'El Pilo': The Number One Enemy of 'El Mencho' Who Wants to Bring Him Down

'El Pilo' has been sought by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) since 2015 for trafficking from South America, Central America, and Mexico to the United States.

Ángel Hernández, Luis Chaparro

In collaboration with MILENIO

MEXICO CITY.— He was close to the top with the Milenio cartel, but a man nicknamed El Mencho stood in his way and took the throne. El Pilo, as he was known, had no choice but to surrender to U.S. authorities, throw a Hail Mary to save his life, and wait.

Today, after becoming an informant, he is free of any charges, under the protection of the U.S. government, and with the imminent trial of Rubén Oseguera González, El Menchito, there appears to be an opportunity for El Pilo's voice to emerge against the son of the man who stole his narcotics crown.

The rise and fall of Elpidio Mojarro Ramírez had remained in the shadows until now. MILENIO and SAGA has accessed his indictment and a report on how El Pilo, a ghost whose face was unknown, managed to climb to the upper echelons of narco power and decided to become a collaborator with U.S. authorities when faced with a super predator.

In a photograph obtained by MILENIO and SAGA, the only public one so far, the man, with barely any hair and some gray, is shown on the day he surrendered to U.S. justice to save his skin.

In the DEA's Crosshairs