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Arrest of potential next leader found hiding in drainage pipe highlights renewed tactics – and fears of cartel infighting US politics live – latest updates The golden coffin of “El Mencho”, the late leader of the Jalisco New Generation cartel (CJNG), had barely been lowered into the ground when the Mexican military dealt a second blow to the very top of the organisation this week. As special forces descended on a ranch in the state of Nayarit, grainy drone footage showed El Mencho’s possible successor, Audias Flores, alias “El Jardinero”, being hauled from a drainage pipe he had tried to hide in, all without a shot being fired. Continue reading...
Indictment accuses high-level officials in Sinaloa of offences such as drug trafficking, weapons offences and kidnapping The US justice department has charged the governor of Sinaloa and nine other current and former officials for alleged ties to the Sinaloa cartel, accusing them of aiding in the massive importation of illicit narcotics into the United States . Some officials were members of Mexico’s progressive ruling party, Morena, posing a political conundrum for Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum as she seeks to offset mounting pressures from the Trump administration. Continue reading...
Arrests of Audias Flores and César Alejandro ‘N’ lead to gunmen blocking roads, as US embassy warns employees to avoid Reynosa after earlier arrest The Mexican authorities have arrested two top criminals, one of them a close ally of the slain founder of the Jalisco New Generation cartel (CJNG), prompting gunmen to block roads in the western state of Nayarit. Audias Flores, known as “El Jardinero”, is a regional commander in control of swathes of CJNG territory along Mexico’s Pacific coast. He was considered a potential successor to Nemesio Oseguera, alias “El Mencho”, who ran the cartel and was killed in a security operation in February. Continue reading...
Video shared by officials on social media shows the arrest of one of the top commanders of the powerful Jalisco New Generation cartel in Mexico. Audias Flores, known as 'El Jardinero', is a regional commander in control of swathes of CJNG territory along Mexico’s Pacific coast. He was considered a potential successor to Nemesio Oseguera, alias 'El Mencho', who ran the cartel and was killed in a security operation in February. Security forces surrounded a cabin about 20km (12 miles) north of the popular resort city of Puerto Vallarta, where Flores was being protected by a perimeter of about 30 pickup trucks and 60 gunmen, according to a press release from Mexico’s navy, which led the operation. Flores’ escorts scattered as a diversion but he was located as he tried to hide in a drainage ditch, it added Mexican special forces arrest top commander of powerful cartel Continue reading...
In the Sierra Tarahumara, gangs ‘disappear’ those who resist their lucrative illegal tree-felling operations Decades ago, the children of Rochéachi village in the Sierra Tarahumara – pine-covered mountains of north-west Mexico’s Chihuahua state – would run through the forest by night. In the rainy season, they would collect fireflies whose glimmering light would flicker through the hollows of the pine trees. “We had peace. We used to walk and play and be together,” says one mother of three, who asked to remain anonymous, about the forest she once knew. “Now, children can’t go out to play. We don’t know what might happen.” Continue reading...
Claudia Sheinbaum says Mexico was not aware of US participation until four officials were killed in car crash Claudia Sheinbaum, Mexico’s president, said on Monday that her government told the United States, in a diplomatic note, that the unauthorized presence of US officials at an anti-narcotics operation in the northern state of Chihuahua should not be repeated. The incident came to light after two US officials, along with two Mexican officials, were killed in a car crash on 19 April after the operation. Sheinbaum has said the federal government was not aware of the participation of the US officials, who were widely reported to be CIA officers. Continue reading...
Craze for Mexican salamander as pets fuelled by Pokémon but inexperienced owners are often out of their depths The 15th-century Dipping Bridge over the River Ogwr (Ogmore) in the village of Merthyr Mawr near Bridgend, south Wales, got its name from gaps in the parapets where farmers used to push reluctant sheep into the water for a clean. It has now passed the name on: to Dippy the axolotl, an alien-like Mexican salamander found under its arches. Dippy, discovered by 10-year-old Evie Hill last weekend, is believed to be the first axolotl ever found in the wild in the UK; the species is critically endangered and lives only in Lake Xochimilco near Mexico City. Exactly why the 22cm (9in) amphibian ended up in the shallows under the dipping bridge may never be discovered, but Evie and her mother, Melanie – Dippy’s new owners – as well as animal welfare experts believe the most plausible explanation is that the Pokémon-like creature was abandoned. Continue reading...
Prosecutors say 43 people indicted on charges including murder, kidnapping, extortion and drug trafficking More than two dozen members and associates of the Mexican mafia were arrested during an early morning crackdown in southern California, federal authorities said on Thursday. The FBI and other federal and local agencies executed search and arrest warrants at locations mostly in Orange county, south of Los Angeles, according to the US attorney’s office. Continue reading...
US policy shift leaves migrants in limbo to retrace perilous journeys south, searching for stability Two small scars on either side of his left thigh remind Mario Torres of the worst day he has had during the two-plus years he has spent on the road crisscrossing Latin America searching for a stable life. Torres fled Venezuela in 2018, when he was just 18 years old. After a stint in Colombia and Peru, he lived in Chile for four years. When cost-of-living increases started to make life less tenable, he decided to leave in September 2024 and head towards the United States. Torres rode buses, boats and trains, and also walked, crossing nine countries – a journey that took months. Continue reading...
Mexico to investigate possible breach of its constitution and assess US’s role in anti-drug operation near Chihuahua Mexico has launched an investigation into a possible breach of its constitution as it was reported that two US embassy officials who died in a car accident while returning from a raid on a drug lab with local officials in the border state of Chihuahua were CIA operatives. The accident happened early on Sunday, as the officials were driving back from the scene of the raid. Their vehicle skidded off the road and plunged down a 200 metre ravine in the mountains near Chihuahua’s border with the state of Sinaloa. Continue reading...
At least four more injured at world heritage site in latest violent incident as country prepares to co-host World Cup One Canadian tourist has been killed and six other people were wounded by gunfire after an armed man opened fire at one of Mexico’s most famous tourist destinations, the Teotihuacán pyramids near Mexico City. The shooting – the latest violent incident to affect Mexico as it prepares to co-host the football World Cup in June – took place on Monday lunchtime and was captured in mobile phone videos. Continue reading...
Director of state investigation agency among those killed in Chihuahua in operation to destroy clandestine drug labs Two United States officials and another two Mexican officials assigned to combat drug cartel operations died in a car accident in the northern Mexican state of Chihuahua on Sunday, a US embassy spokesperson said. The Mexican officials were the director of the state’s investigation agency and an officer, state authorities said, adding that they were on an operation to destroy clandestine laboratories in the municipality of Morelos. Continue reading...
In joint statement, the three countries call for lasting solution to crisis, without explicitly mentioning the US and its oil blockade Mexico, Spain and Brazil have voiced concern about the “dramatic situation” in Cuba, which has faced months of pressure from US president Donald Trump, with the trio urging “sincere and respectful dialogue”. Without explicitly mentioning the US, the three leftist-led countries expressed on Saturday “deep concern regarding the grave humanitarian crisis that the people of Cuba are enduring, and call for the adoption of necessary measures to alleviate this situation”. Continue reading...
Sheinbaum has recently been taking a firmer stance with the US, defying pressures where other countries have caved The Mexican government has voiced concern about the deaths of its citizens in US custody, with Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum also pushing back against the Trump administration’s decision to impose an energy blockade on Cuba. The progressive Mexican leader has walked a careful line with Trump for more than a year, addressing provocations with a measured tone and meeting US requests to crack down on cartels more so than her predecessors, in an effort to offset threats of tariffs and US military action against gangs. Continue reading...
Marcos Orellana, a special rapporteur, found lax environmental standards and lack of oversight allowed pollution to accumulate Revealed: Mexico’s industrial boomtown is making goods for the US. Residents say they’re ‘breathing poison’ Mexico is facing a “toxic crisis” and has become a “garbage sink” for the US, exposing Mexican communities to dangerous pollution, a UN expert has warned. In an interview with the Guardian and Quinto Elemento Lab, an investigative outlet, Marcos Orellana, an environmental specialist, said pollutants ranging from imported waste to dangerous pesticides were affecting people’s right to live healthy lives. Continue reading...
Cultural figures sign open letter asking government for clarity on how long landmark collection will remain abroad One of the world’s most important collections of 20th-century Mexican art, including works by Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, is set to be exported to Spain under an agreement with Banco Santander, sparking outrage among Mexico’s cultural community. Nearly 400 cultural professionals have signed an open letter calling on the Mexican government to offer greater clarity on what the deal means for the masterpieces, particularly the works by Kahlo, which the Mexican state has declared an “artistic monument”. Continue reading...
Government accused of removing loved ones from record after report says tens of thousands lack information to be found Mothers search in the scrublands, poking the earth for signs of a corpse. Desperate pleas fill social media, crying out for clues that may bring relief. Tattered posters flutter in the wind, asking for help in the search. Often, all that is left of the missing are scattered bones bleached by the sun. It is arguably Mexico’s greatest human rights crisis. More than 130,000 people have vanished since the state went to war against drug cartels a decade ago. Now, activists and human rights experts say the authorities are trying to erase their loved ones from the record. Continue reading...
Everything Korean – from K-pop and skincare to food and clothing – is booming in popularity in Chile, Mexico and Brazil On the polished flagstones of a Santiago cultural centre’s forecourt, four Chilean girls dance in energetic union, counting their steps aloud in Korean. In front of them, a YouTube video with 1.3bn views plays atop a speaker throbbing to the beat of How You Like That, by the K-pop megastars Blackpink. Continue reading...
Security staff at the Adelanto detention center found Ramos unconscious and unresponsive in his bunk A Mexican immigrant has died at a detention center outside Los Angeles, marking at least the 14th death in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody since the year began. Security staff at the Adelanto detention center found José Guadalupe Ramos unconscious and unresponsive in his bunk on 25 March, according to an ICE press release. Staff attempted to carry out life-saving procedures, including CPR, then called emergency services, who took Ramos to Victory Valley Global medical center in nearby Victorville. He was pronounced dead there at 9.29pm. Continue reading...
AI-generated footage depicts group of men performing a corrido, singing phrases including ‘return to your roots’ An AI-generated video from the US embassy in Mexico encouraging migrants to “self-deport” has sparked disbelief and outrage online. The video posted this week on official embassy social media accounts depicts a group of men wearing black caps and sporting tattoos performing a kind of traditional Mexican ballad known as a corrido. Continue reading...
Two convoy vessels that were supposed to get to Havana by Wednesday have made it to Cuba, says US Coast Guard Two sailing boats that went missing while carrying humanitarian aid to Cuba have safely reached the Caribbean island, the US Coast Guard said on Friday. Earlier in the day Cuba’s president, Miguel Díaz-Canel, had said his country would do everything it could to save the people on the two boats that disappeared while travelling to Cuba from Mexico. Continue reading...
In Mexico and Spain, leaders who have capped public costs have been rewarded at the ballot box. As another cost of living surge arrives, it may be a policy our leaders are unable to resist Politicians are not supposed to meddle with prices. Even though much of politics is about whether voters can afford things – especially in an era of recurring inflationary shocks – ever since the collapse of the Soviet Union’s planned economy four decades ago, the orthodoxy across much of the world has been that only markets should decide what things cost. As the hugely influential Austrian economist Friedrich Hayek argued, in a complex modern society, information is too dispersed among potential sellers and buyers of goods or services for government to make informed and correct decisions about the prices of those goods. Hence, his disciples say, the inefficiency of state-run economies, from post-colonial Africa to the eastern bloc. Andy Beckett is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...
In Modulo 2, a renovated wing of a high-security facility in Cancún, female prisoners find moments of solidarity, pride and creativity in their confinement At the end of a road in the city of Cancún, in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo, a tall watchtower rises behind barbed wire and perimeter walls closely monitored by the army. This is where the Cereso stands, a high-security prison complex housing a men’s facility as well as a section called Modulo 2 that is reserved for females. A total of 284 women are held there. Inside, time moves slowly. Days unfold according to a strict schedule, structured around chores and workshops organised by the prison administration. A morning Zumba session in the yard of the Cereso. Physical activities are part of the facility’s daily routine Continue reading...
Navy searching for two boats that left Isla Mujeres last week bound for Havana with nine crew members of different nationalities on board Mexico’s navy said on Thursday it had activated a search-and-rescue operation in the Caribbean to locate two sailboats carrying humanitarian aid to Cuba after the vessels failed to arrive in Havana as scheduled. In a statement, the navy said the two boats left Isla Mujeres, in the Mexican Caribbean state of Quintana Roo, last week bound for Havana with nine crew members of different nationalities on board. Continue reading...
Laurence Gray was charged with attempting to provide material support to terrorist organizations Sign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inbox An Arizona licensed gun dealer was charged this month with attempting to provide material support to terrorist organizations after federal agents caught him allegedly selling a series of rifles and guns to two Mexican cartels. The federal charges against the American firearms dealer come amid years of pressure by the Mexican government to stop the flow of weapons into the country. Mexico’s violent and bloody internal conflict, between drug cartels and the Mexican government, has been largely fueled by American weapons smuggled into the country. Continue reading...
As Sinaloa’s conflict grinds on, firearms traced to recent US sales are increasingly linked to Arizona When war broke out within the Sinaloa cartel, one of Mexico’s most powerful criminal organisations, people hoped it would last just a few months. But more than a year and a half later it is still going, fuelled by a flow of firearms from the US – specifically from Arizona, which has surged past Texas to become the top source of guns seized in Mexico and traced to a recent US purchase. Continue reading...
Abel Ortiz was brought from Mexico to LA when he was just two months old and has been living undocumented ever since. Now 38, he has a full life cutting hair, building a community, loving a city that has never fully loved him back. In a time of escalating ICE raids and the ache of uncertainty, Abel has made a radical decision: he’s leaving – not because he has to, but to escape perpetual limbo and be free to see the world Continue reading...
Abel Ortiz was brought from Mexico to LA when he was just two months old and has been living undocumented ever since. Now 38, he has a full life cutting hair, building a community, loving a city that has never fully loved him back. In a time of escalating ICE raids and the ache of uncertainty, Abel has made a radical decision: he’s leaving – not because he has to, but to escape perpetual limbo and be free to see the world Continue reading...
Abel Ortiz lived in LA since he was a newborn. The Guardian filmed him as he left after 38 years. Now, we catch up with him in Mexico City, fired up and grieving in his new life Watch: Abel leaves LA is an original Guardian Documentary that follows Abel’s last week in the United States A couple of weekends ago, as dusk was falling over the Escandón neighbourhood of Mexico City, Abel Ortiz was startled by the sound of two American women yelling at each other on the street outside his apartment. They were nose to nose, screaming in English while bemused Mexicans looked on. Continue reading...
The insects covered its largest area since 2018, despite threats from habitat loss, climate crisis and pesticides The population of monarch butterflies in Mexico increased 64% this winter, compared with the same period in 2025, offering a glimmer of hope for an insect considered at risk of extinction. The figures, released this week by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Mexico, showed that the area occupied by monarchs expanded to 2.93 hectares (7.24 acres) of forest from 1.79 hectares (4.42 acres) the previous winter, the largest coverage since 2018. Continue reading...
AI videos let young people adopt the guise of DFS agents, sparking debate over glorifying corruption and impunity Young people in Mexico are taking to TikTok to imagine themselves as agents from the country’s 1970s secret police, the DFS – a force which was infamous for torturing, murdering or disappearing thousands during the country’s “dirty war”. The trend, which has sparked condemnation by some users on the social media platform, has seen young people use AI to transform themselves into agents glorifying the “absolute impunity” afforded to the notoriously corrupt and brutally violent secret police. Continue reading...
Dr Brian Elmore witnessed a public health crisis unfold at the border near El Paso. He reflects on why it was like a ‘perverse Groundhog Day’ In late spring 2024, Dr Brian Elmore was working out of a mobile clinic, providing medical treatment to migrants in Ciudad Juárez, just south of the US-Mexico border wall. One of his patients, a Venezuelan man with a fractured arm and a detached left chest from his sternum and clavicle, told Elmore that Mexican immigration officials broke his arm when he first got to town, and that rubber bullets fired by Texas national guardsmen had caused his chest injuries. The man somehow had managed to fashion a shoddily made splint for his arm, but his chest would require surgery. When an ambulance arrived, the criminal group that controlled the riverine area refused to let him leave. The Texas guardsmen looked on from the US side of the river. “It was heartbreaking,” Elmore said of the spectacle. Continue reading...
Fortunes of the country’s 22 billionaires doubled in last five years, reaching unprecedented collective wealth of $219bn Scrunched between luxury apartment buildings and a lush gated community, the neighborhood of Santa Lucía Reacomodo in Mexico City is a working-class pocket of real estate. Electrical wires tangle above cinder-block houses, stray cats slink down narrow streets, debris piles up on the pavement. María del Socorro Corona, 79, arrived here decades ago, back when it was just a cactus-covered hillside. The two-bedroom turquoise house she built with her now-deceased husband is crammed with bags of clothes and knick-knacks she sells at a weekly market. Continue reading...
US president claimed he wanted to eradicate cartels and made comments about Mexico’s president that were deemed sexist in summit speech ‘Iron river’: Mexico’s cartel violence fuelled by trafficked firearms from US Sign up for the Breaking News US newsletter email Claudia Sheinbaum has responded to Donald Trump’s description of Mexico as the “epicenter of violence”, by calling on the US government to step up efforts to combat gun trafficking. “There is something that the US can help us a lot with: stop the trafficking of illegal weapons from the US to Mexico,” the president of Mexico said. “If they stopped the entry of illegal weapons from the United States into Mexico, then these groups wouldn’t have access to this type of high-powered weaponry to carry out their criminal activities.” Continue reading...
Funding cuts, US political pressure and bureaucratic delays have left thousands of Haitians facing prolonged uncertainty in Tapachula A year ago, when Jean Baptiste Gensley stepped off a bus in Tapachula, Mexico’s southern city on the border with Guatemala, he carried a small backpack and the hope that his journey was finally over. In his native Haiti, Gensley, 37, worked as a radio journalist and social worker, analyzing the effects of gang violence in some of Port-au-Prince’s most dangerous neighborhoods. With time, as his research led to police intervention, he caught the attention of the city’s gangs. Continue reading...
In Miami, president calls for regional cooperation to counter Chinese economic and political interests Donald Trump changed the channel from Iran to the western hemisphere on Saturday, convening a gathering of Latin American leaders at his Miami-area golf club to discuss regional interests and establishing what he called a “counter-cartel coalition”. “Just as we formed a coalition to eradicate Isis, we now need a coalition to eradicate the cartels,” he told 12 regional leaders gathered at what the White House called the “Shield of the Americas” summit. Continue reading...
Critics sceptical Pentagon chief’s plan for increased military force – amid rising US intervention – will stop drug gangs Pete Hegseth, the US defence secretary, has urged Latin American countries to adopt a more aggressive approach against drug cartels, warning that the Trump administration may otherwise act unilaterally in the region. Hegseth’s remarks come in a context of escalating US intervention in the region, both militarily and in elections, which culminated in the capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro – the first US ground military attack on a South American country. Continue reading...
Tourism in Mexico is at an all-time high, with foreign visitors lured by the country’s rich culture and low costs. The Guardian visits Oaxaca, a state synonymous with indigenous culture, where tourism has grown 77% since the pandemic and once private family rituals such as the Day of the Dead are now big international parties. But with this opportunity comes a growing backlash across the country, as local people struggle with a cost of living crisis that is exacerbated by the tourism industry’s exponential growth Continue reading...
Fractured relationships lead to shocking revelations in a film bogged down with stylistic embellishments that detract from the on screen drama Home videos – especially the kind shot on early digital camcorders – appear etched with the texture of memories. For their fiction feature debut, Racornelia maximises the imperfections of this format to mount a documentary-style study of warts-and-all family dysfunction. Set in 1990s Mexico City, the first half of the story unfolds over a tumultuous Christmas Eve dinner between bickering relatives. Both married with children, brothers Alejandro (Joaquin del Paso) and Octavio (Adolfo Jiménez Castro) are eager to show off their middle-class lifestyle. As the two families gather at Alejandro’s house, their wives Estelle (played by Racornelia) and Lisbette (Giovanna Duffour) enthusiastically join in the rivalry. Between courses and glasses of wine, sly insults fly as the young children are left to their own devices. Continue reading...
Lax American gun laws mean weapons are readily available to buy and smuggle south of the border Mexico was rocked this week by a wave of brutal violence after the capture of the drug lord Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, AKA “El Mencho”, as members of his powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel blew up trucks, fired on police stations and engaged in gun battles with Mexican security forces. The chaos eventually calmed but not before 62 people had been killed, including a pregnant woman caught in the cross fire. The scale of the carnage, as well as the arsenal involved, has underscored a key element of Mexico’s struggle against organised crime: cartels are armed to the teeth, and most of their weapons are trafficked from the US. Continue reading...
The city of Tuxtla Gutiérrez in Mexico achieved a Guinness World Record after gathering 4,757 participants at the Victor Manuel Reyna Stadium to form the largest human image of a football shirt, surpassing the previous record set in Colombia in 2018. GWR officials confirmed the feat as participants clad in differently coloured shirts came together on the stadium's field to shape a tricolour jersey visible from above Continue reading...
Fires are still burning in the Mexican town of Tapalpa four days after the cartel boss known as 'El Mencho' made his last stand. The Guardian correspondent Tom Phillips drove to the locations of fierce clashes between police and gang members who dug trenches, set fire to shops and sparked a forest blaze that was still burning days later. Despite their efforts to distract security forces, the 59-year-old drug lord was wounded and he died in a helicopter on the way to the hospital Shell-shocked and tense: inside the Mexican tourist town where ‘El Mencho’ made his last stand Violence in Mexico after military kills notorious drug cartel boss – a visual guide Continue reading...
Second time in two weeks military used laser to attack what it mistakenly thought was a threat, disrupting air traffic Sign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inbox Democratic members of Congress have expressed astonishment and anger at what they claim is the incompetence of the Trump administration after the US military used a laser on Thursday to shoot down what it thought was a threatening drone on the US-Mexico border in Texas but later turned out to belong to US Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The apparent confusion between two entities in the US government led to airspace being closed around Fort Hancock, right along the border. It was the second time in two weeks that air traffic was disrupted in the region as a result of a high-energy laser being deployed against drones. Continue reading...
Fearful of returning to their home countries and unable to continue north, many asylum seekers now face eviction as Mexico starts to demolish the camps set up to house them The road to the “nation of immigrants” has radically changed course over the past months for those hoping for a new life in the United States. A series of executive orders by the US president, Donald Trump, has drastically shifted migration across the Americas. In the early morning in Mexico City, people living at Vallejo informal migrant camp get ready for the day. It is one of the last of six camps formed to house growing numbers of people arriving mostly from Venezuela and Honduras after changes to US legislation in 2022. Other camps were recently dismantled Continue reading...
Tapalpa deserted and scared by day of terror when military raid brought feared drug lord’s reign to an end Two days before one of the world’s most powerful drug lords was killed while trying to flee a chalet in the hills outside Mexico’s second biggest city, the Tapalpa Country Club posted an advert on Instagram inviting lovers to visit a place where they could “inhale peace [and] exhale stress”. “Date idea: Escape to Tapalpa,” read the message, advertising romantic private cabins, picnics with spectacular lake views and a golf course “to have fun together”. Continue reading...