El General accused of protecting Wedding’s drug network
By Cartel Insider Wire Desk · Edited by Mica Treviño
Original reporting: El Financiero
What happened
El Financiero reports that a U.S. indictment accused Edgar Aarón Vázquez Alvarado of providing checkpoint passwords and bribing officials for Ryan Wedding’s alleged trafficking network. Vázquez Alvarado was killed in a November 5 federal operation in Naucalpan.
Reporting and context
A U.S. indictment accuses Edgar Aarón Vázquez Alvarado, known as “El General,” of helping Ryan James Wedding’s alleged drug trafficking network move cocaine through Mexico by providing protection and frequently changing passwords for checkpoints, according to El Financiero.
The newspaper reported that Vázquez Alvarado, identified as a founder and leader of the Cártel Nuevo Imperio, was killed during a federal operation in Naucalpan, State of Mexico, on November 5, 2026. Authorities said federal personnel came under gunfire while investigating properties linked to the organization as part of preparations to execute search warrants.
El Financiero’s account of the U.S. Justice Department indictment says Vázquez Alvarado allegedly supplied passwords that changed almost daily so members of Wedding’s network could pass police and military checkpoints with drug shipments. The indictment also alleges that he bribed Mexican officials to delay investigations, alter or remove evidence and secure the dismissal of charges against members of the network.
Wedding represented Canada in snowboarding at the 2002 Winter Olympics. U.S. authorities accuse him of leading an international drug trafficking organization linked to several killings. The investigation also names Roberto Gómez, alias “Rob Flores,” an alleged member of Los Angeles’ 38th Street gang, as a suspected participant in transporting drugs between Mexico, the United States and Canada.
The Mexican Security Cabinet also identified Vázquez Alvarado as a suspected mastermind of the killing of Milton Morales Figueroa, a Mexico City security official who was killed in Coacalco, State of Mexico, on July 20, 2024, the newspaper reported.
El Financiero traces the Cártel Nuevo Imperio’s emergence to around 2017, describing it as a breakaway group from the Sinaloa Cartel following arrests of key figures including Dámaso López Núñez, known as “El Licenciado.” It reports operations in Mexico City’s Miguel Hidalgo, Azcapotzalco and Gustavo A. Madero boroughs, and in Naucalpan, Tlalnepantla, Coacalco, Atizapán de Zaragoza and Cuautitlán Izcalli in the neighboring state. The outlet links the group to drug trafficking and street-level sales, as well as homicide, extortion, kidnapping, robbery of freight operators and property seizures.
The report lists three other arrests of suspected leaders or operators: Néstor “N,” alias “El 20,” in Polanco on July 25, 2024; Adrián Michel Zapiain, alias “El Terry,” in Azcapotzalco on October 3, 2025; and Alberto “N,” alias “El Virus,” in Tulancingo, Hidalgo, on June 19, 2026.
Original reporting: El Financiero.