Santa Rosa de Lima Regains Hegemony: It Allies Itself with the Sinaloa and Gulf Cartels to Stop the CJNG in Guanajuato

Recently, the United States government designated the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel as a Transnational Criminal Organisation.

The Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel (CSRL), which was believed to be on the verge of extinction after the capture of its leader, José Antonio Yépez Ortiz, “El Marro,” in 2020, has regained its dominance in Guanajuato through strategic alliances with other cartels and the hiring of Colombian mercenaries.

The criminal group’s power is reflected in its success in containing the incursion of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, and also in the increase in clandestine taps on Pemex pipelines, as the number of illegal taps detected in the first nine months of 2025 exceeded those found in all of 2023.

‘El Marro’ establishes alliances with the Sinaloa and Gulf Cartels

The group, which emerged in 2014 as a cell dedicated to fuel theft in the municipality of Santa Rosa de Lima, is now a transnational organization with ties to U.S. companies in the oil sector. It also controls extortion rackets in Guanajuato and has ventured into heroin trafficking to the United States.

According to official reports, five years after El Marro’s capture, the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel has established alliances with the Sinaloa Cartel and, more recently, with the Gulf Cartel.

Just this December 17, the U.S. government designated the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel as a Transnational Criminal Organization and affirmed that El Marro remains its leader.

“Despite being arrested, El Marro remains active in the CSRL from inside prison, sending instructions and orders to his collaborators through his lawyers and family members. He helped the CSRL establish the alliance with the Gulf Cartel from inside prison,” the U.S. Treasury Department stated.

The Trump administration itself acknowledged that U.S. companies are involved in the final stages of the fuel theft business. He explained that the stolen crude oil is smuggled into the United States, labeled as hazardous material to avoid inspection.

“The stolen crude oil is then delivered to complicit U.S. importers in the oil and natural gas industry operating near the southern U.S. border, who sell it at a steep discount in the United States and on global energy markets before repatriating the significant illicit profits to the cartels in Mexico,” the Treasury Department detailed.

To protect this business, El Marro has ordered the recruitment of former Colombian military personnel, at least since 2023, which, along with reinforcements provided by the Sinaloa Cartel, allowed the CSRL to regain the territorial control it had lost to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel after El Marro’s capture in August 2020.

Since then, clandestine taps on Pemex pipelines have surged. The most recent report from the Mexican oil company indicates that 536 illegal taps for fuel theft were detected throughout 2023, while 652 were found between January and September 2025.

Intelligence reports accessed by MILENIO detail the arrest of seven operators of the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel during 2025, including Leonel, “El Gordo de Zempoala,” arrested on January 30, who was responsible for extortion, kidnappings, and recruiting Colombian mercenaries.

State forces have also captured Luis, “El Pizzero,” a regional boss in the Laja-Bajío region, in charge of kidnappings, extortion, and homicides.  Also arrested was Candelaria ‘N’, a trusted operator of “El Marro,” accused of facilitating information from the capo while he was in prison to plan attacks and linked to the murder of Gisela Gaytán Gutiérrez, the Morena party candidate for mayor of Celaya.

Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel, dominant in Guanajuato

The Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel’s area of ​​influence has also expanded.  Originally, it was located in the Laja-Bajío corridor; however, the most recent reports indicate that it dominates throughout Guanajuato, encompassing eight municipalities ranging from León to Apaseo el Grande and Apaseo el Alto, crossing through Celaya, Irapuato, and Guanajuato City.

This corridor contains the main Pemex pipelines, originating from the Ing. Antonio M. Amor Refinery, inaugurated in 1950 in the municipality of Salamanca, making these areas the points of greatest dispute and violence between cartels.

These eight municipalities, including Villagrán, accounted for a total of 1,778 intentional homicides between January and October 2025, 60.5 percent of the total in Guanajuato. The U.S. Treasury Department indicated that the CSRL is also involved in heroin trafficking into the United States.

El Marro was arrested on August 2, 2020, after assuming leadership of the CSRL in 2017. His capture took place in a modest house in the municipality of Santa Cruz de Juventino Rosas, after being cornered by federal forces for several months.

A large-scale operation was launched for his apprehension, which, according to press reports, involved nearly a thousand army personnel to contain any violent reaction that might attempt to prevent the transfer of José Antonio Yépez Ortiz.

This was due to the fact that in previous operations, the social base cultivated by the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel and its followers had hindered security operations, with the burning of vehicles at various points along highways in the state.

Currently, El Marro is incarcerated in Federal Social Rehabilitation Center (Cefereso) No. 14, located in Durango, where he is serving a 60-year sentence.

Source: Milenio