Authorities say five men used counterfeit uniforms to stop and allegedly rob motorists at fake police checkpoints in Teotihuacán and Acolman.
Five men were arrested in an investigation into a group accused of using counterfeit uniforms and institutional insignia to set up fake police checkpoints in Teotihuacán and neighboring Acolman, in the State of Mexico.
According to the federal Security Cabinet’s account, the suspects posed as security personnel to stop motorists and transport operators, then allegedly robbed them and demanded money. Authorities also associate the group with kidnapping, although the available account does not describe a specific abduction or identify anyone held captive.
The arrests followed intelligence work involving the federal Security and Citizen Protection Secretariat, the Attorney General’s Office, the National Intelligence Center and State of Mexico security authorities. The Security Cabinet placed the operation in Teotihuacán. The locations were identified more specifically as “Texpan,” but that detail could not be independently confirmed.
During the operation, officers reported seizing two jackets bearing institutional logos, two cellphones, a vehicle, assorted documents and 15 live cartridges. They also reported finding 15 doses of suspected marijuana and a bag containing a substance preliminarily identified as crystal methamphetamine. The published inventory lists ammunition but does not identify a firearm.
The jackets are among the items authorities presented in connection with the alleged impersonation scheme. The public account does not specify which institution’s identity was copied, whether the seized vehicle carried official-looking markings or how investigators connected each detainee to particular encounters with motorists.
The five men and the seized items were turned over to prosecutors to determine their legal status. The reviewed reports do not establish whether a judge subsequently ordered any of them to stand trial.
Other reports identifies the detainees by the first names Giovanni, Marco, Erik, Mauricio and Aldair. Those identities could not be independently confirmed against an accessible official record, and the available reporting does not establish a connection to a named cartel.
The extent of the alleged operation remains unclear. Authorities have not established in the reviewed reporting how many people were targeted, how long the checkpoints operated or which incidents support the kidnapping allegation.
