Jose Ballesteros Varela, 38, was killed in a shooting on October 16, 2020, at the Nuevo Vallarta restaurant in East San Jose. A confrontation between two groups in the restaurant’s outdoor dining area escalated into gunfire that also killed 24-year-old Christian Zarate Rodriguez and injured four others.

San Jose Police investigators linked the shooting to gang activity and drug trafficking, and the probe intersected with a federal DEA investigation. Authorities executed search warrants and seized methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin, marijuana, fentanyl pills, a 9mm ghost gun, an AR-15 rifle, and about $175,000 in cash. Several San Jose residents — Raymond Caballero Araujo, Andres Campos Salas, and Oswaldo Varela — were arrested and charged with murder with gang enhancements; a 31-year-old woman was charged as an accessory after the fact.

What information can readers share about Jose Ballesteros Varela, his connections, or the events at Nuevo Vallarta that night?