The Attorney General's Office of the Mexican state of Oaxaca reported on Saturday the detention of three members of a criminal group dedicated to fuel theft and transportation, an illegal activity known as 'huachicol.' The group operated in the city of Matías Romero, in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec area, and is allegedly linked to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG). In a statement, the agency specified that the detainees operated under the guise of a transport association and that the identified individual, R.J.G.E. (father and son), both claimed to be 'truckers.' The document detailed that these two individuals are from Cuernavaca, the capital of Morelos. It also noted that in the called 'Operation Sable,' security elements arrested a third person identified as E.S.V.. Regarding this operation, in which vans, drugs, and 200,000 Mexican pesos (about $11,090) were also seized, the local prosecutor's office stated that it was supported by the Secretariat of the Navy, National Defense, the National Guard, and State Police in the intelligence work to locate the three priority targets. 'The investigations establish that R.J.G.E. is the leader of the criminal group close to the CJNG. 'Three men were detained, including R.J.G.E., who is the leader of this criminal cell that operated under the facade of a transport association, but in reality, they were engaged in criminal activities such as the illegal extraction and transportation of hydrocarbons, better known as huachicol,' the prosecutor's office emphasized. Furthermore, it explained that the dismantling of this local group, with its alleged criminal ties to the CJNG, represents a 'high-impact blow to the criminal organization's financial and logistical structure in the region, weakening its funding and territorial operational capacity.' The CJNG is on the U.S. government's terrorist list, as it has been considered for years one of the most powerful in the world, alongside the Sinaloa Cartel.
