Without moving from his wheelchair, to which he was anchored years ago due to a motorcycle accident, Pablo Lorenzo Ampudia Bernal (Mexico, 1973) led and managed the cell of the Sinaloa Cartel disjointed a few days ago in Barcelona. A faction dedicated to the introduction of methamphetamine, ecstasy and marijuana in the national territory taking advantage of the facilities of the ports of Barcelona and Tarragona.
But it was neither the illegal substances nor the life full of luxury that led to his arrest, but the kidnapping, torture and murder of another drug trafficker from the Balkans, of Serbian and Kosovar nationality, last October. Until that moment, Pablo Lorenzo had made “no mistakes”: as revealed SPANISH According to judicial sources, the drug trafficker was 20 years living in Catalonia. There, various sources associate him with the management of several restaurants.
“The wheels”as he was nicknamed because of his physical condition, only met in person with his lieutenants. He never used other means, neither phone calls nor other types of communications. He always met face to face to organize his men. He did it in different places in Catalonia, but also in the chalet where he lived and from which he led the clan. This is where he held his meetings. “The security measures were extremely extreme”explain the researchers.
Glock type pistol, compact series, seized by police authorities from the Sinaloa cartel cell in Barcelona.
This was actually one of the biggest difficulties of the operation. In the investigation door perpetrated by the Kidnapping and Extortion Section of the Central UDEV of the General Commissariat of the Judicial Police and the Mossos D’Esquadra.
The two police forces discovered an operation during which this clan used the room of a chalet in the town of Sant Andreu de Llavaneres, Barcelona, to kidnap and torture a suspected drug trafficker from another clan who was working with their organization. He is now in temporary prison with the 13 other inmates of this Sinaloa cartel cell. 9 of them were of Mexican nationality.
However, his involvement in drug trafficking dates back several years. Raised in a wealthy Mexican family, he lived in the United Kingdom during his childhood with his brother and parents. Back to Mexico, He entered the Universidad del Valle, one of the most prestigious and expensive in the country, where he studied administration and business management. He then launched into the hotel business with his uncle, as co-owner of several restaurants in Ixtapa and Zihuatanejo, two cities located in what is called the Mexican Riviera, in the state of Guerrero.
The beginnings of drug trafficking
During these decades he began to collaborate with organized crime. “But we only learned about his activities in 2000, when he had already settled in Spain”sources of Office of the Attorney General of the Republic of Mexico. This alleged drug trafficker also appears in an investigation carried out by the Drug Enforcement Administration American and the National Police Spanish, called “Operation Tacos” – for the criminal financial operation of Beltrán Leyva Cartel.
“Pablo Lorenzo approximately three or four years taking and sell cocaine to Spainobtaining approximate profits of 40 million euros per month, “which are sent to Mexico through financial movements, using the Ribadeo and Intercam exchange offices,” the Colombian drug trafficker said at the time. Ricardo Mauricio Bernal Palacios in a United States Department of Justice court.
Knife believed to have been used by cartel members for torture purposes.
Even journalistic investigations from years ago echo its links to drug trafficking. One of these investigations is the book Drug trafficking, corruption and States (Debate, 2012). In this document, several witnesses point out that Lorenzo Ampudia Bernal trafficked cocaine from Mexico to Europe, “directly to Spain”. And that he transferred money from Spain to Mexico when the operations were successful.
All sources consulted in Mexico maintain that Pablo Lorenzo became a cross-border money laundering professional during your stay in our country. Although no company appears in its name in the Commercial Register, the truth is that in recent years its environment has opened and closed companies, mainly Mexican cuisine restaurants. The last, inaugurated in 2021 and key to the investigation which led to his arrest, is in the name of his wife, a woman from Central Europe with whom he has three children.
Una sombra
En las redes sociales de sus familiares, en las que Pablo Lorenzo no aparece y se mantiene como un completo desconocido, su círculo presume de viajes en primera clase entre México y España, una vivienda unifamiliar con jardín y piscina adyacente, coches de lujo y estudios en universidades catalanas con matrículas de 60.000 euros.
Una vida que, según los investigadores, habría ganado a base del blanqueo de capitales, primero, y al tráfico de estupefacientes desde México a España, después. “Comenzó trayendo cocaína en amortiguadores de corcho de México a Barcelona. Tenía sobornadas a todas las autoridades en México y buenos contactos en la Interpol de España”, prosiguen desde la Procuraduría General mexicana.
En el país azteca todavía le constan diversas viviendas de lujo, según las autoridades mexicanas. Tres propiedades en Las Brisas de Acapulco [uno de los complejos turísticos más cotizados de México]an office in the Masaryk Street in Polanco [la avenida con el metro cuadrado más caro del país] and a house in Interlomas Golf Club, in Huixquilucan.
Operation Balkans
So, after years of living in Spain, we arrive at Balkans Operation, this is what caused his downfall. At the end of this investigation, still under summary secrecy, they were arrested. 14 peopleincluding nine of Mexican origin. The operation was commissioned by UDEV in collaboration with Catalan police investigators. This specific cell was organized only two years ago, although Lorenzo was in Spain before 2004.
The investigation began this summer, after two complaints from the father and wife of an individual of Serbian and Kosovar nationality. The victim’s data arrived via Interpol in Kosovo and Europol Italy. They explained that their relative had been kidnapped in Barcelona and asked for a ransom of 240,000 euros.
A few days later, the family contacted the agents to report that they had made a payment in cryptocurrencies under pressure and on the condition of receiving proof again that the victim was alive. Concretely, they made the payment of $32,000 in a virtual wallet of cryptocurrencies, following the organization’s instructions to make it difficult to trace the money, but at no time did they receive any news from the victim and the kidnappers continued to demand new payments.
Image of the arrest of components of the Sinaloa cartel cell in Barcelona.
The victim was 46 years old and had connections to the drug trafficking world. He would have worked for the organization and He had traveled from Italy to Barcelona to meet some of the leaders of the criminal network. Until that moment, Pablo Lorenzo had always managed to escape the filters of the national police as well as those of the Mexican federal police.
Drug traffickers based in Barcelona sent the family a photograph to prove that this individual was in their possession. They detained him in the aforementioned chalet in the Catalan town, where, according to investigative sources confirming to EL ESPAÑOL, the man was tortured for days after his kidnapping in a room in this house.
When investigators broke into the house a few days ago, members of the Sinaloa cartel They had already set up the room to make it look like no one had been there.. It was as if the torture room didn’t exist. They had covered the switches and sockets. Despite this, after the search, the investigation was able to prove what really happened during this stay.
In the house they found ties similar to the ones they had used to tie up the person they had kidnapped. Also traces of blood. The men of Pablo Lorenzo, the head of this cell, took between 3 and 4 days to end the life of the man they had locked up.
Although they murdered him, they continued the charade and continued to demand ransom from the family. As part of the investigation, on August 5, officers located the lifeless body of this individual. There were clear signs of violence in his home and he discovered advanced state of decomposition.
