An operation carried out in the exclusive Sonata commercial district—located within the Lomas de Angelópolis gated community in Puebla—resulted in the arrest of Govén Ulisses Chávez Ramírez (“El Amarillo” and/or “El Gobén”). He has been identified as a top operational leader of the criminal group “Los Rusos,” a faction primarily based in the port city of Acapulco, Guerrero.
The arrest was confirmed this Thursday by the head of the Secretariat of Security and Citizen Protection (SSPC), Omar García Harfuch, who detailed that the high-priority target was apprehended as he was leaving a nightclub.
Intelligence and investigative efforts were executed through the coordination of the Criminal Investigation Agency (AIC) and the Specialized Prosecutor’s Office for Organized Crime (FEMDO)—both part of the Attorney General’s Office (FGR)—alongside the SSPC, the Secretariat of the Navy (SEMAR), and the National Intelligence Center (CNI), with the collaboration of state authorities from Puebla and Guerrero.
Official investigations identify Chávez Ramírez as a primary driver of violence along the Guerrero coast, responsible for coordinating extortion, kidnapping, homicide, unlawful confinement, and the distribution of illicit substances. During the operation, federal forces also arrested two men who served as his bodyguards.
Military intelligence reports leaked in 2022 identified “El Gobén” as an operational commander for “Los Rusos” and the nephew of Víctor Leonel Piza Nogueda (“El Erizo”). The group was originally led by Carlos Alberto Navarrete Soriano (“El Ruso” or “El Colorado”) and has been engaged in a violent territorial conflict with the Independent Cartel of Acapulco (CIDA). Chávez Ramírez and his two associates, along with the seized weaponry, vehicles, and drugs, were transported to FGR facilities to determine their legal status and continue the prosecutorial investigations.
