“I’m waiting for you at the ISSSTE, same place as always, bring a knife,” wrote “El Pitufo” to an unidentified man.
The plan was to kill a man they had been following for weeks and who owed money to the criminal group known as the Tanzanios.
This is part of reports from the Mexico City Prosecutor’s Office, which add to the investigations into this gang that has operated for decades in Iztapalapa and the eastern area of the State of Mexico.
Iván N., “El Pitufo,” was a close collaborator of Nicolás García González, “El Nico,” leader of the Tanzanios. He handled settling scores, for which he recruited hitmen in neighborhoods such as Leyes de Reforma and Cabeza de Juárez.
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In May 2025, “El Pitufo” received the order to assassinate a Metro worker who owed money to a Venezuelan who made “gota a gota” (loan sharking) loans and collaborated with the Tanzanios, who control all illicit activities in the area.
Tanzanios: crime lords in Iztapalapa
According to Prosecutor's Office reports, the Tanzanios control street vending, public transportation, prostitution, drug dealing, arms sales, and even the sonideros that take part in Iztapalapa’s carnivals.
Thus, on May 5, 2025, “El Pitufo” recruited an accomplice who has not yet been identified by name, only by the nickname “Burro.”
That same afternoon, they followed their target for the first time.
“Take him out outside the Metro, not inside,” “Pitufo” wrote to “Burro.”
Two days later, at 3:57 p.m., “Pitufo” told “Burro” that they had a job for “El Venezolano,” scheduled for that same night, and that they would use a motorcycle to escape.
For the crime, “Pitufo” would give his accomplice five thousand pesos, according to Prosecutor’s Office documents.
“I’m waiting for you at the ISSSTE, same place as always, bring a knife,” he ordered, since he had forgotten his own blade in the car.
However, that night, the target managed to escape by boarding the Metrobús, and hours later, agents of the Investigative Police arrested “El Pitufo,” who was carrying a firearm.
On his cell phone, he had various communications that—although he deleted them constantly—provided a glimpse into his activity as a member of the Tanzanios.
“It’s the cops, dude, they hide the number,” reads a message from an alleged lookout (“halcón”) who informed him of all the movements of a police patrol. He also appeared in WhatsApp groups of street vendors, mototaxi drivers, civil associations, and even the Union of Women Merchants of Mexico City.
“El Pitufo” was linked to at least four investigation files and had four previous incarcerations; he was considered the right-hand man of “El Nico,” leader of the Tanzanios, for recruiting extortionists and gunmen.
The Metro worker they intended to kill survived. Apparently, he left his job and moved out of Mexico City, according to follow-up conducted by PDI agents.
Fracture within the “Tanzanios”
This criminal group has two branches which, although not in open conflict, do have friction over who takes the lead in organizing illicit activities.
This has caused fractures that have weakened the organization’s capacity for expansion, according to local Prosecutor’s Office reports.
La Silla Rota obtained access to an organizational chart showing Nicolás García González, “El Nico,” as the head of one cell, while his brother, Juan Manuel García González, “El Chuky,” leads another.
A third cell belongs to Irving Ricardo Carvajal Liebre, “La Liebre,” partner of the Unión Tepito through Brian López, “El Loco Bryan,” who was arrested last August.
This chart also includes Bryan Uriel Carbajal Liebre, brother of “La Liebre”; María del Rocío Hernández, “La Patrona”; and Osvaldo Martínez García, “El Nariz,” cousin of “El Nico.”
At the top of the chart also appears Oswaldo García Gutiérrez, “El Chuma,” who died in 2022 in a road accident after attending a pilgrimage to Chalma, in the State of Mexico.
According to data held by the Prosecutor’s Office, the Liebre brothers are the ones who have recently taken control of the Tanzanios, who even own hotels.
One of them, Breogan Suites in Ermita Iztapalapa, was seized in 2021 following reports of sexual parties where women associated with the Tanzanios were exploited.
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