Mexico City and federal authorities are investigating the origin and veracity of a video in which purported members of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) warn criminals in a northern borough of the capital that they are going after them.

Five men dressed in military attire — two of whom are wearing CJNG caps — and brandishing high-caliber weapons appear in the video, which was filmed inside a vehicle and began circulating on social media Sunday.

“This is a message for all of the people in the Gustavo A. Madero borough,” one of the men says before explaining that it is specifically directed at residents of certain neighborhoods.

“In all of these places, people who are caught stealing, kidnapping children, doing pendejadas [stupid shit] . . . This is the first and last time I’m going to tell you, I’m going to kill the whole family of any bastard who’s caught, do you understand?” he continues.

“We’re the people who are working here and this is where we’re going to be. We’re going to take care of the people. This is the first and last time I’m sending this message. Yours sincerely, El Canguro [the Kangaroo], La Vaquita [the Little Cow] and all of the team who is working here . . . Spread the word . . .” the man says.

Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum told a press conference yesterday the Secretariat of Citizens’ Security has been in contact with the federal government since becoming aware of the video, and together are conducting an investigation to determine its origin and veracity.

Security Secretary Jesús Orta Martínez told reporters that Federal Police and the military are patrolling Gustavo A. Madero to guarantee security in the borough and provide peace of mind for residents.

He also said that Mexico City authorities have doubts that the men really belong to the CJNG, considered Mexico’s most powerful and dangerous criminal organization, explaining that only local criminal gangs have been detected in the borough.

“It’s said that the video is of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel but we first need to check if the authorship is legitimate. Secondly, [we need to check] if the people who identify themselves have links to that cartel. The federal government will do that because in our case, we don’t identify them as such. Thirdly, we’re investigating what kind of people this message is aimed at,” Orta said.

Gustavo A. Madero, the northernmost of Mexico City’s 16 boroughs, is home to four of the capital’s 10 most crime-ridden neighborhoods, according to data from the Attorney General’s office (PGJ).

There were 22,668 reported crimes in the borough last year, of which many were acts of robbery, extortion and domestic violence.

The number of intentional homicides and drug trafficking offenses in the neighborhoods mentioned in the video have both spiked since November, the newspaper El Universal reported.

While the previous Mexico City government rejected claims that organized crime groups operate in the capital, the new administration has conceded that they do.

One of the groups identified by authorities, La Unión de Tepito, is allegedly supported by the CJNG.

Source: El Universal (sp)