Meny Carranza killed in Sonora months after prison escape
Original reporting: Azteca Noticias
What happened
Mexico’s security cabinet said Francisco Manuel Romero Carranza died after personnel came under fire near San Antonio. Azteca Noticias reported four arrests and said he had escaped from a Hermosillo prison in July.
Reporting and context
Francisco Manuel Romero Carranza, known as “Meny Carranza,” was killed during a security operation near San Antonio, Sonora, on Saturday, months after escaping from a Hermosillo prison. According to Azteca Noticias, Mexico’s security cabinet said personnel came under fire and returned fire during the Navy-led operation.
Authorities reported four arrests and the seizure of seven firearms, 45 ammunition magazines, cartridges, four vehicles, three ballistic vests and a bag of marijuana. Federal security officials and Sonora prosecutors also participated. The account of how the confrontation began comes from the security cabinet.
Azteca Noticias reported that Romero Carranza had been arrested on March 28, 2026, and escaped from Hermosillo’s CERESO No. 2 prison on July 11 with two other inmates. The following day, state prosecutors offered one million pesos for information leading to his arrest.
The outlet described him as the suspected second-in-command of Los Fantasmas. Citing September 2024 intelligence reports, it said he had alleged links to Salú Francisco “N,” known as “El Ponchis” or “El Fantasma,” the group’s suspected leader. Those reports linked Los Fantasmas to the Sinaloa Cartel’s Los Chapitos faction.
Security reports cited by Azteca place the group’s activities in Sáric, Tubutama, Trincheras, Santa Ana, Altar and Magdalena de Kino. Naval intelligence tracked Romero Carranza and Salú Francisco through Magdalena de Kino, Ímuris, Arizpe and Cucurpe, narrowing the search to Arizpe municipality, the report said.
The other escapees were identified as Omar Milán Tena, also named as Omar Millán Tena, and Paúl Alexis Téllez Olguín. The outlet said authorities had not confirmed whether either had been recaptured; it reported outstanding rearrest warrants for both.
The accompanying source graphic combines identification portraits with an agency-branded weapons display. It does not depict the fatal confrontation. Its source caption credits SSPC / Fiscalía de Sonora.
Original reporting by Azteca Noticias