Goat’s Head in a Cooler After a Quiet Arrest: La Línea’s Alleged Boss ‘El Chivo,’ on a U.S.–Mexico Most-Wanted List, Ordered to Stand Trial in Juárez, Across From El Paso
A man named on a U.S.–Mexico most-wanted list is now jailed in Ciudad Juárez, across from El Paso. El Diario de Juárez reported on Sept. 30 and Oct. 1, 2026, that Armando M. L., 48, known as “El Chivo” or “El Señor de los Cuernos,” was arrested on a federal warrant. The paper calls him the alleged chief of La Línea, the armed wing of the Juárez Cartel. CBP’s wanted list names him as Armando Maldonado Lozoya. His arrest was not announced at the time. Then, early on Sept. 30, someone left a goat’s head in a cooler on a Juárez overpass, with a sign demanding to know why.
The arrest and the charges
Mexico’s national detention registry, cited by El Diario, shows the arrest happened in Juárez on Sept. 25. El Diario said a special Navy unit found him in a house. The registry lists Attorney General’s Office (FGR) agents as the arresting authority. Somos Juárez reported the Navy and the FGR carried out the arrest during operations “last Monday,” which would be Sept. 28. The Narco Blog could not reconcile the two dates.
A day later he was moved to Juárez’s Cereso No. 3 prison, the paper said. On Sept. 30, a federal judge ordered him to stand trial on organized crime charges tied to people smuggling and drug offenses. The defense argued there was no direct physical evidence, such as drug seizures or smuggling victims. The judge ordered him held in pretrial detention and gave both sides three months to investigate.
On a U.S.–Mexico most-wanted list
He is one of eight people on the “Se Busca Información” list for El Paso and Chihuahua, El Diario reported. U.S. Customs and Border Protection publishes the list, and his entry names homicide. El Diario says the campaign includes CBP, Homeland Security Investigations and the U.S. Justice Department, along with the Juárez city government and Chihuahua’s state prosecutors.
The goat’s head message
Police got a 911 call at 1:10 a.m. on Sept. 30, El Diario reported. Officers found a foam cooler with a goat’s head inside at the Independencia and Manuel Talamás Camandari interchange. On top was a sign addressed to Chihuahua Gov. Maru Campos. It called him the “plaza boss” in Juárez and its “main kidnapper and extortionist.”
El Diario also reported that he was arrested in October 2015 in the killing of five people in a house in the Felipe Ángeles neighborhood. He was later freed after his defense argued he had been tortured.
Sources
- El Diario de Juárez, “Era objetivo de la Marina jefe de sicarios de La Línea, ‘El Chivo’,” Sept. 30, 2026.
- El Diario de Juárez, “Vinculan a proceso a ‘El Chivo’ por delincuencia organizada y tráfico de personas,” Sept. 30, 2026.
- El Diario de Juárez, “Jefe de La Línea, de los 8 más buscados en EU y México,” Oct. 1, 2026.
- Somos Juárez, “Fue la Marina la que capturó a ‘El Chivo’ el pasado lunes,” Sept. 30, 2026.
- U.S. Customs and Border Protection, “Se Busca Información: El Paso, Chihuahua.”
- Photos: U.S. Customs and Border Protection (public domain); El Diario de Juárez staff, via El Diario de Juárez.
Reported Oct. 1, 2026, from the sources listed above. The Narco Blog has not reviewed the court file or the arrest warrant. Mexican authorities had not publicly announced the arrest when these reports were published. Armando M. L. has not been convicted. His alleged role in La Línea and the charges against him are allegations, and he is presumed innocent.