CJNG Operates with Cloned Army Patrol Vehicles in Chiapas

State authorities confirmed the arrest of seven alleged members of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), as well as the seizure of eight vehicles—including three cloned patrol vehicles with Mexican Army insignia—following a large-scale security operation deployed in the Frailesca region.

According to official information, the arrests were made after a series of violent incidents recorded last weekend in the municipality of Villaflores, where an armed criminal cell set fire to two bars and kidnapped eight people. Among the victims was Sergio Enrique Pereda Tamayo, owner of one of the establishments, who was found dead on Sunday.

The operation, in which more than 500 members of state and federal law enforcement agencies participated, extended to the municipalities of Cintalapa, Villaflores, Ocozocoautla, and Berriozábal. During the operation, security forces also managed to free a person who had been kidnapped, as well as seize three firearms and a motorcycle.

Security sources indicated that the cloned patrol vehicles—military-type vehicles—bore insignia and license plates corresponding to the 100th Infantry Battalion of the Secretariat of National Defense (Sedena), with headquarters in Arriaga and Cintalapa, which demonstrates the use of impersonation tactics to facilitate the criminal group’s operations.

The State Attorney General’s Office (FGE) and the Secretariat of Public Security (SSP) reported that the search continues for the other seven people reported missing after the violent events in Villaflores. They also confirmed that three women who were injured in the bar fire remain hospitalized, although their condition is stable.

The heads of both agencies, Jorge Luis Llaven Abarca (State Attorney General’s Office) and Óscar Aparicio Avendaño (State Public Security Secretariat), assured that investigations are ongoing and that security presence in the region will be reinforced to prevent further acts of violence and dismantle the criminal groups operating in the area.

Sources: Visión Chiapas Magazine, Noticias a Diario