Analysis maps seven criminal groups in Querétaro
Original reporting: Noroeste Seguridad
What happened
A Noroeste analysis links fuel theft, illegal mercury mining and extortion to criminal expansion in Querétaro. It identifies seven groups and maps CJNG in 12 of the state’s 18 municipalities.
Reporting and context
Fuel theft, illegal mercury mining and business extortion threaten Querétaro despite its comparatively low homicide levels, an analysis published by Noroeste argues. The assessment identifies seven criminal organizations in the state and describes the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, or CJNG, as the most influential, with a presence in 12 of its 18 municipalities.
According to Noroeste, Querétaro ranked sixth nationally for illegal taps on fuel pipelines during 2026 to date, behind Hidalgo, Jalisco, the State of Mexico, Nuevo León and Guanajuato. The analysis links that activity to groups expanding from neighboring states, including the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel and Los Hades, also known as Los H or the Cártel de Palmillas.
The report says the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel has moved into Querétaro after losing fuel-theft territory in Guanajuato during its conflict with CJNG. It places that group in six municipalities along Querétaro’s southern corridor and attributes extortion and street-level drug sales to it. Los Hades, which the analysis describes as originating in Hidalgo, are mapped in seven municipalities near that state’s border, stealing fuel from pipelines running from the Tula refinery toward Querétaro.
Noroeste reported that illegal mercury extraction in the Sierra Gorda is another expanding criminal market. Its analysis attributes control of most mercury mines to CJNG, identifying Peñamiller, Pinal de Amoles, San Joaquín and Cadereyta de Montes as affected municipalities. It describes mercury as valuable to the chemical industry and gold and silver extraction.
The analysis also says extortion complaints had already reached a record high before the end of 2026. It argues that Querétaro’s industrial activity, incomes and population create opportunities for extortion, particularly along the corridor between the state capital and San Juan del Río, where fuel pipelines also run.
The remaining groups identified are Los Sánchez, a local organization mapped in six municipalities and described as moving drugs from Chiapas by road; Los Escorpiones, a Gulf Cartel faction placed in two municipalities and described as allied with Santa Rosa de Lima; and La Familia Michoacana and Los Salazar, which the report places in Querétaro’s capital. It identifies Los Salazar with the Cártel Independiente de Sonora.
The accompanying map credits Dr. Víctor Manuel Sánchez Valdés and Universidad Autónoma de Coahuila. The article links to a municipality-by-municipality source spreadsheet supporting its assessment. These descriptions of criminal presence and activity are the analysis’s claims.
Although the article describes falling homicides over the preceding three years, it warns that other serious crimes could undermine that relative security. It also identifies the change of state government in 2027 as a possible opening for criminal expansion and calls for action against groups already operating in Querétaro.