By "El Huaso" for Borderland Beat
A criminal group detonated a car bomb outside the Municipal Police headquarters in Luis Moya, Zacatecas yesterday leaving three officers injured.
Friday, March 6, 2026
Cartel Attacks Police Base with Carbomb in Luis Moya, Zacatecas
El Burro, the Armed Wing of Los Chapos, Falls in Baja California Sur
“Sol Prendido” for Borderland Beat
The leader of the “Los Burros” (Chapos) cell was captured in Puerto San Carlos, Comondú municipality. He is one of those responsible for confronting “Los Venados” (Mayos) in the Northern Zone.
In a coordinated operation between federal and state forces comprising the Security Council, the capture of a high-priority target operating in northern Baja California Sur for the Sinaloa Cartel, specifically for “Los Chapos,” was confirmed.
The arrest is of Francisco “N,” alias “El Burro,” the armed wing of the cell identified as “Los Burros,” which operates in the Northern Zone, primarily in the community of Guerrero Negro, Mulegé municipality.
His capture occurred on the night of Thursday, March 5, in the town of Puerto San Carlos, Comondú municipality, following a surveillance and crime prevention operation by members of the Mexican Navy and the Municipal Police, who intercepted a black pickup truck.
The crew members displayed aggressive behavior and insulted the officers, leading to their initial arrest for disturbing the peace. However, upon verifying their information at the Public Security facilities, the identity of one of the detainees was confirmed. He had an outstanding arrest warrant for aggravated kidnapping.
Unofficial information confirmed that the man is Francisco Javier Ibarra Romo, alias “El Burro,” identified as the leader of the criminal cell “Los Burros,” based in Guerrero Negro. According to intelligence reports, this group is actively fighting in the northern part of the state to prevent the “Los Mayos” faction from gaining control of the territory.
In addition to the capture of one of the main instigators of violence in the region, the State Security Council, made up of the Navy, Army, National Guard, Attorney General's Office and the State Attorney General's Office, reiterated that joint operations will continue permanently to try to capture other priority targets in the 5 municipalities.
Puerto San Carlos, Baja California Sur
The distance between Puerto San Carlos and the Comondú municipality.
Source: Zeta Tijuana
Thursday, March 5, 2026
Junior: A Son of the Gulf Cartel
Wednesday, March 4, 2026
Inside the Gaming Servers Where Cartel Culture Thrives
El Armadillo for Borderland Beat
The spawn base in Arma Reforger was the usual, players assembling loadouts, choosing vehicles, customizing their outfits, talking trash. Then somewhere in the noise, two players drifted toward each other off to the side in Spanish.
The Chapiza - CJNG Alliance Captured and Kill a Member of Los Flechas
“Sol Prendido” for Borderland Beat
How fucked up is that to have to see some big-gut midget on a phone call walk around nonchalantly in the background while you’re being interrogated by your captors?
Even worse still is that your right ear gets sliced off and you’re forced to appear on film naked from the waist down.
Had you been shot to death in front of everyone, that conclusion to your life wouldn’t look so bad. What we get instead are the assassins who force you to say things against your will.
Followed by a decent sized knife that’s thrust into your solar plexus. Under the best of circumstances, that would’ve been that. But that stabbing has caused some innards to suddenly spill out.
And as if to complement that evil that’s already underway, the enforcer takes the time to slice that off as well.
Escuinapa, Sinaloa
Source: Informante Sinaloa
US & Ecuador Carry Out Joint Military Operations Targeting Cartel Groups & Gangs
"Socalj" for Borderland Beat
The United States and Ecuador conducted joint military operations against "designated terrorist organizations in Ecuador," U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) announced on Tuesday.
This is the first time, officially, that the U.S. military has engaged in a land combat operation against South American drug cartels and gangs since the 1980s.
Recently, the U.S. military had only carried out airstrikes targeting smuggling boats in the Eastern Pacific and Caribbean killing a total of 152 alleged traffickers.
This is the first time, officially, that the U.S. military has engaged in a land combat operation against South American drug cartels and gangs since the 1980s.
Recently, the U.S. military had only carried out airstrikes targeting smuggling boats in the Eastern Pacific and Caribbean killing a total of 152 alleged traffickers.
Monday, March 2, 2026
While CJNG Retaliation Ends, Small Attacks Continue in Guadalajara
By “El Huaso” for Borderland Beat
While initial CJNG retaliations for the killing of El Mencho in a security operation across Mexico have subsided, CJNG members continue to lash out in Guadalajara, though at a reduced pace and intensity.
Last night, a group of young men attacked the Oxxo corner store on the corner of Luis Pérez Verdía and Justo Sierra streets in the Arcos Vallarta neighborhood of Guadalajara. The men broke the glass windows and threw molotov cocktails, burning the store. Two employees were at the store but were not injured. The assailants fled on motorcyles.
Also that night, a vehicle was burned on the Laureles amd Paseo del Nopal streets in the Mesa de los Ocotes neighborhood.
Yesterday, a short shootout erupted between police and armed men by the Glorieta Colón, in colonia Italia Providencia. Locals also reported the criminals deployed tire spikes.
The events are far less severe in impact and scale than the initial outbreak of violence, but they threaten the return to normalcy in the Guadalajara region.
On February 22–23, the CJNG demonstrated the capability to conduct mass disruption operations across the city of Guadalajara and much of Mexico, disperse during daylight hours, and re-emerge at night once security patrols ceased. The attacks were typical of criminal strategy over the last twenty years, where criminals launch large-scale retaliatory violence for operations against their leadership.
A Chapiza Member is Forced To Speak Ill of His Counterparts
“Sol Prendido” for Borderland Beat
Assassins under the command of Mayito Flaco force a Chapiza member to curse his organization. To add fuel to the fire a fixed blade knife is used to carve the MF initials across his stomach.
There’s nothing quite like saying, “Fuck your team,” more than being carved up by the opposition while alive.
At this time it is believed that the captive was killed soon after this horrific ordeal. But if, on the off chance, he survived, the scars on his body serve as a reminder as to why he was sliced up.
Source: Anonymous
Sunday, March 1, 2026
Gulf Cartel Cell Leader Antonio Guadalupe ‘Lexus’ Captured
“Sol Prendido” for Borderland Beat
Mexican authorities have captured a reputed Gulf cartel cell leader in the border town of Matamoros.
Antonio Guadalupe N., aka “Lexus,” was wanted on charges of extortion, kidnapping, drug, weapons and migrant trafficking. Mexican soldiers and National Guard members arrested him on Thursday along with eight alleged accomplices, that country’s Public Safety Secretariat said in a statement.
The soldiers seized several high-powered guns, communication equipment and vehicles from the suspects. The Public Safety Secretariat said Lexus is a leader of Ciclones, or Cyclones, one of the groups associated with the Gulf cartel.
All nine individuals have been turned over to the Mexican Attorney General’s Office for prosecution.
U.S. security experts have told Border Report the Gulf cartel has broken up into several gangs, which have divided drug trafficking routes into the U.S. and established boundaries of territories where they conduct other illicit activities like extortion.
The Cyclones and Scorpions reportedly control the greater Matamoros region south of Brownsville, Texas, while Los Metros operate in Reynosa. A faction called Los Rojos allegedly operates south of border areas
Sources: Border Report, Jesús Rubén Peña
Saturday, February 28, 2026
Ryan James Wedding's Early Sinaloa Cartel Links Part 2: Operation Harrington, Catboy & Russian Mike
"Socalj" for Borderland Beat
A 2015 Canadian indictment charged the former Olympic snowboarder as part of Operation Harrington. The RCMP believed at the time he had ties to the Sinaloa Cartel and Iranian-linked money launderers, via his now ex-wife. Wedding fled to Mexico in 2015 to avoid the charges that were the result of a lengthy undercover operation targeting several Canadian traffickers.
While the 2015 Canadian indictment focused primarily on Canadian based traffickers, it would take another 4 years until the full extent of their connections to the Sinaloa Cartel would be revealed by Colombian trafficker-turned witness Alex Cifuentes-Villa during his testimony at the 2019 trial of "El Chapo," and the sentencing memo of a Canadian trafficker known as "Russian Mike" the same year.
Friday, February 27, 2026
The Chapiza Mob Takes Charge of Mazatlán
“Sol Prendido” for Borderland Beat
It’s a given that everyone you see here is going to be killed off. Even the leggy female in the middle of the bunch who seems to think that by making herself appear small as possible isn’t going to be noticed.
Out of every individual under questioning, she’s the one person that has the least to say.
They’re all accused of being marranos, a derogatory term which means pigs in Spanish. The Chapiza mob tends to use it often as an insult for every Mayito Flaco operative.
You get to hearing the indignity enough times, and before you know it, your brain automatically registers that someone from the Chapiza is interrogating the next round of captives that they’re planning on killing without being told that it’s them.
Unfortunately, we’re not afforded the opportunity to see how their lives will end. Still though, they’re definitely leaving this world like others before them under these circumstances.
Source: Anonymous
Wednesday, February 25, 2026
Post Mortem: Mencho Is Dead, El 3 Is In, Questions Remain
El Armadillo for Borderland Beat
On the morning of February 22nd, Mexican special forces killed Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, El Mencho, in the mountain town of Tapalpa, Jalisco, ending an over decade long manhunt for the most powerful and elusive drug lord in Mexico.
Monday, February 23, 2026
The Aftermath of El Mencho's Death: 252 Narco Blockades, 61 Dead Including a Pregnant Woman
"Socalj" for Borderland Beat
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| Map developed by "El Huaso" |
Over 60 people, including a pregnant woman, 25 National Guard soldiers, agents and police officers, and 34 CJNG cartel members died Sunday. The operation to arrest "El Mencho" took place in the outskirts of Tapalpa, about 100 miles south of Guadalajara, Jalisco.
The woman, who was three-months pregnant, died during a shootout between National Guard personnel and members of the CJNG who were stopping cars to burn at the intersection of Avenida de la Mancha and Covadonga, in Zapopan.
The woman, who was three-months pregnant, died during a shootout between National Guard personnel and members of the CJNG who were stopping cars to burn at the intersection of Avenida de la Mancha and Covadonga, in Zapopan.
Sunday, February 22, 2026
El Mencho Killed in Army Operation, Narco Blockades Erupt Across Mexico
"Socalj" for Borderland Beat
This morning, numerous narco-blockades and terrorist attacks erupted initially in Jalisco, specifically Tapalpa and near Guadalajara and Zapopan. Then, violence occurred in Puerto Vallarta, and across the country including Reynosa, Zacatecas and Guanajuato.
The large scale retaliatory attacks is believed to have been in response to a large Mexican Army operation against "El Mencho." Now, according to officials contacted by Milenio, that operation resulted in the death of the longtime CJNG leader Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes.
Saturday, February 21, 2026
From Pablo Escobar to the Algorithm: This is How the Drug Cartels' "Sophistication" Works to Recruit Minors in Mexico
“Sol Prendido” for Borderland Beat
Pablo Escobar recruited underprivileged children into the ranks of drug trafficking in 1989, and more than 30 years later, the Colombian's method has become more sophisticated thanks to the efficiency of the social media algorithm, especially in Mexico, where drug cartels have become the country's fifth-largest employer, warns one expert.
"Violent crime tends to be very adaptable to new technologies in different contexts. In the case of recruitment, the technological advancement of social media, which acts as a facilitator, is combined with appeals to emotional and identity-related dimensions," researcher Rodrigo Peña explained to EFE.
To understand this sophistication in Mexico, Peña, along with a group of researchers from the Colegio de México (Colmex), analyzed 100 TikTok accounts where drug cartels, primarily the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), have developed a “digital language” using emojis, hashtags, and corridos tumbados (a type of Mexican folk song) to recruit members.
“We know for certain that there are messages sent on behalf of criminal groups, as well as cases of young people who have responded to be recruited,” he asserts regarding this process, in which the cartel can offer recruits up to 15,000 pesos per week (US$875), while the minimum wage in the country is 315 pesos (US$18.30) per day.
One example of this language is the use of emojis, which allows the cartels to differentiate themselves.
Pizza is associated with "Chapizza," a reference to the Sinaloa Cartel faction led by Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, while the rooster is linked to Nemesio Oseguera, alias "El Mencho" or "The Lord of the Roosters," leader of the CJNG.
Filter Bubbles
With this "sophistication of language" and the "algorithm's filter bubbles," Peña warns that drug trafficking is reaching an audience that was previously inaccessible, since this content captures an "audience" that transcends national and socioeconomic boundaries, potentially reaching young people of any social class and educational level.
In this regard, he recalls the case documented by The New York Times, in which chemistry students were recruited by the Sinaloa Cartel to work as fentanyl cooks.
To explain how the algorithm keeps users trapped in content generated by criminal organizations, researchers are using the concept of “filter bubbles.”
Peña explains that these bubbles group people in an ecosystem based on their interactions, and that the danger, especially on TikTok, is “the difficulty of escaping them.”
The academic argues that the user's continued presence in these bubbles has changed the “narrative of recruitment,” since now it is young people who are seeking to be recruited, an aspect they are analyzing in a second study, to be published this year.
“We analyzed a large number of responses and interactions in the videos, where young people ask to be recruited, writing messages like: ‘I’m interested,’ ‘I want a job,’” the expert describes.
New forms of violence
Peña cannot say for sure how fast this problem is growing in Mexico, but he guarantees that it continues to occur.
He even argues that 50 percent of these videos were published after the discovery of the property attributed to the CJNG cartel in Rancho Izaguirre (Jalisco) in March 2025.
“This problem isn’t stopping, it’s just becoming more sophisticated: there are other forms of violence besides physical and direct violence; that is, criminal groups no longer necessarily have to put a gun to young people’s heads to recruit them,” he emphasized.
To this type of violence, Peña adds structural violence, which affects minors marked by “poverty and a lack of opportunities.”
He also mentions symbolic violence, linked to “identity or masculinity issues,” since most of those recruited are men immersed in a “hypersexualized” digital context.
In his opinion, this problem isn’t t solved by closing internet accounts, as the federal government has done, but by educating minors who live in a country where eight out of ten children aged 3 to 12 have access to a smartphone.
Source: Milenio
