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

 CHAR 

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 

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Information Warfare Conducted By Armed Groups In Mexico

 "Enojon", "Pernicious Propaganda" and "Char" for Borderland Beat 

Photograph By VendettaTamaul1 on Twitter (Banner placed by 'Los Chapitos' of the Sinaloa Cartel Threatening National Guard personnel)

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Why Cárteles Unidos Was Included on the US Foreign Terrorist Organizations List

"Socalj" for Borderland Beat

From an Infobae Article Interviewing Security Expert David Saucedo

Not surprisingly, the Mexican criminal groups included in the list are the main exporters of fentanyl to the United States (CDS and CJNG); the two cartels with the largest presence on the Texas border (CDG and CDN); and the cartel (LNFM) recently included in the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) list for manufacturing and shipping fentanyl across the Tamaulipas border.

The designation that surprised many was that of the United Cartels or Carteles Unidos, a criminal alliance that has its center of operations in the Tierra Caliente of Michoacán and includes among its ranks Los Viagras, Los Blancos de Troya, the Tepalcatepec Cartel, the Zicuirán Cartel, among other cells that once belonged to La Familia Michoacana and the Knights Templar.

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Regional Leader of Carteles Unidos Allegedly Captured in Los Reyes, Michoacan

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(Photograph of Wiliam Alvarez ‘El Maniaco') 

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USDA Pauses Avocado, Mango Inspections In Mexican State Due To Security Concerns

 "CHAR" for Borderland Beat 

The agency said the pause will not impact production in transit to the U.S.

WRITTEN BY: KELLY McCarthy

JUNE 18, 2024

Avocados are seen growing on trees in an orchard, Sept. 21, 2023, in the Michoacan State

Alfredo Estrella/AFP via Getty Images, FILE

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has temporarily paused any new exports of mangoes and avocados out of Michoacán, Mexico after an incident that reportedly sparked security concerns for its safety inspectors on the ground.

A spokesman for the agency said Monday that the inspection program will remain paused until it can ensure its Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service inspectors working in Mexico are safe.

While the USDA did not elaborate on the nature of the specific security threats, Reuters first reported the suspension stemmed from a protest in support of local police in the municipality of Paracho.
"The programs will remain paused until the security situation is reviewed and protocols and safeguards are in place for APHIS personnel," the USDA spokesman added.

The USDA first alerted the Avocado Exporting Producers and Packers of Mexico of its decision to suspend new exports out of the western Mexican state earlier this month.

Any produce that has already been inspected and is in transit will not be blocked or impacted by the suspension, the agency said.
This marks the second time in just over two years that inspections have been suspended following an incident in February 2022 that dealt with USDA employee safety, which was resolved within a week of the ban and had no severe impact on the avocado supply in the U.S.

The USDA has inspectors working in Mexico to ensure the products meet U.S. standards, without whose signoff the avocados and mangos cannot be sent north.

Michoacán and Jalisco are the only two Mexican states allowed to export avocados to the U.S., an industry worth billions of dollars each year.
Michoacán is known as one of Mexico's most dangerous states, which has been dominated by organized crime for decades. The avocado industry has been no exception, with extortion rampant in the lucrative produce industry.

If the current issue is not resolved as swiftly as the 2022 incident, and the supply chain is disrupted for a long period, there could be an impact on U.S. supply.

SOURCE: ABC NEWS

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