A suspected gang leader believed to be one of the main instigators of violence in Acapulco was recaptured yesterday in the state of México.

José Galeana Galeana has ties with the Beltrán Leyva cartel but is better known as the leader of the Independent Cartel of Acapulco (CIDA).

The federal Attorney General’s office said Galeana, also known as “El Tete Galeana” and “El Viejón,” was arrested in the city of Toluca for the sale and distribution of drugs in Acapulco along with homicide, extortion and kidnapping.

Galeana has already served some time in prison.

He was arrested in 2013 and accused of kidnapping, homicide, carrying unauthorized weapons, being in possession of illegal drugs and organized crime.

The day after his arrest, some 300 people — mostly youths — mounted a blockade in protest on Miguel Alemán avenue in Acapulco.

Galeana was later tried and convicted but despite the severity of his crimes was held in Acapulco’s municipal minimum security penitentiary instead of being transported to a federal prison. There, he rose as one of the main leaders within the inmates’ internal self-governance structure, which was already infiltrated by other cartel members.

Galeana was soon coordinating drug trafficking networks within the jail.

Then, with little explanation, he was released in June 2015, and a new wave of violence followed as he fought for territorial control of Acapulco.

Source: Eje Central (sp)