumably a high-ranking member of the gang.  The assassination was filmed by a security camera, and police say they have identified the killers.

Diario also reports the discovery yesterday of the body of a dismembered man, found in several plastic garbage bags near the Electrolux maquila in Southeast Juarez.  The bags were left in an empty lot on Acacias street in the Las Haciendas neighborhood.  A sign near the torso of the man read "La Empresa 300."  This, according to authorities, would suggest the murder was committed by a faction within the Azteca gang--La Empresa-- headed by René Gerardo Garza Santana, a.k.a "El 300."  The Azteca gang recently split into two factions ("La Empresa" and the "Azteca Old School,").  Garza is the leader of La Empresa.  Adrian Flores Gutierrez, killed Monday at El Pueblito (see above), on the other hand, was a member of the Old School.

Not far away from the torso, in another garbage bag, investigators found the head and hands of the man.

Diario reports that Garza was jailed on 15 September of last year for possession of drugs and for carrying an illegal firearm.  He was released after posting a bond of 5000 pesos (about $250 U.S.)

Another dismembered body was found in a 50-gallon garbage container in the Chaveña neighborhood, at Paso del Norte and Eje Juan Gabriel next to the National Railroad building in downtown Juarez.

The body of a man arrested last Sunday selling meth in downtown Juarez was found dead after witnesses heard gunfire yesterday at noon in Barrio Alto at the corner of Oro and Manuel Acuña.  He had been released from jail after posting bond only hours before he was gunned down.

At 9:30 A.M. yesterday the body of a man was found "encobijado" (wrapped in a blanket) in an empty lot in the Southeast section of Juarez.

With these killings the homicide toll so far this year is 589