Jalisco tourism boss was Templarios money launderer, assassinated on orders of Los Matazetas

Guadalajara -
Former Jalisco Secretary of Tourism José de Jesús Gallegos Álvarez, who was executed in broad daylight on a Guadalajara street Mar. 13, 2013, was a money launder for the now defunct Michoacán cartel Los Caballeros Templarios, one of his attackers has testified before judicial authorities.

Gallegos was shot multiple times after being pursued by a hit team during a high speed chase, causing him to lose control of his vehicle. Jalisco Secretary of Tourism assassinated in Guadalajara. He died at the scene.

Jonathan García García, one of the accused assassins, said Gallegos was targeted on direct orders of Nemesio Oseguera, the supreme leader of the Guadalajara based Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG), commonly known as Los Matazetas, or the Zeta Killers.

Before the demise of the Templarios at the hands of federal forces and local militias earlier this year, CJNG was its primary opponent in Jalisco and the neighboring states of Michoacán and Colima. Rubén Oseguera, Nemesio's son, was arrested by Mexican troops in the suburban Guadalajara community of Zapopan on Jan. 30. Federal officials said the younger Oseguera was in charge of a huge drug trafficking network which imported narcotics from Central and South America and exported them to the United States. Rubén's job was also to prevent the entry of Templarios operatives into Jalisco and Colima. Federals capture key Matazeta operative in suburban Guadalajara.

According to a Mexican national news network which examined transcripts of García's testimony, he told prosecutors,

"Look, a--holes, the Secretary of Tourism was going around laundering cash for the f---ing Caballeros Templarios, and this gentleman - had he been allowed to continue on - would have bought off all the authorities, and the Templarios would have begun working in our own backyard, as if it were nothing, with full protection of the state government, and so - well, the Secretary could not be allowed to live out that weekend."

"The boss wanted us to kill him, so that the Caballeros Templarios couldn't move into Guadalajara to take over things. We didn't want to lose the plaza (i.e., control of drug trafficking and organized crime activity), so of course, we all said 'yes'," García testified.

The hit team monitored Gallegos' customary route and work habits for several days before chasing him down on a Saturday afternoon. But they had considered executing him in the state government palace in the heart of Guadalajara - a plan ultimately nixed by CJNG boss Oseguera as too risky, with little chance of escape.

García was arrested May 14, 2013, and several other participants were subsequently taken into custody. At least 15 others remain at large, including the mastermind of the operation, Nemesio Oseguera. At one year, assassination of Jalisco tourism minister remains an open file.

May 14, 2013 - Drug cartels behind three recent Guadalajara attacks
Apr. 23, 2013 - Guadalajara's mayor: "I'm worried about security"

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