A 28-year-old Mexicali municipal police officer was arrested Tuesday night during a joint operation by state, federal, and military forces in the Valle de Mexicali. The officer, identified as Julio Ezequiel, is a person of interest in the June 26-27 killings of two Baja California State Security Force (FESC) agents.
Julio Ezequiel was assigned to the Ejido Nuevo León patrol zone in the agricultural valley east of the city. Authorities stopped him in a 2014 Toyota Corolla along with three other suspects. A search of the vehicle turned up 30 packages of methamphetamine.
Four Detained With Ties to Los Rusos
The three other detainees include an 18-year-old, a 19-year-old from the state of Veracruz, and a 22-year-old woman. All four are identified as persons of interest with ties to Los Rusos, a criminal cell operating in the Mexicali Valley that authorities say is a faction of the Sinaloa Cartel.
The arrests stem from the investigation into two targeted attacks on FESC officers in late June. On the night of June 26, 27-year-old state officer Rubén López and his 26-year-old wife, Anayeli Anaya, were shot dead by gunmen outside their home in Mexicali. Anaya was shielding their three-year-old son when she was killed. The following day, 32-year-old state officer Manuel Enrique Guerrero Sánchez was gunned down at a taquería in the state capital. A woman was also wounded in that attack and was reported in serious condition.
Officials Had Warned of Police Involvement
Baja California State Attorney General María Elena Andrade Ramírez had already flagged possible police involvement in the killings before Tuesday’s arrests. At a press conference on June 29, Andrade and Baja California Security Minister Laureano Carrillo said the attacks appeared to be retaliation for recent security operations in the valley, where an alleged Los Rusos member was killed in a confrontation with state police.
Mexicali Mayor Norma Bustamante pledged full cooperation with state prosecutors and said authorities would not cover for any implicated officers. The arrest of a municipal officer on active duty with 30 packages of meth in the car will intensify scrutiny on the city’s police force.
Pressure Mounts on Cartel Cell
Los Rusos have been the target of escalating operations in the Mexicali Valley in recent weeks. The group controls drug trafficking routes through the agricultural communities southeast of the border city. Ejido Nuevo León, where the arrested officer was stationed, sits in the heart of that territory.
The four detainees remain in state custody pending formal charges. The investigation is ongoing, and authorities have not ruled out additional arrests. This story was first reported by Punto Norte.