Four Alleged Anti-Unión Tepito Members Arrested in Mexico City, Eight More Detained After Confrontation

A police operation in Mexico City’s Morelos neighborhood ended with 12 people in custody, including four alleged members of the criminal group La Anti-Unión Tepito and eight others accused of trying to block their arrest.

Officers from the Secretariat of Citizen Security intercepted the first four at the corner of Mineros and Carpintería streets in the Venustiano Carranza borough. Police said they were conducting surveillance when they saw a group handling plastic bags containing what appeared to be green, dried plant material. Several people tried to flee when they noticed the officers, but police detained four of them.

Authorities identified the first detainees as Marlen, 47; Dairon Joseph, 19; Víctor Daniel, 19; and Axel, 26. During a preventive search, officers seized 146 white paper packets containing a yellowish rock-like substance resembling cocaine, two bags of suspected marijuana and a handgun loaded with two rounds.

The arrests drew more people to the scene, according to the police account. Those individuals allegedly verbally and physically attacked officers while trying to prevent the four detainees from being taken away. Police arrested eight people for resisting authorities: Leonor, 25; Nancy, 44; Zelzyn Melisa, 36; Cristian Adolfo, 34; Nayeli, 26; Ignacio, 40; Osman Jesús, 20; and Jared, 21.

The 12 detainees were taken before a public prosecutor with the seized weapon and suspected drugs. Their legal situation will be determined there. The security agency said an information check indicated that the first four allegedly belonged to a criminal group operating in central Mexico City. It also said one of the eight detained during the confrontation had multiple prior admissions to the capital’s prison system for offenses including drug-related crimes, corruption of minors, bribery and aggravated robbery.