In a major military and police operation carried out in the Zacatecas municipality of Nochistlán de Mejía, led by members of the Mexican Army, the National Guard, the Secretariat of Security and Citizen Protection, and the Zacatecas Attorney General’s Office, 18 suspected members of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) were arrested and transferred to the state capital.
The operation and transfer took place on the afternoon of Friday, February 27, and the authorities only reported on Saturday, February 28, the arrest and dismantling of what is considered a significant CJNG cell operating in the Los Altos region of Jalisco, Zacatecas, and Aguascalientes.
All those arrested were turned over to the Zacatecas State Attorney General’s Office, along with several vehicles—some luxury off-road vehicles—as well as various types of weapons and drugs that were seized.
Specifically, it was revealed that the operation’s main objective was to locate and capture Gerardo González Ramírez, alias “El Geras,” leader of that CJNG criminal cell. He is accused, among other crimes, of being responsible for the attack on the National Guard’s regional base in the municipality of Teocaltiche, Jalisco, last week, an attack that left one soldier dead and two others wounded.
Among the 18 detainees are 15 men and 3 women. Among them is reportedly the second-in-command of “El Geras,” as well as his romantic partner, but not the leader of that criminal cell. Nochistlán de Mejía is geographically located 221 kilometers southeast of the city of Zacatecas, between the Jalisco towns of Teocaltiche and Yahualica de González Gallo.
Cristian Paúl Camacho Osnaya, head of the Zacatecas State Attorney General’s Office (FGJEZ), stated briefly in an interview with local media that members of the National Tactical Operations Unit (UNO), the Secretariat of Security and Citizen Protection, and the National Intelligence Center also participated in the joint operation between local and federal authorities.
