Authorities arrest alleged CJNG operator in Michoacán
El País México reports that authorities arrested Manuel Alejandro Rendón, known as El Señor de la T, on allegations including extortion, kidnapping, homicide, disappearance and retail drug trafficking. Officials identify him as an alleged CJNG operator in Michoacán and link him to several violent cases; the allegations remain unadjudicated.
Mexican authorities have arrested Manuel Alejandro Rendón, known as “El Señor de la T,” on allegations including extortion, kidnapping, homicide, disappearance and retail drug trafficking, El País México reports. Federal Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch said investigators identify Rendón as a major operator for the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) in several Michoacán municipalities and as a close associate of Heraclio Guerrero, known as “Tío Lako.” The allegations have not been adjudicated.
García Harfuch said Rendón maintained what investigators describe as a criminal presence in the Bajío region of Michoacán, including Angamacutiro, Penjamillo, Panindícuaro, José Sixto Verduzco and Puruándiro. The state prosecutor’s office has linked him to the killing of Roberto Ramírez Zárate, a municipal official in Penjamillo who was found shot inside his vehicle after being attacked on a highway last October. Prosecutors at the time said the main hypothesis was an organized-crime revenge attack, citing earlier threats against the official.
The Michoacán prosecutor’s office has also connected Rendón to the 2024 disappearance of Maribel Juárez, then mayor of Angamacutiro, according to El País México. The report says Juárez disappeared in her municipality after armed civilians surrounded her vehicle. It also describes a wider security crisis involving attacks on public officials and pressure on lemon and avocado farmers, but those broader conditions do not by themselves establish Rendón’s responsibility for every crime in the region.
The prosecutor’s file links Rendón to “an important part” of the disappearances recorded in the area, a claim that remains attributed to authorities. Guerrero, meanwhile, has evaded intensified efforts to arrest him. In an August operation aimed at his circle, nine people were arrested, including two individuals identified by authorities as his daughter and romantic partner; the operation was followed by road blockades and fires.
Authorities say the military has been searching for Guerrero over alleged attacks on National Guard personnel on February 22. El País México reports that officials view the attacks as retaliation for the death of Guerrero’s son, Rubén Guerrero Valadez, known as “R1,” who was described as a protector of CJNG leader Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as “El Mencho.”
Source: El País México