After rescue from Mexican prison, tattooed ‘narco cat’ is going to Texas

After rescue from Mexican prison, tattooed ‘narco cat’ is going to Texas - The Washington Post
Over the past few months, security sweeps in a Mexican prison have yielded some surprising finds: a mechanical bull, a pair of sneakers worth over $1,000, a slew of speakers, a plethora of musical instruments and a secret tunnel to smuggle all of those banned items in. Found roaming inside state prison Cereso 3 on Feb. 9, the cat became the subject of a local police investigation — and then a government campaign to provide the tattooed animal with a loving home. After reviewing 10 adoption applications, officials on Wednesday announced the cat’s next destination: the Lone Star State. “The selected person, who is from a city in the state of Texas, proved that they met all of the requirements and had the necessary space for this cat to develop, since they even have another cat of the same breed,” Ciudad Juárez officials said in a news release, adding that the new owner won’t be identified for security reasons. How a cat believed to be worth up to $2,000 wound up behind bars remains a mystery. But its tattoos — a pirate flag and an eagle with the phrase “Hecho en México,” or “Made in Mexico,” which are symbols used by Los Mexicles— are a testament to the violence taking place inside the prison, where a January attack left 17 dead, and the scale to which some inmates operate with a whopping degree of impunity. Officials said the cat came to prominence on New Year’s Day with a criminal operation to free its apparent owner, Ernesto Alfredo Piñón de la Cruz, known as “El Neto,” who was deemed“the toughest and most heartless narco of Los Mexicles criminal group” by the former Chihuahua governor Javier Corral. At least 30 inmates escaped, including El Neto, in a clash that spilled onto the streets of Ciudad Juárez and left 10 prison guards dead. On Jan 5., El Neto was killed in a shootout with state security forces. In the days following the violent incident, Chihuahua Gov. Maru Campos ordered an investigation— resulting in the searches that led to the discovery of 2,800 prohibited items, according to officials. “The privileges are over,” Campos said last month during a news conference, referencing the piles of luxuries, drugs, weapons and alcohol some inmates were able to acquire, which were subsequently destroyed by authorities.

Hasta un Toro mecánico encontraron en el— Reynaldo Lara (@reynaldolarar)
#CERESO 3 de Ciudad Juárez @AztecaNoticias @adn40 @ahoramasoficial @SEDENAmx #juarez #CHIHUAHUA pic.twitter.com/sp5xyxGVpv February 7, 2023

The cat was found inside a cell bearing the markings of Los Mexicles, a Sinaloa Cartel-allied gang with over most violent in Chihuahua.
10,000 members that has become one of the 10,000 members that has become one of the Believed to be around three years old, the cat was in good health — except for a slight infection in its eyes and ears, said Diego Poggio, who leads a municipal agency that oversees animal rescues and adoptions. It also had two tattoos. “The tattoos … cause harm and stress to the animal and therefore are considered mistreatment, even if the animal is physically well,” Poggio said, adding that it couldn’t be returned to its owner’s family given the signs of animal abuse. For nearly a month, the kitty — dubbed “Mishicles” in a play between the cutesy Spanish nickname for felines and the gang’s name — was kept under the rescue agency’s care while the Chihuahua Attorney General’s Office conducted an investigation. But the symbols covering its body, combined with its rather hardcore looks, quickly led to a social media frenzy and adoption inquiries. On Feb. 21, officials announced an effort to find “a family that will provide the care and attention it needs.” Potential adoptees “should be aware that it is a special animal, which will surely require medical follow-ups, for which the family that will receive it will be responsible,” the rescue agency said in a news release. Soon, the agency received 10 applications from Mexico and the U.S. — mostly from people in Texas, Maryland, New Jersey and Connecticut. Someone in Texas wound up the lucky adopter of a cat that has been described as playful and friendly. Status animals have been long been part of the criminal underworld. Hippos that once belonged to drug lord Pablo Escobar have for decades flourished in Colombia. In 2021, Venezuelan state security forces seized an ocelot kitten, a threatened feline species, from a gang. And last year, a tactical-vest-wearing spider monkey that belonged to the La Familia Michoacana cartel was killed in a standoff with police, inspiring its own tribute ballad. Mishicles is now part of that group of pets with a criminal pedigree — along with a snake living inside an acrylic tank that officials discovered in one of their Cereso 3 searches.