Operation Enjambre Hits Cargo-Theft Network in Puebla, Arresting Nine Including Four Public Officials

Mexican authorities detained nine people in Puebla during Operation Enjambre, including four public officials allegedly linked to a criminal structure involved in cargo theft, extortion, kidnapping and other serious crimes along the Puebla-Veracruz highway.

Omar García Harfuch, secretary of Security and Citizen Protection, said authorities executed 23 search warrants simultaneously in the municipality of Esperanza as part of the operation and the government’s zero-impunity policy.

Those arrested included Isaac “N”, the mayor of Esperanza; Abigail “N”, the municipality’s former director of public security; and Manuel “N”, the mayor’s brother. Said “N”, mayor of Tepeyahualco, was also detained over alleged responsibility for express kidnapping and violent vehicle theft.

Authorities seized 35 firearms, 52 magazines, 11 vehicles, tactical clothing, a drone and a signal jammer. Harfuch said the arrests struck at protection networks supporting criminal organizations and would directly affect highway robbery, cargo and passenger transport theft, and extortion.