The U.S. government issued a security alert late Monday due to a potential “August 25 threat in Mexicali,” but no major security incidents were reported in the northern border city on Tuesday.
The U.S. Mission to Mexico issued the alert, announcing that due to “threat information,” U.S. government activities in, and travel to, Mexicali had been suspended for Aug. 25.
The diplomatic mission advised U.S. citizens to “avoid government buildings in Mexicali” on Tuesday and “seek shelter in the event of an incident.” It didn’t specify the nature of the potential threat.
On Tuesday morning, President Claudia Sheinbaum said the U.S. security alert was issued due to the possibility that a criminal group could pose a danger in Mexicali, the capital of Baja California. The criminal group was identified as “Los Rusos,” which is affiliated with the Sinaloa Cartel.
Mexican authorities recently seized a large quantity of fentanyl from a property in Mexicali linked to “Los Rusos,” leading to fears that the criminal group could carry out a retaliatory attack in the city. Journalist Luis Chaparro said in a social media post on Tuesday that he obtained information from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in San Diego that confirmed that the security alert was issued after that agency intercepted “at least one call” in which members of “Los Rusos” spoke of plans to attack buildings in Mexicali occupied by municipal police and the Federal Attorney General’s Office.
No such attacks eventuated on Tuesday, and no major security incidents occurred in Mexicali, located opposite the city of Calexico, California. A Mexico News Daily reader who lives in Mexicali commented on an MND article that the city wasn’t “shut down or impacted in any way” after the U.S. security alert was issued. He wrote that his experience in Mexicali on Tuesday was “business as usual.”
Authorities did bolster security in the city in light of the U.S alert, which was acknowledged and endorsed by the government of Canada. That included increasing surveillance of public buildings and “strategic points” of the Baja California capital, the newspaper Milenio reported. The Baja California-based news outlet En Contraste News reported that there were fewer visitors than normal to public buildings in Mexicali on Tuesday. It also noted that state and federal judicial authorities suspended activities. The border between Mexicali and Calexico remained open.
US Northern Command ‘applauds’ Mexico’s success against ‘Los Rusos’
In a social media post on Tuesday, the U.S. Northern Command, one of 11 “unified combatant commands” of the U.S. Department of Defense, wrote:
“USNORTHCOM applauds the Government of Mexico’s success against ‘Los Rusos.’ Mexico’s whole-of-government commitment to countering cartels is reducing illicit trafficking at the Southern Border. #USNORTHCOM, through @JIATFCC [Joint Interagency Task Force-Counter Cartel], continues to identify, disrupt, and dismantle cartel operations posing a threat to the United States along the U.S.-Mexico border.”
USNORTHCOM applauds the Government of Mexico’s success against “Los Rusos.” Mexico’s whole-of-government commitment to countering cartels is reducing illicit trafficking at the Southern Border. #USNORTHCOM, through @JIATFCC, continues to identify, disrupt, and dismantle cartel… https://t.co/dPLwClDtRT pic.twitter.com/wjsYD4DaQ1
— U.S. Northern Command (@USNorthernCmd) August 25, 2026
Included in the same post was Mexican Security Minister Omar García Harfuch’s Aug. 20 post to X in which he announced a fentanyl bust — the very bust that U.S. authorities reportedly suspected could lead to a retaliatory attack by “Los Rusos,” a group said to be linked to the “Los Mayos” faction of the Sinaloa Cartel.
In his post, García Harfuch wrote:
“Derived from the exchange of information with @DEAHQ and from intelligence and investigative work by Mexican authorities in Mexicali, Baja California, … [federal security forces] and state authorities carried out an operational action at a property linked to the criminal group known as ‘Los Rusos.’ During the operation, 120 kilos of fentanyl pills, equivalent to more than 4 million doses, a firearm and vehicles were seized. International cooperation, accompanied by the investigation and operational capacity of Mexican institutions, allows information to be translated into concrete results against criminal organizations and their logistical structures.”
U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ronald Johnson shared García Harfuch’s post to his X account last Thursday.
Above the security minister’s post, Johnson wrote: “Information shared becomes action taken. More than 4 million potentially deadly doses of fentanyl kept off our streets and away from our families. This is what results-driven cooperation looks like: sharing information, acting on it, and putting real pressure on the cartels. That’s the partnership @POTUS @realDonaldTrump and President @ClaudiaShein are driving.”
With reports from La Jornada and Milenio
