Jesús Corona Damián, the mayor of Cuautla, was detained this Saturday, May 30, in Acapulco, Guerrero, by agents from the Attorney General’s Office (FGR) and the Secretariat of Security and Citizen Protection (SSPC), acting pursuant to an arrest warrant for organized crime offenses.
Information released by the security cabinet detailed that the capture was carried out based on intelligence from the National Intelligence Center (CNI) and formed part of “Operation Swarm” (*Operativo Enjambre*), an initiative directed by President Claudia Sheinbaum within the framework of the National Strategy Against Extortion.
The head of the SSPC, Omar García Harfuch, detailed that with this detention, the operation has resulted in the arrest of more than 85 current and former public officials—including seven sitting municipal mayors. Furthermore, he stated that this capture adds to the actions carried out in recent days in Morelos, stemming from the security reinforcements implemented in the state.
Since May 20, federal authorities had reported that they were actively searching for Damián in order to execute an arrest warrant resulting from investigations linking him to “El Barbas,” the regional leader of the Sinaloa Cartel in Morelos.
The detainee—along with other mayors and officials from at least eight municipalities in Morelos—allegedly struck a deal with the Sinaloa Cartel, granting the group immunity in exchange for support to win elections for their respective municipal governments, including those of Cuautla, Yecapixtla, and Atlatlahucan.
