 The downing of the helicopter and ensuing violence is a key reason why El Mencho remains free. No further attempts to arrest him have occured since.  | The weapon used to blast a Mexican military helicopter out of the sky in 2015 came from a supplier in Oregon. Erik Flores Elortegui, a Mexican and U.S. citizen who lived in Portland, tops the Most Wanted list of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. He supplied the Jalisco cartel with a belt-fed .50-caliber semi-automatic rifle. Eight Mexican soldiers and a cop died in the crash on a mission to arrest drug lord El Mencho. A round tore through the rotor of the aircraft, causing it to catch fire and crash. |   Elortegui purchased the $15,350 weapon at a gun shop in Rainier, Washington state. |
 Ivan Morales, the other cop on board, had to crawl through the fiery wreckage and suffered severe burns. |  |  Erik Flores Elortegui |
