Drug traffickers take advantage of migrants to expand their operation

On May 6, nine foreigners were arrested in the Tierra Caliente region by members of the Michoacán Public Security Secretariat (SSP). According to initial reports, the arrested individuals were suspected members of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), one of the most violent criminal organizations in the country.

Two days later, the state government warned of a phenomenon that raised alarm: the systematic recruitment of migrants by the CJNG to bolster its operations. According to statements by Secretary Carlos Torres Piña, some of these foreigners are directly involved in training hitmen, particularly in the manufacture of explosives, while others were allegedly recruited through false job offers.

The investigation not only confirms a worrying strategy by organized crime, but also coincides with an alarming increase in the use of sophisticated weapons, such as explosive-laden drones, and the placement of antipersonnel mines in disputed regions, which increases the level of violence and puts the civilian population at risk.

The arrest of José Gregorio Lastra, better known as “Lastra,” revealed the systematic use of social media to attract people specifically to the service of the CJNG (CJNG). The now detained man served as the leader of a recruitment scheme that operated from clandestine camps in the western part of the country.

Omar García Harfuch, head of the Secretariat of Security and Citizen Protection (SSPC), detailed on March 24 on his official X account (@Oharfuch) how this network operated, following the findings obtained at the Izaguirre ranch, located in March in Teuchitlán, Jalisco.