A supervisory judge at the Federal Criminal Justice Center in Sonora ordered mandatory pretrial detention for U.S. national Yanet “N” after formally charging her with the illicit importation into Mexico of 5,445 rounds of ammunition for firearms restricted to military use. The 22-year-old woman is alleged to be a logistics operative for “Los Mayos,” the Sinaloa Cartel faction led by Ismael Zambada Sicairos, alias “El Mayito Flaco.”
Mexican authorities confirmed her arrest last Friday, September 11, following her detention near the border crossing connecting San Luis, Arizona, with San Luis Río Colorado, Sonora. Personnel from the Secretariat of the Navy—supported by the Mexican Army, the National Guard, the Attorney General’s Office (FGR), the Secretariat of Security and Citizen Protection, and the National Customs Agency of Mexico—participated in the operation that resulted in the seizure of the ammunition and the SUV in which she was traveling.
The operation was conducted as part of the national security strategy during deterrent patrols carried out by the Mexican Navy in the Sonora border region. Officers located the woman near the international crossing and discovered a hidden compartment beneath the vehicle’s rear seats containing the ammunition.
Following the discovery, authorities informed her of her rights and placed her at the disposal of the Federal Public Prosecutor, along with the seized vehicle and ammunition. Agencies within the Security Cabinet estimated that the seizure represented a financial and operational blow of 1,655,019 pesos to the criminal group’s structure.
Federal agencies stated that the operation aimed to prevent the munitions from reaching criminal cells and to stop them from being used to incite violence in the border region. Inter-institutional coordination was presented as part of ongoing efforts to detect the logistics and financial operators of organized crime.
