Iván Archivaldo Renounced El Panu for Providing Information and Seeking an Agreement with the DEA

Recently, investigative journalist José Luis Montenegro directly linked Iván Archivaldo Guzmán Salazar to the murder of his right-hand man, Oscar Noé Medina González, aka El Panu. El Panu was murdered on December 21, 2025, in a restaurant in Mexico City’s Zona Rosa in a targeted attack. 

According to Montenegro’s investigation, Iván Archivaldo allegedly orchestrated and ordered El Panu’s execution. The journalist points out that the leader of Los Chapitos lured Medina González to the capital under the pretext of a meeting, only to eliminate him due to information leaks and internal disloyalty, as he stated in his podcast, Narco Mundo. 

Iván Archivaldo summoned El Panu to Mexico City under the pretext of a meeting. Trusting his leader, El Panu went to a restaurant in the Zona Rosa, where he was shot 27 times, the journalist reported. This event is described by Montenegro as a predictable downfall, a reflection of the internal war and paranoia within the Los Chapitos faction following the capture of other leaders. 

In this regard, Montenegro referred to previously unpublished photographs that were disseminated by the user Crux1469 on his X account. The images show the leader of Los Chapitos in the company of his son, whose face was covered because he’s  a minor. According to Montenegro, the leaks of personal photographs of Iván Archivaldo, came from his inner circle, specifically from people he completely trusted who had access to his private life. 

He maintains that the dissemination of the unpublished images was facilitated by family members and close collaborators who were seeking to betray him or who were already collaborating with the authorities. Ivan Archivaldo pointed to El Panu, along with his father-in-law Mario Lindoro Elenes and his brother-in-law, as being responsible for allowing those pictures to reach the hands of the DEA and the Mexican government.

This loss of control over his private image was the trigger for him to order the internal purge. According to Montenegro, Iván Archivaldo decided to hand over his political family and eliminate El Panu as retaliation for having leaked the images that, although they date from previous years, between 2014 or 2015, their publication was a deliberate strategy by his associates to reveal his current identity. 

In addition to the dissemination of the photographs, the journalist states that both El Panu, his father-in-law and brother-in-law were seeking agreements with the DEA and with US authorities.  El Panu was considered the main security operator and the man of greatest confidence of Iván Archivaldo. The United States government offered a reward of up to $4 million for information that would lead to his capture. 

The journalist warns that the loss of El Panu marks a significant decline and a crisis of internal confidence in the Chapitos cartel. After these events, the situation of Ivan Archivaldo is of maximum alert and isolation to ensure his survival. Journalist José Luis Montenegro points out that Ivan Archivaldo is in a state of nervous crisis and extreme isolation. 

He has limited his communication to a minimum, distrusting even his direct relatives.Having ordered the execution, and allowing the capture of his father-in-law and brother-in-law, Ivan has lost his most loyal and experienced pieces. This has left him vulnerable, although Montenegro points out that he still has tactical control in certain areas of Sinaloa against the Mayiza faction. 

In short, Iván Archivaldo is entrenched and operating in the shadows, having sacrificed his family and annihilated El Panú to avoid being handed over. But with a criminal structure increasingly fractured by internal mistrust, according to José Luis Montenegro.

Sources: Grillonautas 2, Jose Luis Montenegro