The younger brother of top Jalisco cartel leader Audias Flores Silva, alias "El Jardinero," was shot dead, along with his girlfriend, outside a nightclub in Mexico's Sinaloa state on Sunday night.

According to reports, two young men riding a motorcycle shot at Jesús Miguel Flores Silva, 22 and his girlfriend, Estefania "N," 25, outside the Privé nightclub in Mazatlan at around 10:30 p.m.

Borderland Beat reported that their lifeless bodies, with visible gunshot wounds, were left on the street while the suspects fled the scene. Police, who were quickly dispatched to the scene, searched for the gunmen but did not find them. So far, no arrests have been made. 

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Attack on Jalisco Cartel Leader El Jardinero's Brother Premeditated

According to El Sol de Mazatlan, the hitmen followed the couple and shot at them as soon as they could. Jesús Miguel Flores Silva and his girlfriend reportedly came from Tijuana, Baja California.

They were apparently in the famous Sinaloa resort town on vacation. Authorities believed the attack was premeditated and not a dispute with another club customer since the gunmen followed the couple before shooting at them.

According to El Universal, the slain brother of El Jardinero was also a member of the Jalisco cartel. Flores Silva was visiting an area known to be a territory of the Sinaloa Cartel. The Jalisco New Generation Cartel or Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG) is currently the Sinaloa Cartel's main rival. 

El Jardinero: The Right-Hand Man of Jalisco Cartel Boss El Mencho

El Jardinero is reportedly one of the leaders of the Jalisco cartel and a close ally of the cartel's boss Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known by his alias "El Mencho." He has been considered a potential successor to El Mencho.

Daily Mail reported in April last year that the U.S. Department of State has offered a $5 million reward for any information that leads to his arrest and conviction.

According to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), El Jardinero is responsible for methamphetamine laboratories in Mexico's Jalisco and Zacatecas states. He is also in charge of aircraft and secret landing strips to traffic drugs for the Jalisco cartel.

The DEA said the Jalisco cartel leader usually coordinates the transportation of drugs from Mexico to Texas, California, Illinois, Georgia, Virginia, and Washington.

In August 2020, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia charged El Jardinero with conspiring to distribute more than five kilos of cocaine and to ship more than a kilo of heroin to the U.S. He was also charged with possession of a weapon in relation to a drug offense.

El Mencho's right-hand man was previously arrested and sentenced to five years in prison by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina in 2002 before he was deported to Mexico.

Mexican authorities arrested him again in 2016 for allegedly plotting a 2015 ambush of San Luis Soyatlán cops in Jalisco, but he was released from jail after disputing the charges in court.

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This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

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