Two young men found alive in Puerto Vallarta after alleged CJNG recruitment
Original reporting: El Financiero
What happened
A message to one man’s mother helped authorities locate two young men allegedly recruited by the CJNG and held in Puerto Vallarta. Authorities found them alive and are investigating possible forced labor and the people who contacted them with job offers.
Reporting and context
A message one of two young men sent to his mother helped authorities locate the pair alive in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, after they were allegedly recruited by the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) and deprived of their liberty, El Financiero reported.
The men were identified as Carlos Gaudiel Mitoma Pérez, 21, from Guadalajara, and Luis Ángel Olivo Patiño, 24, who lived in Toluca. State authorities and personnel from Mexico’s Defense Secretariat took part in the operation. According to El Financiero, Blanca Trujillo, Jalisco’s deputy prosecutor for missing persons, said the intervention located the men and placed them under protection. Olivo had been the subject of a missing-person report in the State of Mexico.
Investigators identified a property where the men were allegedly held. They found clothing, three cellphones and notebooks containing notes, but no weapons or drugs, according to the report. Authorities are examining whether the men were subjected to forced labor and are seeking to determine who contacted them with offers of apparently legitimate jobs and who later deprived them of their liberty. The Jalisco prosecutor’s office is continuing the investigation into the circumstances that led them to the property.
Original report: https://www.elfinanciero.com.mx/estados/2026/10/09/un-mensaje-a-mama-la-pista-para-encontrar-a-dos-jovenes-reclutados-por-el-cjng-en-puerto-vallarta