El Camaney, Cartel Regional Leader & La Vaca's Brother-in-Law, Arrested in Colima

"HEARST" for Borderland Beat 

Cristian Jonathán 'N', alias “El Camaney”, was arrested in the state of Colima. He is a Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG) regional leader (or possibly a CJNG defector) and a brother-in-law of José Bernabé Brizuela Meraz, alias “La Vaca”. 

The Arrest

On Thursday, June 23, 2022, during the morning presidential press conference, Undersecretary Ricardo Mejía Berdeja announced Camaney’s arrest along with a number of other cartel arrests from across the country. 

Between around timecode 38:40 - 39:40 on the official video, he said the following: 

“In an operation coordinated by the Navy (SEMAR) […] with the Secretariat of Public Security of Colima and their anti-kidnapping unit, two people were arrested and various pieces of evidence were seized in relation to the Federal Law of Firearms and Explosives. 

This occurred on June 22 in Colima and the following were arrested: Jonathán 'N', aka 'El Camaney' or 'El W', along with a woman. This subject is the brother-in-law of José Bernabé, aka 'La Vaca', who is the main generator of violence in Colima, who is part of a criminal group, a splinter of the Jalisco Cartel - New Generation and who was also involved in criminal events in the prison of that entity.”

On that same day, the Colima’s Security Coordination Table sent out a press release which detailed that Cristian Jonathán 'N', aliases “El Camaney” and “El W”, had been arrested a few days earlier on Tuesday, June 21, 2022 (which differs from the date of June 22 given during the press conference). 

The press release is especially scant on details, not even disclosing the municipality where the arrest took place, only describing that it happened “in the north of the municipality of Colima”. They detail that he was arrested alongside a 25-year old woman, who is allegedly involved with a cartel organization, and a white Toyota Tacoma pickup truck was seized from his possession. 

They state that El Camaney was found to be in possession of fake state government uniforms and fake IDs, which he was using in order to evade law enforcement detection. Interestingly, 277 bullets of various calibers and 17 mags of 9mm were listed among the items seized but no firearm listed, so it appears that drug possession and firearm possession charges cannot be pursued against Camaney. 

El Camaney was presented as one of the top 8 CJNG leaders within the state of Colima on a federal intelligence chart shown during a presidential press conference back in February 25, 2022. Unfortunately, he was one of the few men on the chart who had no other photos or details that could be found online. 

Even Camaney being a brother-in-law of La Vaca is something that was not previously disclosed by authorities, nor discussed online, and was only made public during the announcement of his arrest. 

Recently, La Vaca split from the CJNG and took his followers with him, forming a splinter group sometimes called Los Mezcales. It is unclear if El Camaney stayed loyal to the larger CJNG organization or if he left along with La Vaca.

Sources: Official Video of Press Conference, Official Transcript of Press Conference, Official Press Release, Milenio, Proceso, La Jornada, El Occidental, El Comentario

More Borderland Beat Stories About Cartel Activity in Colima

For more details about the CJNG vs La Vaca conflict and the history of La Vaca himself, please see this previous story.

For more details about CJNG’s Colima leader El Chorro, please see this previous story.

For more details about Sinaloa Cartel’s Colima leader Changuito Ántrax, please see this previous story.

For more details about one of CJNG’s Colima plaza bosses, El Sky, please see this previous story.