The Morelos State Attorney General’s Office (FGE) confirmed a tactical withdrawal in the Los Altos region of Morelos, during which the operational decision was made to release criminal leader José David Vergara—known by the alias “El Güero Gym”—in order to safeguard the lives of three agency agents who had been abducted by his hitmen.
The events stemmed from an anti-extortion operation coordinated between the High-Impact Crime Investigation Prosecutor’s Office (FIDAI) and the Secretariat of Security and Citizen Protection (SSPC) in the municipality of Totolapan.
During the intervention, security forces succeeded in arresting “El Güero Gym,” identified by authorities as a primary driver of violence in the state’s eastern zone and a member of the criminal group known as *Pueblos Unidos*.
In response to the alleged ringleader’s capture, members of the criminal organization intercepted and abducted three employees assigned to the Eastern Regional Prosecutor’s Office, using them as leverage to demand the detainee’s immediate release. Faced with an imminent threat to the personnel’s safety, the Prosecutor’s Office activated protocols for kidnapping cases, prioritizing the lives of the hostages.
The exchange took place at approximately 7:35 PM on Monday. The armed cells released the three FGE employees after “El Güero Gym” was returned. The state agency reported that two of the workers were unharmed, while one ministerial agent required hospitalization; he is reported to be in stable condition after sustaining a gunshot wound during the incident. In an official statement, the Morelos Attorney General’s Office justified the decision made in the conflict zone, arguing that preserving the lives of its public servants is the institution’s absolute priority, while assuring that investigations will continue to ensure those involved do not go unpunished.
In related developments stemming from the emergency deployment, the SSPC updated the casualty figures for the traffic accident that occurred that afternoon on the La Pera-Cuautla highway; it confirmed that two of the three police officers injured when their vehicle overturned—while en route to support the operation in Totolapan—died while being transported to the hospital, bringing the total number of officers killed in the crash to four.
