Operation Bastión Launched Against La Familia Michoacana In The State of Mexico

"Enojon", "Char", "Pernicious Propaganda", "Halipon", "Hearst", "Itzli"  for Borderland Beat

Photograph By: The State of Mexico Attorney General’s Office (Compilation of properties seized during Operación Bastión)

Video By: The State of Mexico Attorney General’s Office (Video showing the execution of Operación Bastión) 

21 properties linked to the ‘La Familia Michoacana’ (LFM) leaders Johnny Hurtado Olascoaga ‘El Pez’ and Jose Alfredo Hurtado Olascoaga ‘El Fresa’ were seized on March 28th during various raids as part of 'Operación Bastión' in conjunction with personnel of the Secretariat of National Defense (DEFENSA), the National Guard (GN), the Secretariat of the Navy (SEMAR), the National Intelligence Center (CNI), the Secretariat of Security of the State of Mexico, and the State of Mexico Attorney General’s Office (FGJEM) through multiple municipalities of the aforementioned state. 

In a press release, the State Attorney General’s Office detailed that the operation was conducted against properties built with the alleged compliance of local public officials and authorities. These properties were also falsely registered under the names of various unidentified individuals in an attempt to obstruct the links between the criminal organization and the estates. These estates were located in the Amatepec, Temascaltepec, Tejupilco, Tlatlaya, Luvianos, and Sultepec municipalities. 

Following the operation Cristóbal Castañeda Camarillo, Secretary of Public Security of the State of Mexico, would discuss the relation between the recent raids and ‘Operación Enjambre,’ a separate anti-corruption campaign focused on fighting the perforation of organized crime within local state governments. They would state the seized properties had been outfitted with water access when located in inaccessible areas and in municipalities where arrests issued as part of the aforementioned anti-corruption campaign were executed. 

Operación Bastión would be heavily presented as a step towards crippling the financial capabilities of criminal organizations in the State of Mexico. In this case, La Familia Michoacana have maintained a presence in nine municipalities (Amatepec, Cuautitlán, Luvianos, Sultepec, Temascaltepec, Tejupilco, Texcapilla, Toluca, Nezahualcóyotl) and have been responsible for numerous violent incidents against rival groups, authorities, and local residents. Over the years they have been able to kidnap around 14 to 15 members of the Texcapilla community of Texcaltitlán, State of Mexico following a failed extortion attempt that devolved into what was known as the ‘Texcapilla Massacre’ on December 8th, 2023 where 10 LFM members and four community members were killed. 

Locating The Properties

During the process of this project Halipon and the team from Natsecboogie set out to geolocate as many of the sites seized during Operación Bastión by State and Federal authorities as possible. They would utilize a combination of resources provided by the State of Mexico Attorney General’s Office such as the press release, the video of said operation, and the map disclosing the approximate locations of the seized properties. 

While searching for the ranches a number of peculiarities would arise such as the infographic map which failed to reflect the actual locations of many of the ranches that were found. This was most notable looking at the Luvianos municipality portion of the map; one of the largest ranches, Rancho Calpa, was reported by Mexican authorities as being in the Luvianos municipality, but was found in the Amatepec municipality. 

Image By: The State of Mexico Attorney General’s Office (Infographic map showing locations of seized properties) 

Another such example was the naming conventions of the ranches in the operation. It is unclear whether the properties had been named by the State Government or LFM, but the names were based on the town they either resided in, were located near to, or because of unique elements the ranches were equipped with. This helped narrow down the search area for many of the geo locations noted in this article. Although, an oddity that was stumbled across during the investigation was that several ranches had already been identified and named on Google Maps by unknown parties, finding that out of the 12 confirmed geolocations three of the obtained had been tagged as belonging to LFM. It should be noted that during the investigation the pinned locations were not utilized because their veracity could not be verified, thus all geolocations provided were done utilizing the resources previously discussed. 

Overall, these factors coupled with the remoteness of many of the ranches seized made the geolocations more challenging than would appear when viewed from the lens of how highly publicized Operación “Bastión” was by the Mexican government. 

The properties were geolocated at the following locations: 

1. Rancho Pinzanes (Luvianos): 18.8650415967, -100.279764197

2. Rancho las Calaveras (Luvianos): 18.9032219707, -100.272087168

4. Rancho el Tuerto (Tejupilco): 18.9079932872, -100.158285488

8. Punto de Venta de Drogas (Sultepec): 18.7091460862, -100.054952368

11. Propiedad de Jose Alberto Mejia Santa Olalla (Sultepec): 18.7046805954, -99.9674529045

12. Rancho Las Canchas (Tlatlaya): 18.5686980208, -100.311944583

14. Rancho Los Pinos (Tlatlaya): 18.5825214495, -100.299989114

15. Rancho Ajedrez (Amatepec): 18.6406621281, -100.091085373

16. Rancho Monte Creacion (Amatepec): 18.722716542, -100.151162015

19. Rancho Las Pinuelas (Amatepec): 18.7424488384, -100.325200554

20. Rancho Caja de Agua (Luvianos): 18.9823909417, -100.315392014

21. Rancho Calpa (Amatepec): 18.6983194225, -100.267335733

Ranch Monte Creacion

According to the news publication Imagen Noticias, the property ‘Rancho Monte Creacion’ located in a remote area of Amatepec, State of Mexico was the site where Jose Alfredo would record his infamous response to the San Miguel Totolapan Massacre. 

On October 5th, 2022 gunmen stormed the Municipal Palace in San Miguel Totolapan, Guerrero while a meeting between Conrado Mendoza Almeda, at the time Mayor of the San Miguel Totolapan Municipality, and his team took place and shot into the crowd before fleeing the scene. Killing 20 and injuring 2 in the process including the Mayor’s father Juan Mendoza Acosta, a former Mayor of the aforementioned municipality. 

The following day, a video would circulate through social media where Jose Alfredo would detail the incident from his point of view stating he was on his way to attend a meeting with Almeda regarding a video communication published by ‘Los Tequileros,’ a criminal organization formerly headed by Raybel Jacobo de Almonte ‘El Tequilero,’ where they announced a return following their 2018 disappearance and their intent to combat LFM. Under the belief that Los Tequileros had not actually reintegrated themselves into the conflict, Jose Alfredo had traveled to meet Almeda when he was held back by his gunmen as the Municipal Palace was attacked, fleeing the scene where a chase and later alleged confrontation ensued. 

Jose Alfredo would present a video showing the aftermath of an alleged confrontation between LFM and Los Tequileros, showing a convoy of heavily damaged and burning vehicles where a rumored 25 gunmen were killed and two injured, with those hurt during the incident managing to flee from the scene according to Jose Alfredo. Although, heavy doubts would be cast over the testimony and footage as similar responses by criminal figures and organizations have been published not with the intent to provide true statements, but rather, to deter security operations, paired with the absence of any official reports that confirmed the existence of a confrontation taking place following the attack brings strong suspicion on his testimony. 

Save Havens

On July 10th, 2022 four properties allegedly used as safe havens for Johnny & Alfredo Olascoaga were seized during seven separate raids against the criminal organization in the Amatepec, Villa Guerrero and Tlatlaya municipalities of the State of Mexico. Among the seizures were three estates, two located in San Pedro Limón and a third in Amatepec, that would resurface in the public eye through a photoshoot and new seizures. 

Targeted in two different points of the San Pedro Limón municipality, authorities would seize the ‘Las Canchas’ ranch that had been built on two acres of land between a Secondary School and a Medical Clinic while equipped with a pool, an outdoor resting area, gardens, a tennis court, and an unidentified number of rooms. As well as seizing the ‘Los Pinos’ ranch built on three acres of land and consisted of a two story principal residence with an unknown number of rooms, a stable containing live horses, two pools and would be marked on Google Maps as “Resting place of Don ‘Fresa’”. 

The third and last property identified as the ‘Las Pinuelas’ Ranch located in the Amatepec municipality was a 14 bedroom estate built on two acres of land and equipped with a place of worship for various catholic saints, a small clandestine zoo with exotic animals, and many other luxuries that would be the stage for a notable photoshoot.  

Amy Katilia Hurtado Hernández, Daughter of Johnny Olascoaga, would celebrate her 21st birthday on December 21st, 2024 with an extravagant photo shoot allegedly conducted by an individual identified as Elvis Vivanco of the ‘La Camera de Elvis’ Instagram account at Las Pinuelas Ranch, where in a now deleted post, would directly tag Amy’s Instagram account as well as the makeup artist and hairstylist involved. 

Images obtained from the photoshoot would show Hernández displaying the wealth she and her family have obtained through their direct involvement in the ongoing Narco-Conflict such as an intricate rose decoration, two horses of unconfirmed breeds with indiscernible branding, various gifts with one accompanied by a handwritten letter from the mother of Hernández, Maria Nelida Hernandez Carranza ‘Nelly,’ and a modified Mercedes G500 Cabriolet which values anywhere between $123,00 - $540,000 and had been photographed Hernández in early April while traveling through Miami, Florida. 

The photoshoot as well as the aforementioned properties would resurface in the public eye after observers noticed similarities between the property used as the set for Amy’s celebration, the July, 2022 operation and images taken by authorities as part of Operación Enjambre. Bringing up concerns of how and when the estates had exchanged hands between their initial seizure and the recent raids. 

Rancho Pinzanes

While seen as a step forward in combating the criminal presence of LFM in the State of Mexico, the results of Operación Enjambre would be met with resistance over the concern that not all seizures may have been properly conducted. 

During an interview with the news publication Imagen Noticias, Orbelin Rodríguez Arellano would identify himself as the alleged owner of the Pinzanes Ranch and decry the seizure of his home, stating he had been living and working in the United States for over 20 years and had been constructing the property over 15 years on land passed down to him by his father, Dioscoro Rodríguez Arellano.  

In a separate interview on April 18th outside the FGJEM facilities, Orbelin would continue to criticize the operation and reaffirm his ownership over the land through inheritance, stating they’re well known in the community and have witnesses to collaborate their status.

Video By: Arturo Callejo of La Silla Rota (Interview with Orbelin outside the FGJEM facilities)

A translation is as follows: 

“[Orbelin]: ...Before they seize the houses, why don’t they conduct a proper investigation? They stupidly come and seize my house…It’s something…The whole world in Luvianos knows us, we’re hardworking people. 

[Uknown]: For those who say many of the owners are fronts… 

[Orbelin]: They’re wrong. We have many, many witnesses. Everyone there knows us, they're incredibly wrong. It’s a family inheritance of many years, that inheritance is over 100 years old.” 

Dioscoro would reportedly provide documentation proving ownership of the land since 1997, although their family had lived in Los Pinzanes for generations and stated it was Orbelin’s dream to build a home from a young age. 

According to Orbelin, on the day of the seizure his gardener would alert him to the presence of authorities on the property and upon arriving observed the Ministry, State Police, and Soldiers exiting the area and asked what they were doing. Although stating he was the rightful owner of the property, security personnel on site refused to respond and only requested his signature on unknown documents. 

In response to the claims, the Attorney General’s Office would request documentation verifying how the property was paid for in order to confirm or dispel the possibility of its funding by illicit means. Orbelin would provide the requested documents confirming his wages as a construction worker and later owner tasked with remodeling homes in Tennessee, United States however neither security entity would respond to either of the two petitions requested by Orbelin as of yet. 

Sources: Hyperlinked In Text

Categories: Char, Edomex, Enojon, FGR, guerrero, Halipon, Hearst, Itzli, La Familia Michoacana, La Nueva Familia Michoacana, Los Tequileros, National guard, Pernicious Propaganda, SEDENA, SEMAR, State of Mexico