BLO-Sinaloa Cartel: Manuel Fernandez Valencia "La Puerca" sentenced in Chicago to 27 years

by Borderland Beat staff

A former top operative of Sinaloa and Beltran Leyva Cartels, was sentenced on Wednesday to 27 years in prison.  Manuel Fernandez-Valencia alias La Puerca or “El Animal”,  now 48 year old man was arrested in Mexico in 2010.

A Chicago federal judge sentenced a Mexican national, accused of being a top drug trafficker for the Sinaloa and Beltran-Leyva cartels, to 27 years in prison.

Federal District Court Judge Ronald Guzman sentenced the former narco on Wednesday, Zachary T. Fardon, the U.S. District Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois said in a statement.

Fernandez-Valencia was charged in a 2010 drug trafficking indictment along with 20 other co-conspirators

The plea deal, Fernandez-Valencia, whose operation centers were in Los Angeles, and Chicago,  pleaded guilty last year to conspiring to possess with the intent to distribute controlled substances. And admitted to operating a cocaine pipeline along with The infamous Flores twins who betrayed Chapo, Pedro and Margarito Flores. also read 'The Twins who betrayed Chapo" using this link)

The Flores brothers became cooperating informants and each received 14-year prison sentences after pleading guilty in 2012. (link to post of "Hollywood" the twins biggest customer")

The drug trafficking operation, involved using the support of the Beltran Leyva Organization and the Sinaloa Cartel to traffic vast amounts of narcotics into the U.S.

Below is the 2010 Borderland Beat detailed article posted at the time of the arrest. Valencia’s son was mistaken for Chapo’s son and killed, Chapo called extending condolences promising revenge…..

México City.- Manuel Fernández Valencia, La Puerca, confessed to Federal Police that he personally knows Joaquín El Chapo Guzmán Loera, leader of the Sinaloa cartel and has met with the capo face-to-face on at least "five occasions".

According to his testimony, La Puerca had discussed plans with Guzman about shipping eight tons of marijuana into the United States, one of the last times he saw the elusive criminal.

Fernández Valencia also told authorities about the death of his son, Marcial - who died on August 29th of this year (2010) in Culiacán - It was a case of mistaken identity; the assassins thought Marcial was the son El Chapo because he was driving a white Ferrari. Alfredo Guzmán drives a Lamborghini of the same color. (Initially widely reported as Chapo’s son in the press)

A day later, he received a phone call from Guzmán Loera, the capo expressed his condolences and pledged his support, saying that he would stand by his friend in this time of grief, while vowing he would get find those who were responsible for the Marcial's murder.

La Puerca says that a month later, El Chapo's son came to inform him they had found the man who had murdered his son, Israel Rincón, alias El Guacho. They had videotaped and executed him by October 5th.

Fernández Valencia also confirmed to Federal Police that there was a secret reunion between the bosses of different criminal organizations in Cuernavaca. Among the attendants of this party was El Chapo, the Beltrán Leyva brothers and one of their chief operators, Edgar Valdez Villareal La Barbie.

Chose to stay with Chapo after BLO split

He went on to say that when the schism occurred between the Beltran's and El Chapo, he decided to stay with Joaquín Guzmán, although Arturo Beltrán would sometimes hire him to work for him on the side.

Also arrested with Fernández Valencia was Juan de dios Castillo Quevedo, Pedro Navarro Fernández, Rubén Gerardo Cabada Mendoza, Jorge Gómez Camacho, Martín Alfonso Quevedo, José Valencia Toscano and Humberto López Urias.

Note: also with the post was this interesting information; Interrogation of Israel Rincón Martínez says Chapo set up Mochomo for the fall...maybe

In the interrogation of Israel Rincón Martínez, he confesses to participating in a meeting where he was informed that El Chapo was the one responsible for the fall Alfredo Beltrán Leyva, alias El Mochomo. He also says he received a phone call from Arturo Beltrán Leyva, who questioned him on his loyalties. El Barbas asked him, "Who side are you on?" He allegedly responds "With Alfredo's people," although he had started his criminal career with El Chapo.

Rincón Martínez (below left) says he felt obliged to stay with the Beltrán Leyva cartel because to say otherwise meant certain death. He also states this was totally confusing for him because he didn't think El Chapo was the one responsible for the arrest of Alfredo Beltrán Leyva, he knew their friendship and business ties were very strong. He speculates that the whole thing was just being used for an excuse to start a war.

According to Rincón Martínez, Arturo Beltrán Leyva offered to pay him 100,000 U.S.D. to organize forces and stash weapons for a war against El Chapo and Nacho Coronel, he accepted the offer but never received the money.

On November 21rst, 2008 the corpse of Israel Rincón Martínez was found riddled with 7.62 mm rounds from an AK-47. Along with the body was a message that denounced all murderers, rapists and thieves, pledging to cleanse the city of those criminals and provided a phone number to report anyone suspected of being guilty of these crimes.

Also in the message were the names and photos of Arturo Héctor Beltrán Leyva, Vicente Carrillo Fuentes, Heriberto Lazcano, El lazca, Édgar Valdez Villarreal, La Barbi, Israel Rincón Martínez, El guacho o El Miki, Cristiano Urías, Antonio Araujo, Jorge Iribe Araujo, y Osiel (Cárdenas).