The National Defense Secretariat (Sedena) has announced the arrest of Adrián N, alias El 20, alleged regional leader of the Pacific Cartel, an organization serving the Los Chapitos faction of the Sinaloa Cartel. The operation that resulted in his apprehension took place this Tuesday in the municipality of Villa Unión, in the municipality of Mazatlán, Sinaloa. The criminal leader is accused of the murder of five soldiers in 2016 and of participating in attacks on facilities and forces of the Mexican Army in the so-called Culiacanazos, the violent days that followed the 2019 and 2023 operations to arrest Ovidio Guzmán, alias El Ratón, the youngest son of Joaquín El Chapo Guzmán.
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According to the statement, along with El 20, one more person was apprehended, whose identity has not been revealed. Two 7.62-millimeter caliber machine guns, four long firearms, 30 magazines, 2,158 cartridges, one vehicle, and various tactical equipment were seized.
El 20 was the regional leader of the Pacific Cartel in Mazatlán, Villa Unión, El Palmito, El Rosario, La Concordia, and Escuinapa, all municipalities in Sinaloa, and it is known that he participated in the attack against military personnel on September 30, 2016, in Culiacán, in which five soldiers lost their lives and 10 more people were injured.
The events from a decade ago mentioned by Sedena occurred during the early hours of September 30, 2026, when Army personnel were transporting a detained man from the community of Huixiopa, Badiraguato, aboard an ambulance. During the journey, armed men aboard about 10 vehicles carried out an attack with AK-47 and AR-15 rifles, in addition to setting fire to two military vehicles. Then-President Enrique Peña Nieto referred to the event on his social media account Twitter (now known as X): “The attack on Mexican Army personnel in Sinaloa will not go unpunished. Those responsible for these acts will answer to the law.”
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During the so-called Culiacanazos, the failed operation on October 17, 2019, and the second one on January 5, 2023, for the recapture of El Ratón, El 20 took part in attacks on facilities and forces of the Mexican Army.
The arrest of El 20 comes just one day after the apprehension of Ricardo N, alias El Tío, alleged financial operator and one of the main leaders of a criminal cell linked to the faction of El Chapo’s sons, as well as against five other men detained with him during an operation carried out in Mazatlán. The six men were apprehended this Monday during an operation in which authorities secured drugs, two firearms, magazines, cartridges, approximately 100,000 dollars in cash, cell phones, computers, two vehicles, and two properties.
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