Pablo "El Zorro de Ojinaga" Acosta Villarreal (26 January 1937 – 24 April 1987) was a Mexican drug trafficker who was the mentor and business partner of Juarez Cartel boss Amado Carrillo Fuentes. He was killed in a joint FBI-Federales raid in 1987, and Rafael Aguilar Guajardo took over his organization.
Biography[]
Pablo Acosta Villarreal was born in Ojinaga, Chihuahua, Mexico in 1937, and he used his hometown - once a dusty border town - as a base of operations from which he smuggled narcotics into the United States. During the 1970s and 1980s, he smuggled marijuana and heroin across the border, and he also smuggled 60 tons of Colombian cocaine into the USA every year at the height of his power from 1984 to 1986. He had a feud with rival drug smuggler Pedro Aviles Perez, and, in 1980, he initially turned down Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo's invitation to form a partnership on account of Miguel Angel's employment by Aviles. Aviles was stubborn and refused to make amends with Acosta, and, after the proposed deal between the two smugglers fell apart, Aviles ordered Felix's death. However, Aviles was killed in a police ambush before he could do so.
Boss of Juarez[]
Acosta in 1986
Years later, Acosta became business partners with Amado Carrillo Fuentes, and he became the head of the Juarez Cartel subgroup of the Guadalajara Cartel. He settled down with the American rancher Mimi Webb Miller, who attempted to convince him to leave the criminal lifestyle, initially to no avail. In 1986, he settled a feud with Fermin Arevalo and his family with Amado's help, as Amado himself killed Fermin during a failed attempt on Acosta's life. Acosta later allied with Hector Luis Palma Salazar against Miguel Angel due to a dispute between Palma's Sinaloa Cartel and Miguel Angel after he taxed Sinaloa products on Tijuana Cartel turf, but this conversation was recorded by the corrupt DFS agent Rafael Aguilar Guajardo, whose cooperation led to Miguel Angel putting a (failed) hit out on Palma.
Downfall[]
Acosta's death
Acosta, desperate, went to the American press and gave an interview on the trafficking through Mexico, and DEA agent Walt Breslin sought to give him an immunity deal in exchange for his cooperation. However, on 24 April 1987, he was tracked down in a joint FBI-Mexican Federal Police operation in Santa Elena, Chihuahua. There, Breslin attempted to use himself as a human shield to guide Acosta to his car and then across the border, but Aguilar - sensing that his end was near - apologized to Breslin, stole his gun, shoved him to the ground, and was then gunned down by the policemen and FBI agents waiting to shoot him. Aguilar briefly took over his organization before Amado killed Aguilar and took control of the Juarez Control for himself.
Gallery[]
