Mexico reports 70,500 arrests and six planned prisons
Mexico’s Security Cabinet reported arrests, drug and weapons seizures, alleged CJNG detentions and plans to build six federal prisons.
Mexico reports arrests, seizures and plans for six new prisons
Mexico’s Security Cabinet reported the arrest of 70,500 people and the seizure of 36,300 firearms and 569 tons of drugs between Oct. 1, 2024, and Sept. 30, 2026. The figures included the destruction of 2,792 clandestine laboratories and concentration areas. According to AF Medios, the report also said the daily average of intentional homicides fell 52 percent during that period, from 87 to 42 cases.
Authorities said several of the arrests involved alleged criminal operators. In Zapopan, Jalisco, officials detained Iván “N,” known as “El Tanque,” whom they identify as a regional operator of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, or CJNG. Investigators link him to alleged drug and arms trafficking, fuel theft, money laundering, extortion, homicide and unlawful deprivation of liberty. They are also investigating his alleged role in a 2015 attack on a Mexican Air Force helicopter. The U.S. Treasury sanctioned him in September 2024 over alleged CJNG ties and illicit financial activity.
AF Medios reported that authorities also detained two other alleged CJNG regional operators in Zapopan and Tepic, as well as alleged extortion suspects in Acapulco and a Mara 18 leader in Villahermosa. In a separate operation off Huatulco, the Navy reported seizing a boat carrying six people and approximately 1,300 kilograms of cocaine. Authorities said more than 93 tons of cocaine have been seized in Mexican waters during the current administration.
The government also reported 2,170 arrests under its national anti-extortion strategy and 19 arrests following 13 searches in Michoacán and San Luis Potosí targeting federal cargo theft. The searches yielded 11 properties, signal-blocking equipment, weapons, drones and cargo vehicles. It announced six new federal prisons in Chiapas, the State of Mexico, Nayarit, Sinaloa, Sonora and Veracruz, with a projected combined capacity of 18,480 people. The first, planned for Sinaloa, is expected to hold 2,640 people.