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Criminal Violence in Mexico

Mexican Journalist Killed in Oaxaca

  • Mexican journalist Francisco Leyva was found dead in Oaxaca, the state’s Attorney General’s Office said, marking at least the fourth killing of a journalist in the country since June (Reuters).

Sheinbaum Rejects DEA’s Comments Linking Mexican Government and Cartels

  • Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum rejected comments from the head of the U.S. ​Drug Enforcement Administration, who said there is “a deadly ‌connection” between the Mexican government and the country’s drug cartels, calling the remarks “unfortunate” and baseless (Reuters).

Mayor Killed in Oaxaca

  • Mexican authorities announced that they are investigating the homicide of a mayor in Oaxaca, who was killed weeks after he reported that he feared for his life and requested protection from the state government (AP)

Mexican Journalist Killed in Veracruz

  • Gunmen shot and killed a journalist in Mexico’s eastern state of Veracruz, marking the second killing of a journalist in Veracruz this year (AP)

Hundreds Forced to Flee Homes After Cartel Attacks

  • Between eight hundred and one thousand families were forced to flee their homes in the mountains of Guerrero after a criminal cartel, Los Ardillos, attacked them with powerful weapons and handmade explosives launched from drones, community and human rights groups said (AP)

Sinaloa Governor, Mayor Temporarily Step Down

  • Governor Rubén Rocha Moya and Juan de Dios Gámez Mendívil, the mayor of Culiacán, Sinaloa’s state capital, announced temporary leaves of absence after being indicted by the United States on drug trafficking charges; their departures from their posts mean they are no longer immune from prosecution under Mexican law, though both deny the allegations (AP)

Mexico Responds to Indictment

  • Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said that the country does not plan to send Sinaloa state Governor Rubén Rocha Moya to the United States to face trial after the United States indicted him, saying there was no “overwhelming and irrefutable” evidence in the cartel conspiracy case; if such evidence emerged, he would be tried in Mexico, an official said (FT)

U.S. Indictment of Mexican Officials

  • The United States indicted the governor of Mexico’s Sinaloa state, Rubén Rocha Moya, as well as nine additional current and former Mexican officials on charges related to drug trafficking, according to a court document unsealed today (SDNY)
  • Rocha is the highest-ranking member of Mexico’s ruling party to face such a U.S. indictment; he called the charges “entirely false” and an attack on Mexico’s sovereignty (NYT)

Mexico Arrests Top Jalisco Cartel Leader

  • Security forces apprehended Audias Flores, a senior commander in one of the country’s largest drug cartels, Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch announced; an unnamed Mexican security official told Reuters that the United States provided Mexico with intelligence for Flores’s arrest (Reuters)
  • Flores was considered a potential successor to the Jalisco cartel’s leader, Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, who was killed in a Mexican security operation in February (AP)

Two CIA Officials Die in Car Accident

  • Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum called for an explanation after the U.S. Embassy said two of its officials died returning from a joint anti-drug operation with Mexican officials in Chihuahua state; Sheinbaum said she had not been informed of any joint operation, which is required by Mexican federal law (AP)
  • Four officials died in a car crash (WaPo)

Sinaloa Cartel Faction Leader Captured

  • Omar Oswaldo Torres, the leader of the Los Mayos faction of the Sinaloa Cartel, was captured in a raid conducted by the Mexican military in Cucliacan in the state of Sinaloa; authorities reported that eleven people were killed in the raid, and that tactical equipment and weapons were seized (Al Jazeera)

Los Lobos Leader Arrested in Mexico City

  • Angel Esteban Aguilar, leader of the Ecuadorian crime group Los Lobos, was arrested in Mexico City’s international airport, where he had attempted to enter the country using a false identity; his arrest was described as a collaborative effort between Mexico, Ecuador, and Colombia (Al Jazeera)

Cartels Spread Disinformation to Sow Fear After El Mencho Killing

  • Researchers say a coordinated propaganda campaign by organized crime groups helped spread false accounts and AI-generated images of extreme violence after El Mencho was killed; the false information reflects efforts to make the retaliatory violence appear greater than it really was (Reuters)

Sheinbaum Addresses El Mencho Raid in Press Conference

  • President Claudia Sheinbaum said order has returned to Mexico, citing the absence of roadblocks on Monday morning that gang members had set up in retaliation on Sunday (Reuters)
  • Sheinbaum was joined by Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch, who stated that Sunday’s violence killed twenty-five members of Mexico’s National Guard in six attacks; he also said that thirty criminal suspects were killed in Jalisco and four others were killed in Michoacán (AP)
  • Harfuch further stated that seventy people were arrested across seven states (Reuters)

Mexican Security Forces Kills Jalisco New Generation Cartel Leader

  • Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, known as “El Mencho,” was one of the country’s most-wanted cartel bosses (NYT)
  • Four cartel members, including El Mencho, were killed in the military operation, and an additional three later died from their injuries; two members were also detained as authorities seized armored vehicles and heavy weaponry (Axios)
  • The U.S. Joint Interagency Task Force Counter-Cartel played a role in the military raid; the group was launched last month and specializes in intelligence collection on drug cartels (Reuters)
  • The United States later commended the Mexican military, the White House press secretary wrote on social media (White House)
  • The operation sparked retaliatory attacks by organized crime groups across Mexico, which blocked roads and set fire to buildings such as banks and supermarkets (Reuters)

Mexico, El Salvador Seize Cocaine in Pacific Operations

  • Mexican and Salvadoran naval forces seized over ten tons of cocaine in the Pacific this week, including nearly four tons recovered from a semisubmersible vessel south of Manzanillo; Mexican authorities said the operation relied on intelligence shared by U.S. Northern Command and Joint Interagency Task Force South (AP)

Controversy Over El Paso Airspace Closure

  • The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reopened the airspace at El Paso International Airport soon after announcing a ten-day closure that would have grounded all inbound and outbound flights (AP)
  • Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the closure was due to Mexican drug cartels sending drones over the border, but multiple news outlets reported—citing unnamed sources—it was actually closed because aviation officials were concerned that Customs and Border Protection’s testing of an anti-drone laser posed risks to local aircraft (NYT)

Seized Cartel Ammunition Produced by U.S. Manufacturers

  • Mexico’s defense secretary General Ricardo Trevilla Trejo stated that of the 137,000 0.50 caliber rounds seized since 2012, 47 percent came from Lake City Army Ammunition Plant, the largest manufacturer of rifle ammunition for the United States military; General Trevilla Trejo further noted that of the 18,000 firearms seized since 2024, 80 percent came from the United States (NYT)

Abducted Canadian Miners Found Dead

  • Canadian Miner Vizsla Silver stated that the abducted workers from the company’s construction site in Concordia were found dead (Reuters)
  • Vizsla Silver reported that ten of its workers were abducted on January 28 (Vizsla Silver)

Gunmen Kill Eleven in Soccer Field Attack

  • Gunmen killed at least eleven people and wounded twelve after opening fire at the end of a soccer match in Salamanca; Mayor Cesar Prieto appealed to President Claudia Sheinbaum for help managing escalating violence, and state prosecutors moved to enforce security (AP)

Mexico Arrests “El-Botox”

  • Mexican authorities arrested Cesar Alejandro Sepulveda Arellano, known as “El-Botox,” accusing the White Trojans leader of extorting lime growers and ordering multiple homicides, including the October killing of agricultural leader Bernado Bravo in Michoacan (AP)

Mexico Sends Thirty-Seven Cartel Suspects to the United States

  • Mexico sent thirty-seven cartel suspects to the United States, raising the total number of transferred inmates to ninety-two and marking the third major transfer in the past year (Reuters)

Mexico’s Detainee Transfer

  • The Mexican government sent thirty-seven imprisoned cartel members to the United States, Security Minister Omar García Harfuch wrote on social media (X)
  • It is the third such transfer in under a year; the Trump administration has pressed Mexico to crack down on drug trafficking and threatened to carry out military strikes in the country over the matter (AP)

Mexican National Guardsman Kills Three Fellow Service Members

  • The attack in Michoacán targeted fellow service members and led to the injury of a fourth; the attack comes as President Sheinbaum deploys thousands of additional troops to the cartel-plagued state, where multiple U.S.-designated terrorist cartels remain active (AP)

Explosion Outside Michoacán Police Station

  • The explosion, likely caused by an explosives-laden pickup truck, killed five people and injured twelve, including members of a state-sanctioned community police force; authorities say criminal groups in the region, including cartels designated by the U.S. as terrorist organizations, have increasingly turned to improvised explosive devices amid intensifying territorial conflict (AP)