The battered women in Mexico are as brutal as the bosses, some even acted more stealthily in their crimes. (GlobeLiveMedia/Jovani Perez).

In the history of drug trafficking, women appeared after the organization of certain cartels. Some have even become contract killers to ensure the success of the operations in which they participated. The acts they committed for different criminal groups landed them in prison.

The feminine side of criminal organizations could become even more brutal than that shown by the capos. This can be seen in cases like that of Margarita Calderón Ojeda, “La China”, who became the main hitman for the special forces of Dámaso, a cell of the Sinaloa Cartel (CDS), according to the Baja California Sur Attorney General’s Office.

In addition to “La China”, there were other women behind the arms of the great criminal groups come to commit homicides and organize kidnappings. Their stories often end tragically, behind bars for decades or in clandestine graves.

Rosalina Carrillo Ochoa "The star"was a contract killer for the Jalisco Nueva Generación Cartel (File)
Rosalina Carrillo Ochoa “La Estrella”, was a hitman for the Jalisco Nueva Generación Cartel (File)

The story of Rosalinda Carrillo Ochoa “The Star”. She was one of the first women to lead a cell of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG). The Attorney General of the Republic indicated that this young woman was around 20 years old when she was detained by the Jalisco State Police in November 2012.

The authorities of this entity had identified her as the author of a series of homicides. The former head of the Secretariat for Public Security, Prevention and Social Reintegration of Jalisco, Luis Carlos Nájera Gutiérrez de Velasco, explained that she was involved in the murder of the former police chief of San Martin Hidalgo. In 2019, “La Estrella” was sentenced to 15 years in prison by the Federal Court of Criminal Procedure of the Second District.

Unlike previous cases, Magaly Sánchez began life as a hitman after members of the Zetas murdered her daughter months after she was born. The co-founder of the NGO Reinserta, Saskia Niño de Rivera, shared on social networks the testimony of this woman, who is serving a 45-year sentence at the Women’s Reintegration Center in the state of Nuevo León.

In the interview, Sánchez reveals that after killing her daughter’s killer, members of the Zetas discovered the facts and attempted to interrogate her, suspecting that she was working for a rival cartel. After learning the revenge story, the crime cell offered the woman protection, so she began working as a hitman and kidnapper.

At 17, Magaly was already a drug trafficker and years later, she was working for the Zetas.  (Instagram screenshot / @saskianino)
At 17, Magaly was already a drug trafficker and years later, she was working for the Zetas. (Instagram screenshot / @saskianino)

The authorities of the state of Nuevo León had followed the leads of the criminal group. In mid-2022, Sánchez was arrested during an operation in one of the shelters in Los Zetas, where a young man was kidnapped. They sentenced her to 45 years in prison.

Her testimony gained further relevance when the woman recounted that when she was 11, her own father gave her to a drug dealer, who impregnated her. Years later, she became involved with other drug dealers who introduced her to this business. When she was 17, she met another criminal, the father of her second daughter. The man abandoned her despite having enemies in the area, who murdered the baby.

This contract killer was betrayed by his ex-partner Pedro Héctor Gómez Camarena, “El Chino”. in November 2011the Baja California Sur Attorney General’s Office arrested the 20-year-old after he attempted to walk away from hitmen in Damaso Lopez Serrano“The mini lic”.

State authorities explained that Margarita Calderon Ojeda, “China” She has been identified as the leader of various armed forces, particularly the Dámaso Special Forces. This cell was linked to Sinaloa Cartel. The hitman’s command ended when his superiors ordered him to hand over his place to Abel Nahúm Quintero Manjarrez, “El Grande”.

The hitman was captured in 2015, at the age of 30.  The information her then-boyfriend provided to the authorities was vitally important to the arrest.  (Photo: special).
The hitman was captured in 2015, at the age of 30. The information her then-boyfriend provided to the authorities was vitally important to the arrest. (Photo: special).

In response, “La China” decided to found her own criminal organization, but the information her then-boyfriend provided to the police facilitated the woman’s capture in Cabo San Lucas during September 2015according to the records of the authorities of the region. In August 2018, Calderón Ojeda obtained an amparo to be transferred from the maximum security women’s prison in Morelos to the prison in La Paz. According to unofficial sources, she is responsible for 170 homicides.

The short life of Joselyn Alejandra Niño, “La Flaca” He is known for his final rough and the operations he carried out in the Las Flacas cartel. The researcher from the Autonomous University of Sinaloa, Juan Carlos Ayala, explained to GlobeLiveMedia Mexico in 2017 that these criminal organizations made up of women are a phenomenon driven by the ambitions of these young women to become leaders of a cartel.

Andrew Chestnut, professor of religious studies at the University of Virginia, US, said that since 2007 there has been an increase in the number of “hit men”. Federal government statistics at the end of 2020, one thousand 225 women They are in federal prisons on trial or sentenced for crimes such as homicide, organized crime, drug trafficking, weapons possession and/or kidnapping.

Chestnut also explained that female hitmen can operate more stealthily than their male counterparts. This was the case for Joselyn, who underwent surgery in Tamaulipas and worked for the Gulf Cartel, according to Mexican authorities.

Joselyn was a contract killer and one of the leaders of the "The lean cartel" until his murder in 2015. (Archive)
Joselyn was a hitman and one of the leaders of the “Cartel de las Flacas” until his murder in 2015. (File)

Due to her slim body, she and her cartel were known for this feature, as the young women in the criminal group shared an innocuous appearance due to their low weight. Tamaulipas police claimed that joselyn She was one of the stricken women tasked with organizing homicides.

His career ended in April 2015when the rival group “Los Metros”, also linked to the Gulf Cartel”, kidnapped her between the 12th and the 13th, Rio Bravo, Tamaulipas, according to police estimates in this area. On the 14th of the same month, photographs of Joselyn’s dismembered body appeared on social media. His enemies claimed responsibility for the crime.

The woman is a former member of Extinction Federal Judicial Police, disappeared in 2002, according to the Cancún public prosecutor’s office. From 2013authorities identified her as the leader of the Cancun Cartel, linked to CDS. “Doña Lety” operated in Quintana Roo to collect land and extort.

leticia rodriguez lara "Ms Lety" was acquitted of charges of selling and distributing cocaine in November 2022. (File/GlobeLiveMedia).
Leticia Rodríguez Lara, “Doña Lety” was acquitted of charges of selling and distributing cocaine in November 2022. (Archive/GlobeLiveMedia).

The Attorney General of the Republic (FGR) also attributed to Rodríguez the sale of cocaine in various municipalities of Quintana Roo, possession of weapons for the exclusive use of the army and various kidnappings which ended in homicides. According to the authorities, Leticia Rodriguez, “Doña Lety” She would have started as a drug dealer and hitman under the instructions of the CDS, until leading her own criminal organization.

was arrested in August 2017 by the military forces in coordination with the Office of the Attorney General (PGR). He has been behind bars for three years and eight months until April 2021, when new trials for his crimes began. For November 2022he was acquitted charges of selling and distributing cocaine, according to information from Ricardo Mejía Berdeja, then Undersecretary for Security and Citizen Protection (SSPC).

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