Vascogil: Why “El Mayo” chose that village in the mountains to hide

A man with a fortune that amounts to 3 billion dollars, according to a Bloomberg report, always bet on a life in the mountains, as he himself said. Thanks to this lifestyle, hiding in the mountains, Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada He avoided arrest for decades, but there was one place that was his favorite hiding place: Vascogil, a small town in the state of Durango.

It is located 10 hours by car from the city of Culiacán, nestled in the heart of the so-called Golden Triangle, a mountainous region of difficult access that extends between the states of Sinaloa, Chihuahua and Durango, which is also known for being the epicenter of drug trafficking in Mexico.

But what was it that made “El Mayo” choose this place as a hiding place? The answer is its geography, It is difficult to get to that place, that is why only 450 people live there.. According to Infobae Mexico, There are only 100 houses in the communityand one of them belonged to the boss.

Photographs of the region show how the houses are surrounded by trees in the middle of the mountain range, which at first glance suggests that entering and leaving there is not an easy task, but for someone who knows the mountain and has it as their home, it does not represent a great effort.

He learned about this place from his own son, Vicente Zambada Fogaccording to journalist Anabel Hernández in her book “El Traidor”.

“El Vicentillo” revealed the Mayo hideout: “My dad, my friend Chapo, Jorge Cifuentes, representatives of Pemex and I had a meeting in the mountains at a specific location that belonged to my dad. And it was in the state of Durango, in an area called Vascogil, where my dad was hiding”.

Vascogil is surrounded by four hills: La Cueva, Cacariza, Alto de Vizcarra and Alto La Estaca. This gives an idea of ​​how difficult it is to access. Videos on TikTok show that the place has narrow paths that go up the mountains.

Arrival at Vascogil

Of all the towns in the mountains, Vascogil was one of the chosen ones because some of the Mayo’s criminal partners were originally from the place, the Cabrera Sarabia brotherswho were dedicated to the cultivation of poppies and marijuana. They themselves processed the flower to extract heroin.

Felipe, José Luis, Alberto and Alejandro Cabrera Sarabia bought cocaine from “Mayo” and sold it to the United States and some parts of Mexico, thus creating their own criminal empire.

But like everything, he gradually fell. Felipe was the leader, his aliases were “El Inge”, “El Uno” or “El Rey de la Heroína”, justice took him into its power and he was extradited to the USA, currently serving a 19-year sentence.

Alberto, alias “El Arqui,” took command, but was killed in 2012 by the Army. Alejandro was arrested in 2013, and José Luis is the current leader.

Seeing the way the brothers operated in the place, “El Mayo” chose it as one of his hiding places, although he constantly changed location, thus managing to remain untraceable and evade justice for decades.

Corridos to Vascogil

The knights of Durango made a corrido called “Vascogil my ranch”The song talks about the place, the changes it has undergone and the things that characterize it, such as rivers and festivities, an authentic ode to the site, without mentioning organized crime.

But Los Tucanes de Tijuana also have their own corrido, “Vascogil Durango”in which Alejandro Cabrera Sarabia is supposedly mentioned, as a fragment indicates: “Together with my brothers we made a team / I have had to step foot in prison / but here I am again / free and enjoying my loved ones / In my soul I carry my parents and my brothers / one has left leaving a wound / In this corrido I send greetings to Tres and Felipe, compadres and friends.”

Continue reading:
– Man close to “El Mayo” Zambada dies after being ambushed in Sinaloa.
– How the name “El Mayo” Zambada was first discovered 25 years ago and who spread it.