Federal security authorities announced on Monday the arrest in Quintana Roo of two alleged members of a “transnational criminal group” that was identified in media reports as the “Cuban-American Mafia.”
One of the men detained by federal and state forces in a residential estate in the Caribbean coast resort city of Cancún was identified as Remigio Valdez Lao, an alleged operational and financial coordinator of the Cuban-American Mafia.
En Quintana Roo, elementos de @SEMAR_mx, @FGRMexico, @SSPCMexico, @Defensamx1, @GN_MEXICO_ y @SSC_QROO detuvieron a dos integrantes de un grupo delictivo transnacional, entre ellos Remigio “N”, alias “Milo”, objetivo prioritario y coordinador operativo y financiero de la… pic.twitter.com/G5H6ts8uQg
— Gabinete de Seguridad de México (@GabSeguridadMX) April 6, 2026
Security authorities, including the Security, Defense and Navy ministries, said in a joint statement that Valdez, known as “Milo,” was a “priority target” in Quintana Roo and subject to “an extradition order to the United States for human trafficking and organized crime.”
He was flown to Mexico City “to continue the extradition process,” the authorities said.
The other man arrested in Cancún was identified in media reports as Joseline García Biscaino, who also allegedly belongs to the Cuban-American Mafia.
In a social media post, the federal government’s Security Cabinet said that the arrest of Valdez “represents a direct blow to the operational capacity of the criminal group and is the result of international cooperation mechanisms based on respect for sovereignty.” That was an apparent reference to cooperation between Mexican and U.S. security authorities.
The Mexican security authorities said in their statement that the two suspects were arrested in the Residencial Arbolada estate in Cancún. They said that security forces also seized “38 doses of marijuana” and a gray SUV in an operation that followed “intelligence and investigation work” that succeeded in locating Valdez. The authorities didn’t mention the nationality of either suspect.
The Cuban Mafia in Quintana Roo
Mexican and U.S. media reports said that Valdez and García belong to the Cuban-American Mafia (Mafia Cubano-Americano). Cuban-American Mafia appears to be another name for what U.S. authorities have called “the Cuban Mafia in Quintana Roo.”
In October 2023, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of Florida noted in a statement that “an extensive multi-national operation, led by American and Mexican law enforcement authorities,” had been “formed to combat the activities of a violent transnational organized crime group known collectively in Mexico as La Mafia Cubana en Quintana Roo, or the Cuban Mafia in Quintana Roo.”
It said that through the operation, law enforcement officials learned that six Cuban citizens residing in Mexico and two Mexican nationals were “part of an organized crime group that profited from various schemes, including the smuggling and extortion of Cuban migrants held hostage in Mexico for the payment of smuggling fees.”
Neither Valdez nor García were among those mentioned.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of Florida said that “the members of the migrant extortion racket required the victims to provide contact information of a family member from whom they would later demand a $10,000 USD ransom fee.”
“The men contacted the victims’ relatives, some of whom were in Miami, and threatened to torture, starve, and kill the victims if the relatives refused to pay,” the statement said.
“If a victim’s relative was able to pay the ransom, the organization released the victim and sent them by bus to the United States-Mexico border with instructions to seek political asylum. The victims whose relatives were unable to pay the fee were beaten, threatened with knives and guns, and shocked with stun guns until they were finally rescued by Mexican authorities. Members of the organization also sought to profit from drug trafficking and fraud schemes,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
With reports from EFE, La Jornada and N+
