Police arrest ex-cop believed to be Jalisco cartel plaza chief in Veracruz

Veracruz police struck a blow against the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) with the arrest of a former Veracruz police officer believed to be the cartel’s plaza boss in Tres Valles, Veracruz.

Antonio “El Jaguar” N. was arrested with another man in the Ejido neighborhood of Coatzacoalcos when they tried to flee from a police checkpoint. A search of the car revealed two AR-15 rifles, a Browning 9-millimeter pistol, 226 rounds of ammunition of various calibers, body armor and fake uniforms of various security forces including the navy.

According to the Veracruz Public Security Secretariat (SSP), “El Jaguar” had worked as a police officer in the municipalities of Cuitláhuac, Tlacatalpan and Juan Rodríguez Clara. He is linked to the killings of a lawyer and two agronomists, as well as other murders and disappearances in southern Veracruz.

Over the past 10 years, the CJNG has grown from controlling not only its home state of Jalisco to become one of the biggest criminal organizations in Mexico, operating in 22 of the country’s 32 states.

According to the United States Drug Enforcement Agency, the cartel also operates in Europe and Asia.

Source: Infobae (sp), Proceso (sp), Imagen del Golfo (sp)

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Manzanillo, Colima, México, 13 de marzo de 2026. La doctora Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, presidenta Constitucional de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos en conferencia de prensa matutina, “Conferencia del Pueblo” desde Colima. La acompañan Indira Vizcaíno Silva, gobernadora Constitucional del Estado de Colima; Omar García Harfuch, secretario de Seguridad y Protección Ciudadana (SSPC); Raymundo Pedro Morales Ángeles, secretario de Marina (Semar); Bulmaro Juárez Pérez, divulgador de lenguas originarias, presentador de la sección “Suave Patria”; Ricardo Trevilla Trejo, secretario de la Defensa Nacional (Sedena); Jesús Antonio Esteva Medina, secretario de Infraestructura, Comunicaciones y Transportes; Bryant Alejandro García Ramírez, fiscal general del Estado de Colima; Fabián Ricardo Gómez Calcáneo; Rocío Bárcena Molina, subsecretaria de Desarrollo Democrático, Participación Social y Asuntos Religiosos de la Secretaría de Gobernación; Efraín Morales López, director general de la Comisión Nacional del Agua (Conagua); Marcela Figueroa Franco, secretaria ejecutiva del Sistema Nacional de Seguridad Pública (SESNSP) y Guillermo Briseño Lobera, comandante de la Guardia Nacional (GN). Foto: Saúl López / Presidencia

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