The fall of M1 Manuel Torres Felix "El Ondeado", his history and his death (2024)

Translated by Otis B Fly-Wheel for Borderland Beat

[ Subject Matter: Manuel Torres Felix, Sinaloa Cartel
Recommendation: See link to article on psychopaths]

This is the testimony of "El Ondeado" that I have pieced together previous BB reports from Havana Pura, and Un Vato, and from different narco media including all the usual sources after a request was made in the comments section.

It was the Office of Control of Foreigners that put the mark on him, since 1st of June of 2011, the "black list" of foreign narco traffickers, the kingpin law where there are only two ways to leave, either dead or prison, there is no way to escape the USA government, they will get you sooner or later if you are on the list.

From this time forward, it was known that he was in Salto de mata, in the Valle de San Lorenzo zone, where since February of 2012 the Army and Marines had launched several operations.

Manuel Torres Felix, according to the OFAC, was born on 28th of February 1958 in Cosala, possibly in Llano de los Refugio. ( the same area the recent search for El Chapo Guzman went on).

Two years older than his brother Javier Torres Felix "El JT", "El Ondeado" never set foot in prison as opposed to "El JT". arrested pm 27th of January 2004 at his home in the hills of San Miguel. Javier was arrested two more times: in California in 1992 and in Cancun in 1994.

Javier was extradited to the United States in 2006 and was sentenced to eight years in prison. On the 13th of March 2013 he left prison and was deported back to Mexico, where he was re-apprehended and now is in prison.

Before he died he felt two great losses, two friends like family, and two of his sons were executed in the war the CDS waged against the Beltran Levya Organization.

In Sinaloa, Manuel Torres had ascended to financier of the armed wing of the Sinaloa Cartel "Los Antrax", after the rupture that was caused by the detention of Alfredo Beltran Leyva "El Mochom*o", and the violent vendetta with Arturo Beltran "El Barbas".

First was the attack against Joel Torres Jimenez, son of "El JT", in a billiard hall in Guadalupe Victoria, that opened war between them.

On the 18th of August, with the assassination in Montebello of Atanasio Torres Acosta, and the assassination of Joaquin Guzman Loeras son that ended the conflict and soon the streets of Culiacan were once again relatively peaceful.

After that "El Barbas" referred to "Ondeado" in mantas left with beheaded corpses, Manuel Torres was "M-1", he became "El Ondeado", dozens of corpses littered the streets of the capital, with his new nickname, warring against "El Barbas".

On the 20th of September 2008, when the Army released to the media a photograph of him and his nephew Misael Torres Urrea, M2, the image of him became popular in social networks and narco corrido compositions.

The image had been discovered in the ranch of "El Carrizal", where arms and munitions had been confiscated. In spring of 2010, in the middle of the elections, Manuel and Ismael Zambada became in-laws when a son of "El Mayo", married a daughter of "M1".

Yasira Esmeralda Torres Sanchez a daughter of M1

He became one of the most sought after criminals by OFAC and the PGR. In February of 2012, a military operation was carried out in La Higuera de El Salado, where they were allegedly going for him. In March there was speculation about the death of "El Fantasma" ( x2), shot by the Military in Oso Viejo. There in that area, Ondeado met his end, with his last weapon, blue pants with a white leather belt.

There was no band or parting shots, there were excesses, except by the Military presence and by the tons of flowers that accompanied him to Humaya Gardens, where the remains of his son Athanasius rested. It was a sober funeral of Manuel Torres, seeming like the goodbye to a good man.

His funeral was far from being one of those of a big capo, in spite of efforts, there were few at his funeral, few in the San Martin de el Zapata, in the Guadalupe Colonia, where the stationed Military check points were surprised by the low influx of mourners, and sent the reserve force to the outskirts of the surrounding area, where they remained vigilant.

The flower shops of the surrounding areas had a huge amount of business, there were arrangements for "El Ondeado", for "M-1", of 500 roses at a cost of 10,000 pesos and other flowers totalling 30,000
pesos, even though it was for slightly less impressive displays.

The service and displays inside the venue concentrated on the family and cost close to 620,000 pesos including his mausoleum.

His favourites

Atanasio Torres Acosta, "El Tachio",

Manuel Torres Felix lived in the mountains. His rage for the BLO grew and was further fueled by the death of one of his sons, Atanasio, in April 2008. These attacks occurred after the breakdown of the Sinaloa Cartel and the struggles against the Beltran Leyva brothers. The attack on his son occurred outside the Health Ministry in the Montebello residential district. "El Tachio" was with his sister and "Ondeado's" sister in law, when hit men from the BLO pulled up and tried to kidnap him.

Once he made it clear he would resist, they opened fire, killing him instantly and wounding his sister in the right arm and shoulder and their sister in law in the left leg. Police located the vehicle used by the Sicarios, inside was an AK47 and a manta that read "from your compadre and his Z nephews, so you will remember, Manuel Torres".

What happened next has been written about by all and sundry, "El Ondeado" previously showed symptoms of being a psychopath. Given his past behavior this is quite credible concerning Manuel Torres Felix, and the death of his son must of driven him over the edge, or did it? "El Tachio" had been involved in drug trafficking from a young age, and as a male Torres Felix he probably had little other choice than to follow his father and uncle into drug trafficking. "El Tachio" knew the risks, was considered a CDS operative, and so his death at the hands of rivals or the police or armed services was a specified risk. As is evidenced by the last list in this article.

The same goes for the death of Joaquin Guzman's son at the hands of the BLO, he was a CDS operative. However, the sister of "El Tachio", Alondra 4 years of age, was shot in the right forearm the bullet exited her arm and embedded itself into her shoulder, she later had her right forearm amputated. One could argue that this attack on a female child of his family, whose innocence is incontestable, actually pushed him over the edge, and turned his psychopathic condition into one with psychosis.

That could explain the complete and utter butchering rampage that he went on a few days after the attack on his son and her sister. He sent out, word has it, all of the Sicario's at his disposal to round up anyone from the BLO or Zetas, and anyone who was deemed to give them support, kidnap them and take them to his ranch, where "El Ondeado" gave vent to his psychosis and sad*stically and cruelly tortured everyone rounded up, before killing them.

One of his victims was the municipal police commander Roberto Carlos Barcelo Villagran, who had his back sliced to ribbons with knives, his legs cut off and then his head cut off while he was still alive, his body was dumped with two others in the trunk of a car.

His Sicarios started dumping bodies all over Culiacan, mostly all dismembered with harrowing signs of torture, mostly the dismemberment's happening while they were still alive.

The following is a list of alleged victims of "El Ondeado" the week after the death of his son and in wounding of his sister, those who couldn't be captured for torture were shot or burnt alive:

This list is not exhaustive, some sources quote the death toll for this week at over 200.

Tuesday the 1st

1. Julio César Cisneros Flores, 33 years old, killed Mazatlán.

Wednesday the 2nd

2. Luis Enrique Aguirre Fierro, 25 years old, decapitated in Culiacán.

3. Héctor Adán Venegas Leyva, 23years old,decapitated,in Culiacán.

4. Noel Uriarte Valdez, 25years old,decapitated,in Culiacán.

5. Ricardo Pacheco, 27years old,decapitated, in Culiacán

6. Manuel Otilio Delgado Ortiz, 23 years old, killed by gunfire, in Culiacán

7. Jesús Viviano Delgado Ortiz,killed by gunfire,in Culiacán

8. Ezequiel Hernández Hernández, de 27years old,killed by gunfire, in Culiacán

9. Víctor Manuel Sánchez Ochoa, de 19years old, killed by gunfire, in Culiacán

10. Roberto Monzón, 29years old, killed by gunfire,in Culiacán

11. Manuel Navarrete Urtusuástegui, 24years old, killed by gunfire,in Culiacán

Thursday the 3rd

12. Rafael Ríos Torres, 35years old,killed by gunfire,in Culiacán

13. David Reyes Díaz, 29years old,killed by gunfire, en Guasave.

14. Manuel Álvarez Castro, 43years old, killed by gunfire, en Guasave.

Friday the 4th

15. Roberto Carlos Barceló Villagrán Torres,decapitated, in Culiacán

16. John Doe,decapitated, in Culiacán

17.John Doe,decapitated, in Culiacán

18. Salvador Guadalupe Romero Flores, 45years old,killed by gunfire, in Culiacán

19.John Doe, burnt, in Salvador Alvarado.

20.John Doe,burnt, inSalvador Alvarado.

21. Jorge Zataraín Camacho, Agent of the PME,killed by gunfire, in Culiacán

22. Jesús Manuel Gastélum Leyva,Agent of thePME,killed by gunfire, in Culiacán

23. Daniel Sillas Niebla, 45years old, civil, stray bullet, in Culiacán

Saturday the 5th

24. Aurelio Ramírez López, 38 years old,killed by gunfire,in Culiacán

25. Fernando Morales Iribe, 37years old,killed by gunfire, Sinaloa de Leyva.

26. Miguel Ángel Bejarano Bojórquez, 42years old,killed by gunfire, in Culiacán

Sunday the 6th

27. Heriberto Anguamea Holguín, 22years old,killed by gunfire,in Culiacán

28. Francisco Javier Moreno Díaz, 36years old,decapitated, in Culiacán

29. Francisco Javier Puga Solís, 34years old,decapitated, in Culiacán

30.John Doe,killed by gunfire, Guasave.

31. Víctor Durán Sepúlveda, 50years old,killed by gunfire, Sinaloa de Leyva.

Some of the victims were dumped at the site of the attack on El Ondeado' son
.
Rarely, confide sources, did "El Ondeado" go to a city, and rarely went beyond Cosala. He knew the Culichi mountains and their surroundings, especially in the South, because his house was there, From there he operated and controlled, in the service of Ismael Zambada Garcia, one of the leaders of the CDS.

Official reports indicate that the Military killed him in an un-inhabited area close to Oso Viejo in the early hours of Saturday the 13th of October. Other sources say they encircled him then moved in to finish him off.

But there are suspicions, not without reason, that unofficial versions give that when the Army got him in their hands he was already dead, that he had other wounds apart from bullets, a skull fracture, as is evident in photographs that circulated in social media.

According to information from Official post mortem of experts from the PGR, registered 6 bullet wounds, entrance and exit wounds in the thorax, one in the abdomen, one in the left arm, another in the left thigh and left lower leg.

The cause of death, was laceration of both lungs, the position of the deceased was supine, though there is no mention of a cranial fracture in the official notes.

The aftermath

After the debacle of "El Lazcas" body being stolen from a funeral business, no chances were taken with the body of "El Ondeado", it was transported under heavy guard and remained so until the legal processes were complete at the Sinaloa Medical Examiners office.

According to the first versions of the facts, some gathered by reporters who arrived at dawn to the Valle de San Lorenzo and some communicated unofficially by the military itself, Manuel Torres, accompanied by a strong group of bodyguards, met up with federal forces and tried to evade them. But they had him surrounded. For several days, special forces, supported by the 9th Military Zone, had seeded personnel throughout the area. At dawn that day, a contingent of soldiers came in through Tacuichamona headed towards Oso Viejo, and a similar force came down from Quila, forming an impassable pincers, even though Torres knew the terrain like the palm of his hand.

Click on image to enlarge

The moment they clashed, Manuel Torres got down off the vehicle he was riding and tried to flee through the hills. But he was hit by gunshots. He fell right there.

They took two .38 Super pistols and seven unfired .22 cartridges from him. The Attorney General, Marco Antonio Higuera Gomez, revealed that (Torres) had on him $9,980 dollars and 23,500 pesos, plus portions of a white powder, apparently cocaine.

Although official reports do not mention detainees, RioDoce sources assure (the journal) that there were many.

The Mantas

Four days after his death, three narco mantas appeared in Culiacan, Sinaloa.

"Mayo you left me alone , you always had a plan to f*ck me, equally with Mario Aguirre and Lamberto Verdugo, so that you would meet a work deadline, so they wont f*ck you. but I already await you in hell. ATTE. Manuel Torres.

The Narcomantas were found on footbridges on Emiliano Zapata in the vicinity of Lomas Boulevard more at the foot of of "La Lomita" Catholic Church and another by the Military College on Calzada Heroico. (PME) made quick work of removing the narco mantas from their locations.

There are a few theories about who put up the narco mantas:

• The BLO/Zeta alliance put them up to sow discord and mistrust among the Sinaloa Cartel
• That followers of "El Ondeado" put them up

If the BLO/ZETA alliance put them up, that would be credible given previous events like this, the Gulf Cartel among others realize the usefullness of this type of propaganda, and who were on a war footing at the time with the Sinaloa Cartel.

If it was the followers of "El Ondeado" and the manta is true the obvious question is why did "El Mayo" give up "El Ondeado"? or did he give him up at all and what did he stand to gain by it?

There are many theories I have read concerning this, some of them including "El Ondeado" working for the CIA, an insult delivered by "El Ondeado" to a particular woman, there are as many conspiracy theories as their are authors, even "El Mayo" ordering the death of "El Tachio" to infuriate "El Ondeado", this presupposes that "El Mayo" knew that "El Ondeado" would go on a rampage and solve his BLO/Zeta immediate problem.

Given all things, the simplest answer tends to be the correct one.

If I were to favour one simple theory, it would be that after the attack on his family, as his psychopathic condition slipped into psychosis, he went on his rampage. As the bloodbath continued in Culiacan, "El Mayo's" political protection started to run for cover. Mayo then had two choices, get CDS to stop him or pay the Army to do it. I would go with the second option as this can be arranged clandestinely by Mayo.

The third option is that he simply ran into a patrol, and was in the wrong place at the wrong time, or that he was actively searching for anyone he thought responsible for his sons death, halcones had probably tipped him off about Army movement in the area, took it as a slight that they were there on his turf and decided to confront them, as he had done many previous times killing , Federal Police and Military, that when he saw the numbers of the patrol that he decided to retreat, which was cut off by the second claw of the pincer and was shot in the back trying to escape in the same manner that "El Lazca" met his end.

If he had opened fire on the Army, and they returned fire and shot him, a soldier may well have struck him with a rifle butt on the head, this is a common reaction among soldiers that I have witnessed first hand and is an instinctive reaction. This could explain the fracture to the skull, and if it was done after he was dead, it would be seen as an abuse and probably left out of the report.

Hopefully this article will lead to some good commentary on the pro's and con's of the theories currently out there including any that our readers may have, I would encourage anyone to post up their theories no matter how simple or complicated they may be so we may all weigh them.

Additionally if you are a male close family member of "El Ondeado" the chances are, your life span will be limited. Here is a list of closely related people to "El Ondeado":