Army busts clandestine mega-lab in Tepalcatepec, a blow of 80 million a week to Michoacán's biggest drug lord, after the murder of eight soldiers in his territory

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MAY 28, 2025

INFORMATION BY NOVENTA GRADOS 

Tepalcatepec, Mich., May 28, 2025. In a major blow to organized crime, members of the Mexican Army located and dismantled a clandestine mega-laboratory in the municipality of Tepalcatepec. The laboratory had the capacity to produce nearly two tons of synthetic drugs weekly, with an estimated value of more than 80 million pesos per week.

The operation was reportedly carried out during surveillance and reconnaissance patrols in high-crime areas, specifically in the vicinity of the town of Catarino Pérez, according to the Ministry of National Defense (Sedena).

During the operation, soldiers detected several individuals aboard a pickup truck who, upon noticing the military presence, abandoned the vehicle and fled into the undergrowth. The vehicle, which had been reported stolen, was transporting two tubs containing approximately 300 kilograms of a granulated substance with characteristics similar to methamphetamine.

After securing the vehicle, the soldiers conducted a search of the area and, a short distance away, located a clandestine complex operating as a drug laboratory. The site was equipped with industrial infrastructure and large quantities of chemical inputs.

At the site, four reactors, four condensers, three metal centrifuges, seven cylindrical containers, 53 drums containing unidentified chemicals, 32 vats, 29 drums containing various substances, six buckets containing unknown white material, 64 sacks containing probable caustic soda, more than 10 gas tanks, and three large-capacity metal pots were seized.

This discovery represents one of the most significant seizures in the region so far this year and comes just hours after the deaths of eight Army and National Guard soldiers when a mine was activated that blew up the armored truck they were traveling in, on the border between Michoacán and Jalisco. The crime is attributed to the terrorist organization (designated as such by the United States) Carteles Unidos, which includes the Los Reyes Cartel and the Tepalcatepec Cartel, with Juan José Farías "El Abuelo" as its top leader.

Despite being the leader of a terrorist group, it is presumed that El Abuelo Farías does not have a single arrest warrant in Michoacán. However, it has been proven that the Army protects its territory from incursions by the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, even using helicopter gunships to preserve the drug trafficker's hegemony.

The state government has even further protected the criminal stronghold of Tepalcatepec—a municipality governed by a sister-in-law of El Abuelo Farías—by installing six Interinstitutional Operations Bases with state agents and soldiers, a disproportionate number compared to, for example, Morelia, the state capital, where there are only five bases to protect one million residents, while Tepalcatepec has only 24,000 inhabitants.

SOURCE: NOVENTAGRADOS