167 Pueblos Unidos Autodefensa Members Arrested at Blockades, 25 GN Soldiers Kidnapped & Released in Michoacán

"Socalj" for Borderland Beat

Pueblos Unidos members were captured during a large convoy of narco blockades which resulted in the kidnapping of soldiers to demand their release.

In what could be a historic operation, reports indicate the arrest of 167 people who maintained blockades on the Siglo 21 highway and the free highway through Tiamba, in Michoacán, by the National Guard and the State Police.

The detainees would be part of a group of self-defense groups known as "Pueblos Unidos", who, accompanied by weapons and posters, would have carried out the blockade to demand the release of some of their colleagues previously apprehended. Apparently, the group also wanted to control Uruapan and Parangaricutiro.

The Office of the Attorney General of the Republic (FGR), through its Delegation in Michoacán, initiated an investigation file against 167 people including three adolescents and two Pueblo Unidos leaders for their alleged responsibility for the crime of carrying firearms for the exclusive use of the Army, Navy, and Air Force.

Two regional leaders of Pueblos Unidos were among those arrested during the massive operation, Raymundo "La Maseca" Gallegos and Gabino Cornejo.

Raymundo "La Maseca" Gallegos is allegedly a member of the criminal group known as the Caballeros Templarios, which emerged in 2011 after the decline of La Familia Michoacana. He is an active member of a said criminal organization operating under the command of Juan Mondragón Pacheco, alias La Gorda. Gallegos is noted for serving as lieutenant of the municipalities of Ario de Rosales, Nuevo Urecho, Salvador Escalante, as well as Pátzcuaro.

Gabino Cornejo is singled out for also being the operator of Ario de Rosales, mainly in the towns of Las Puentes and El Moral. In this way, both are targeted for being people of Alfonso González Magallón, alias Poncho La Quiringa, leader of Cárteles Unidos in Los Reyes, Michoacán.

Authorities seized around 233 weapons, and 24 vehicles, one being armored.

Derived from the Homologated Police Report (IPH), elements of the Secretary of National Defense (SEDENA) and SSP, went to Tiamba municipality of Uruapan, Michoacán, due to the C5i alert, about the presence of a convoy with armed people; so when they went to the place they observed on a dirt site in the aforementioned community, those now detained carrying 182 firearms of various calibers, two grenades, two grenade launchers and 24 vehicles (one armored).

Pueblos Unidos acts under the facade of self-defense groups.

Pueblos Unidos

The group known as Pueblos Unidos emerged in 2021 as an organization of peasants from the avocado region of Ario de Rosales, Salvador Escalante, Nuevo Urecho, and Teretan in order to defend the producers of “green gold” against collections by the cartels. Pueblos Unidos has been accused of being led by members of the small Knights Templar. Federal authorities have indicated that this criminal faction was formed to dispute territory with the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG).

The top leader of Pueblos Unidos was José Artemio Maldonado Mejía, El Michoacano and/or El Rabias, who extended his criminal operations into fuel theft in the state of Hidalgo. He was arrested four months after his escape from the Tula prison, Hidalgo, with eight more from his criminal group, on December 1, 2021. Federal and Mexico City agents arrested him on April 18 in the Doctores neighborhood of the Cuauhtémoc mayor's office.

Blockades & Demands

Prior to the operation, the Pátzcuaro-Lázaro Cárdenas highway was blocked on the Pátzcuaro-Uruapan stretch, in addition to the fire and attack on a gas station in Zitácuaro during the early hours of Saturday, where a vehicle was set on fire as well.

“As a result of the detention of people, six highway blockades were registered, in Las Cruces towards Tiamba, “Ajuno” collection plaza, “Zirahuén” collection plaza, San Rafael neighborhood, Teretan and Zumpimito, which were removed without affecting the routine activities of the civilian population,” Sedena reported.

About 300 federal officers and 200 elements of the Michoacán Police were involved in arresting the main instigators of the blockade. They then proceeded in the same way with the rest of the group, who would have agreed to it on their own according to National Guard sources.

25 GN soldiers were detained by supporters of Pueblos Unidos, who demanded the release of their members. After pressure from authorities, the soldiers were released.

25 National Guard Soldiers Kidnapped

Although after the successful seizure, community members who are at the service of Pueblos Unidos detained some officers. Security sources said there would be no room for negotiation with those who broke the law and they set up a new operation, this time to rescue the National Guard soldiers who were being held.

“The Government is demanding the release of the 164 peasants who are members of Pueblos Unidos and we hand over their members of the National Guard,” says a publication on the supposed Facebook page of the group.

According to data from the aforementioned media, 25 soldiers who had been kidnapped for a few hours to demand the release of the 167 members of Pueblos Unidos, were released and no confrontations, injuries, or arrests were reported.

Sources FGR, Riodoce, Infobae, Infobae, Zeta Tijuana