Navy Nabs CJNG Cartel Logistics Chief in Mexico

Cancún, Mexico — Marcos Josué Rodríguez Mares, the alleged principal logistics operator for the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) in Cancún, Puerto Morelos, Kantunilkín, and Isla Mujeres, was detained alongside an accomplice by elements of the Mexican Navy (Semar) and the Quintana Roo State Citizen Security Secretariat (SSC), according to an announcement from the Mexican Government's Security Cabinet.

According to cabinet-level investigations, Rodríguez Mares is identified as the individual responsible for the distribution of weaponry and tactical equipment for cells of this criminal group in this region of the Yucatán Peninsula.

In the same operation, Ángel Roberto Corrales Lázaro, known as "El Flaco," was also detained. He is alleged to have been in charge of moving the vehicles used by at least three of the cartel's shock cells throughout the region. Corrales Lázaro, according to the investigations, is responsible for leading one of those cells, which operates in the irregular settlement of Valle Verde, one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in the Benito Juárez municipality of Quintana Roo.

An SSC Investigation Group, in coordination with Semar personnel, detected a gray vehicle and a white vehicle parked on a public street. They observed the moment one of the occupants took out a transparent bag containing a substance resembling marijuana and handed it to a second individual.

The two suspects detected the presence of the security and naval personnel and ran towards the cars with the intention of fleeing. They were intercepted on Avenida Sin Nombre, 60 meters from the Kukulcana commercial advisory office in Benito Juárez, Cancún.

According to the authorities' report, the following items were seized from the suspects: 12 short firearms with their magazines; 125 long gun magazines; two silencers; four anti-riot grenades; and four chemical grenades.

They were also in possession of 26 boxes of cartridges of various calibers, containing 50 cartridges each; 17 boxes with 20 cartridges each; nine bulletproof vests; nine black t-shirts with the inscription "Deltas Q. Roo CJNG"; 15 black "Operativas Jaguar" caps; and six "Deltas Operativo Jaguar" patches.

Furthermore, they were carrying two short firearms with magazines loaded with seven and 11 cartridges, respectively; 32 long firearms, all with magazines, of which one was loaded with 56 cartridges and another with 30.

The operation also resulted in the seizure of five notebooks with notes, two backpacks, three plastic boxes, a cooler, a suitcase, four cell phones, one large case, one gray case; three drones, one of which had a controller and two batteries.

Also seized were two pairs of license plates from the state of Jalisco and two vehicles: a gray Volkswagen T-Cross and a white Nissan Frontier.

Security personnel confiscated two large bags of green and dry plant material with the characteristics of marijuana; 13 small bags of the same narcotic; 52 small bags with crystalline fragments similar to crystal meth; and 50 triangular bags containing a substance believed to be cocaine.

The Security Cabinet stated that the detainees and all seized items were placed at the disposal of the Specialized Prosecutor's Office for Combating Drug Trafficking in the state.