The Attorney General’s Office (FGR) secured the formal indictment of Adrián “N”—alias “El 20,” the Sinaloa Cartel’s regional boss for Mazatlán and five other municipalities in Sinaloa—following his arrest in a precision operation carried out by the Mexican Army on July 28, 2026, in Villa Unión. A judge ordered mandatory pretrial detention and remanded him to the CEFERESO 1 “Altiplano” federal prison in Almoloya de Juárez, State of Mexico.
The capture resulted from central military intelligence work by the Secretariat of National Defense (Sedena) and was executed through the joint participation of the National Guard (GN), the Secretariat of the Navy (Semar), the Secretariat of Security and Citizen Protection (SSPC), the FGR, and the Sinaloa State Secretariat of Public Security. A second individual was also arrested during the operation, though their identity was not specified in official statements.
Adrián “N” oversaw the organization’s regional operations in Mazatlán, Villa Unión, El Palmito, El Rosario, La Concordia, and Escuinapa, according to Sedena. His sphere of influence spanned a strategic strip of southern Sinaloa with access to the Pacific.
