Héctor Luis Palma Salazar

Héctor Luis Palma Salazar (a.k.a.: "El Güero Palma") was a Mexican drug trafficker and former leader of the Sinaloa Cartel alongside Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán .^[1]

Biography

Palma began his life of crime as a car thief eventually working as a gunman for Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo under the umbrella of the Guadalajara Cartel.^[2] Palma rose the ranks, and along with Eduardo "El Lobito" Retamoza and Gallardo, were leaders of the cartel. Following the loss of a large cocaine shipment, which was blamed on Retamoza and Palma, El Lobito was killed and Palma was spared. Following Retamoza's death, Palma contacted and created an alliance with Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzman of the rival Sinaloa Cartel.^[3]

Palma splintered from the group which was handed down to Gallardo's nephews in Tijuana, who later formed the Tijuana Cartel (Arellano Félix Organization).^[4] Palma, along with a Venezuelan trafficker named Rafael Enrique Clavel, one time boyfriend of his sister Minerva Palma, began operating their own cartel. In 1978 Palma was arrested in Arizona on drug trafficking and sentenced to 8 years in a U.S. prison. Upon his release, Palma discovered his wife, Guadalupe Leija Serrano, had run off with Clavel and taken their two kids. Clavel forced Guadalupe to withdraw 7 million from a bank account and later decapitated her, shipping her head back to Palma. The two children, Jesús and Nataly, were taken to Venezuela and dropped off of a bridge named Puente de la Concordia right in the border with Colombia. Clavel soon after went to work for Gallardo in the Tijuana Cartel. In retaliation, Palma executed Gallardo's lawyer and Clavel's three children.^[2][5]

Palma returned to trafficking within the Sinaloa Cartel, sharing leadership with Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzman.

In 1995 Palma was arrested after a 12 seat Lear jet he was flying on to attend a wedding party crashed. Palma was traveling from Ciudad Obregón, Sonora to Guadalajara, Jalisco for a wedding ceremony when the plane was diverted and unable to locate a new landing strip in time. Palma survived the crash and was later arrested by Mexican military officers, originally evading capture by traveling in full uniform as a Federal Judicial Police officer complete with identification and armed caravan of FJP personnel.^[6]

Corruption

Palma has managed to the depths of the Mexican Federal Judicial Police (FJP), evading detection by posing as one in complete uniform with identification and traveling in a heavily armed caravan of FJP officers. It was later discovered he was able to evade capture by staying at the home of the local police commander.^[6]

In addition to the corruption present within the police force, it has been documented to have spread to the judicial system. Due to bribery of judges the Sinaloa Cartel have evaded prosecution repeatedly. In 2004, 18 men were arrested in possession of 28 machine guns, 2 hand guns, 223 cartridges, 10k bullets, 12 grenade launchers, 18 hand grenades, smoke grenades and bulletproof vests. The men were set free by Judge Jose Luis Gomez Martinez who stated there was no evidence they were part of any criminal organization.^[7]

References

1. ^ Romero, Fernando (2007). Hyper-Border: The Contemporary U.S.-Mexico Border and Its Future. Princeton Architectural Press. p. 140. ISBN 1568987064. 
2. ^ ^{a b} Oppenheimer, Andres (1996). Bordering on Chaos: Guerrillas, Stockbrokers, Politicians, and Mexico's Road to Prosperity. Little Brown & Co. pp. 298, 202, 300. ISBN 0316650951. 
3. ^ Ciro Perez Silva & NISAT (October 10, 1994). "Article Profiles Activities of Sinaloa Cartel". The Norwegian Initiative on Small Arms Transfers (NISAT). 
4. ^ Bosworth, Barry. Coming Together?: Mexico-United States Relations. Brookings Institution Press. pp. 131. ISBN 0815710275. 
5. ^ Gray, Mike (2000). Drug Crazy: How We Got Into This Mess and How We Can Get Out. Routledge. pp. 136. ISBN 0415926475. 
6. ^ ^{a b} Bailey, John J. (2001). Organized Crime and Democratic Governability: Mexico and the U.S.-Mexican Borderlands. University of Pittsburgh Press. pp. 131. ISBN 0822957582. 
7. ^ Transparency International (2007). Global Corruption Report 2007: Corruption in Judicial Systems. Cambridge University Press. pp. 77, 78. ISBN 0521700701. 

See also

• Drug war
• Mexican Drug War
• Merida Initiative