The Mexico City Attorney General’s Office (FGJ) is investigating a network of city police officers suspected of providing protection to the drug trafficking gang Los Rodolfos, considered among the main purveyors of violence in the capital.

The criminal organization is known to control over 200 drug dealing locations in the boroughs of Xochimilco and Milpa Alta alone, and operates in the Tlalpan and Tláhuac boroughs as well.

According to investigative reports, police in the network charge 200-500 pesos (US $11-27) per shift in order for gang members to utilize a drug dealing location with impunity.

During investigations, FGJ agents found that when police officers detected their presence, they alerted gang members operating in the area by activating the lights and sirens of their patrol cars, frustrating the operations.

Some officers even investigated the undercover FGJ agents looking into their operations under the pretext that they had “received complaints of suspicious people” captured on the city’s security cameras, the reports stated.

On Wednesday, the FGJ arrested David “El Gnomo” Castillo Hernández, 36, identified as an associate of the Los Rodolfos leader nicknamed “La Cotorra” (the parrot).

The operation carried out in the Xochimilco borough also resulted in the arrest of Víctor Velasco Pereda, who investigations found acted as a direct link between La Cotorra and police, possibly providing weekly cash bribes.

Los Rodolfos is a criminal organization founded by ex-convict Rodolfo Rodríguez Morales after he split off from the Tláhuac Cartel, led by Felipe de Jesús Pérez Luna, aka El Ojos, who was shot dead in July 2017 during a confrontation with marines.

Source: Milenio (sp)