Slain gang leader who ‘lured nine Mexican students to cartel-ridden city’ jokes on camera before horror murders
A startling video has revealed the moment a gang leader pranked one of the nine students whose dismembered bodies were found on the side of a road in Mexico last weekend.
José ‘EL Jocha’ Lavariega was seen in the clip trying to scare one of the young people inside a hotel – before they were all found dead, with their hands chopped off, on the side of a road in Puebla.
Lavariega – who was friends with the nine slain students and invited them to cartel-ridden Oaxaca to commit robberies against local people – was also shot dead in his car not long after, with the culprit leaving a note at the scene, calling him a ‘thief.’
In the unearthed video, Lavariega could be seen approaching one of the rooms at Hospedaje Jacha, a hotel he owned in Huatulco, a city in the Pacific coast state of Oaxaca.
‘They took George, dude,’ Lavariega said after knocking on the door while several people stood in the background giggling.
‘Dude, it’s me, Jocha. It’s Jocha open up,’ he said.
A young man then opened the door and stepped out, telling Jocha, ‘Stop playing, whitey,’ when several people behind the camera began to laugh.
Lavariega then took a peek inside the room when a man pretended to throw a punch – seemingly because he was not too fond of the joke.
José ‘EL Jocha’ Lavariega is seen in the unearthed clip at his Oaxaca hotel. He was pranking one of the nine students who were found dead on the side of a road in the central Mexican state of Puebla
Local outlets reported that José Lavariega, (pictured), owned the hotel where the students were staying before they were kidnapped
It’s unclear when the 30-second video was filmed, but its release comes as authorities continue to investigate the gruesome murder of five men and four women, who were part of a gang called ‘Los Brujos.’
The victims were identified as Rubén Ramos, Rolando Evaristo and Uriel Calva, each 22; Raúl González and Noemí López, both 28; Jacqueline Meza, 23; Lesly Noya, 21, and 29-year-old Angie Pérez.
An official at the prosecutor’s office with knowledge of the investigation told DailyMail.com that Lavariega invited the victims to spend time in Oaxaca.
‘They’re friends,’ the official said. ‘He told them, “Listen why don’t you come down here for a few days.”‘
After the invitation to come to the city, the victims allegedly asked the gang boss if it would be fine for them to ‘steal’ and engage in other criminal activity while in Oaxaca, according to the source.
Lavariega eventually led the young adults to their own carnage by giving them the green light. When he was asked if the young group could steal from businesses in Oaxaca, he responded, ‘there’s no problem,’ the insider said.
The victims – all from the central state of Tlaxcala – took Lavariega for his word, and set out to commit a wave of muggings and thefts.
Of the nine students, five were men and four were women, all were believed to be aged 19 to 30 years old, El Financiero reported. Pictured: Jacqueline Ailet Meza Cazares
The Attorney General’s Office for the Mexican states of Puebla, Oaxaca and Tlaxcala refused to provide any information regarding the investigation surrounding the student who was rescued and the nine others whose bodies were found dismembered, including Noemi López (left) and Angie Pérez (right)
Their crime spree was not welcomed by one of the drug-selling criminal groups that operates in Oaxaca – since the Los Brujos gang overstepped the line with their menacing activity on rival turf, according to the source.
‘There is another local criminal group that controls the area near the coast of Oaxaca. And then what happened, happened,’ the official told DailyMail.com, referencing the horrific murders and mutilations.
Brenda Salas, 19, told the Tlaxcala State Attorney General’s Office that the Huatulco Municipal officer forced her and her friend, 29-year-old Angie Pérez, into a marked vehicle and kidnapped and beat them.
Salas was found Monday – abandoned on a road in Puebla – the day after the dismembered remains of Pérez and the other victims were discovered under a tarp and in the trunk of a car that was abandoned on the side of a highway in San José Miahuatlán.
Lesly Noya was named as one of the nine missing students whose dismembered bodies were found on Sunday
Raúl González has been identified by local media outlets as one of the students whose remains were found under a tarp and in a car that was abandoned on the side of highway in San José Miahuatlán, a city in the central Mexican state of Puebla
Brenda Salas (pictured) was rescued by Mexican authorities Monday, a day after nine missing students were found dismembered and abandoned under a tarp
Authorities were seen investigating the scene were nine missing students were found dead Sunday next to a road in San Jose Miahuatla, a city in Puebla, Mexico
The prosecutor’s office on Oaxaca did not offer details on how their agents rescued Salas.
They also did not confirm the allegations that police officers were involved when asked by DailyMail.com – but the Governor of Oaxaca confirmed they are investigating.
Cops investigating the grisly murder scene discovered each of the victims tortured and shot in the head.
Lavariega was also found shot dead inside his car in Oaxaca on Sunday. The killers left a note over his body that read in Spanish: ‘This is what you get for being a thief.’
Oaxaca Governor Salomón Jara was questioned during a press conference on Tuesday about allegations that police officers were behind the brutal murders and kidnappings.
He said that the accused cops, who have not been identified, will be prosecuted under the fullest extent of the law if the allegations are true.
‘If there is a complaint and the people who were [forcefully] detained by the police have to file a complaint, it cannot be allowed that a state or municipal police officer detains a person, dumps him or her away and abandons him or her, or that person is hurt or beaten or can be tortured. The law already punishes people who commit these types of acts,’ Jara said.
