TIJUANA, MEXICO – APRIL, 2025 Video shows the execution of cartel member Jose Manuel Perez Sobayo, who had worked for the Chapos for over two years, mainly in the city of Mazatlán, where he and his brother distributed drugs. However, the situation in the city deteriorated, and due to drug wars, Chapos members had to flee. Jose himself had his entire family executed.
He continued his drug activity in the city of Tijuana, where he fled. However, control over the drug trade there belongs to the rival Sinaloa Cartel, specifically its faction led by the Arzarte brothers. Naturally, they didn’t like the idea of competition, so they executed Jose as a warning – beheading him with a large knife on camera while stating that any Chapos member who tries to enter Tijuana would be eliminated like a rat.
His remains – specifically his severed head and hands – were dumped on a city road as a warning, accompanied by a written threat for anyone considering doing the same.
His dumped remains
In addition to the execution footage, a separate video of his interrogation also appeared online, in which he confessed to everything, speaking about his drug operations, his brother, and leader El Pelón.
TRANSLATION:
Captive: Good afternoon. My name is Jose Manuel Perez Sobayo and I’m from Mazatlán, Sinaloa. I was working out there with my brother Kevin Augustine Perez, my uncle Jonathan de Jesus Perez Luna, and my other uncle Alan Manuel Perez Luna. We fled Mazatlán after my brother and two uncles were killed and buried.
Sicario #1: What name was your brother known by?
Captive: He was known as El Peque, El Morillo. Either one of those two monikers.
Sicario #1: How long have you been in the dope game?
Captive: My brother was involved for two years.
Sicario #1: What about you?
Captive: I’ve been engaged in it for about the same amount of time that he was in.
Sicario #1: Okay.
Captive: We had to flee to Tijuana because of how bad things got. I was threatened with death if I came back to Mazatlán. Family members of mine were killed.
Sicario #2: What exactly did you do for a living in Mazatlán?
Captive: I worked in the evenings at different drug spots distributing narcotics in Mazatlán. Specifically, the neighborhoods of Valle Bonito, La Riviera, and Buenos Aires. They refer to it as the CVA, the CVA.
Sicario: How many people have you killed?
Captive: I worked in Sonoyta, Sonora among the firefights, armed confrontations, and criminal events that took place in that city.
Sicario #1: Who are the individuals in charge there?
Captive: The Pelones operatives in Sonoyta…
Sicario #2: That would be the Pelones mob.
Captive: El Pelón is the leader.
Sicario: We were distributing for the Chapos mob but ended up switching sides due to a lack of support. It became evident that they were losing and turning in their own people just to stay afloat. There were too many loses. They had initially claimed that the war wouldn’t last any more than two months. However, this conflict has morphed into two years now and it’s still in progress. So, I came to Tijuana and this is where I currently find myself.
