Mexican Female Assassin Confesses To Twenty Murders, Kidnapping
Maria Guadalupe Jimenez Lopez, 26, has been labeled as Mexico’s most deadly female assassin, following her arrest and the confession to twenty murders, along with numerous other charges.
Jimenez, nicknamed “La Tosca,” Spanish for “tough,” was captured last week, along with other alleged members of her group, who were paid $1,700 per month from Los Zatos. The group, one of Mexico’s most notorious drug cartels, reportedly hired the group to carry out contract killings, as well as theft and kidnapping.
Jimenez’s group consisted of Raúl Hernán Martínez Muñoz, “The Black” , 20, Cesar Rodriguez Alberto Urbina, “The Pipen” of 18, Miguel Angel Valdez Salas, “The Mickey”, 26, Julia Alcantar Briseno, 49, and her daughters Cecilia Perla Hernandez Alcantar, 18, ??and Virginia Galvan Elizabeth Alcantar, 30.
Among other crimes, the group has been attributed with the killing of ministerial agent Antonio Montiel Alvarez. They operated just north of the nation’s murder capitol of Ciudad Juárez, and were arrested on May 1st in Guadelupe Victoria, a town close to Monterrey, after the arrest of a colleague the week before led to Jiminez’s name being revealed.
Monterrey was once regarded as Latin America’s safest city, however the industrial hub has recently been plagued with violence, because of a war between the Los Zatos Cartel and rival Gulf Cartel, who are fighting over control of drug distribution and other criminal activity in the area.
President Felipe Calderaon, who took office in December 2006, vowed on inauguration to launch an offensive against the country’s drug cartels. While they have been successful in taking down criminals like Maria “La Tosca” Jimenez, they have seen over 50,000 drug-related deaths in Mexico since December 2006.
The arrests come just days after nine people, all suspected members of the Los Zatos Cartel, were found hanging from a bridge in Nuevo Laredo, a border city. They were among 23 people found murdered in that area. Hours after discovering the bodies, Police also located a cooler containing 14 heads of the deceased, sitting outside city hall, accompanied by a threatening note.
