Following the momentous arrest of the mayor of Juchitán on Sept. 23, the Oaxaca Attorney General’s Office (FGEO) announced that it has launched investigations against six other municipal presidents in the southern state.

Attorney General Bernardo Rodríguez confirmed that his office has opened case files against six politicians following the arrest of Miguel Sánchez Altamirano. He also hinted at a possible investigation of the former director of the state’s Institute of Public Education (IEEPO), Emilio Montero, though he declined to offer specifics.

Mayor of Juchitán, Oaxaca, arrested over alleged CJNG ties, triggering blockades and protests

Montero — Sánchez’s predecessor as mayor of Juchitán, a primarily Indigenous city in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec region — resigned as director of the IEEPO last Friday, two days after Sánchez’s arrest.

The Isthmus of Tehuantepec has one of the highest incidence of crime in Oaxaca, with 957 murders since 2022, 70% of which have been linked to the “Los Cromos” crime gang.

All six cases described by Rodríguez are related to Juchitán — the third-largest city in Oaxaca — and feature a wide variety of charges related to alleged organized crime activities.

Rodríguez also confirmed that an arrest warrant had been issued for Mariano Rosado, the former secretary of the Juchitán City Council and Sánchez’s second in command.

Sánchez remains in pretrial detention on charges of aggravated extortion and crimes against the security of the state related to his alleged ties to “Los Cromos” and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG). 

While Sánchez is a member of the ruling Morena party (he has been described as a key operative of both the party and Governor Salomón Jara, also of Morena, in the region), Rodríguez said the six municipal presidents under investigation are from “different political affiliations.” 

“This office does not take into consideration partisan distinctions,” he said. “Any official involved in illicit activities will be investigated, regardless of the position they hold or the party to which they belong,” he said.

The FGEO released a bulletin on Monday claiming that as a result of its ongoing investigations dating back to last year, prosecutors have arrested more than 250 people, including Sánchez and members of the “Los Cromos.”

“This has been an effort carried out jointly with the federal government, with the backing of intelligence units from the Security Ministry and the Navy,” Rodríguez said.

With reports from LopezDoriga.com, El Heraldo de México, N+ and El Sol de México