From ‘Pancho Cayagua’ to ‘El Tomate’: The Fall of the Tepito Union Leaders

2018 shook the core of Tepito’s “Barrio Bravo.” While merchants and residents of downtown Mexico City suffered the ravages of a bloody dispute between two criminal organizations, the national and international press reported an episode that could have been the stuff of a crime thriller.

On the night of September 14 of that year, a group of mariachis arrived near Plaza Garibaldi, drew their firearms, and unleashed a violent attack that left six people dead and at least seven injured.
The hitmen, still disguised as the popular Mexican musicians, fled toward the Buenavista neighborhood. Although the capital’s authorities failed to apprehend any of those involved, their investigations gradually led to a name: José Mauricio Hernández, alias El Tomate.

According to information released by journalist Carlos Jiménez, El Tomate died in prison on September 1st. However, years earlier, he had been identified, along with Renato Dassae Esparza Vera (El Dassa) and Israel Cortés Villaseñor (El Cors), as the alleged perpetrators of the attack that took place in the so-called “Plaza de los Mariachis.” In addition to the investigation against them, the three shared something else: their membership in the Tepito Union.