CJNG vs CDS - Battles and Blindadas in Teocaltiche & San Juan de los Lagos, Jalisco

"HEARST" for Borderland Beat

Shootouts and narco-blockades erupted in San Juan de los Lagos, Jalisco. A whistleblower revealed that Jalisco state police commanders tried to return an armored vehicle back to the CJNG after their battle against CDS in Teocaltiche. 

And a closer look at Sinaloa Cartel’s Mario González Gutiérrez and CJNG’s Adrián Alonso Guerrero Covarrubias, alias “El 08”.

San Juan de los Lagos - State Police vs Hitmen

June 3, 2023 

During the night of June 3, 2023, state police officers on routine patrol encountered a red Hilux pickup truck in San Juan de los Lagos, located in the state of Jalisco, according to the government’s version of events.

The vehicle was driving near the intersection of Las Rosas Street and Piquín Street, in the Herrero  neighborhood of the city. When they ran the plates, they discovered that the vehicle had been stolen about a month earlier, on May 5, 2023.

According to SDP Noticias, officers attempted to pull the truck over, however, the people who were traveling in the vehicle refused to stop and instead sped away from police, which led to a car chase while the officers radio-ed what had happened. 

Some versions of the incident allege that the police officers were then fired upon by hitmen who were inside "at a nearby property". Other versions allege that hitmen inside the red Hilux drove to a house, got out of their vehicle, and entered the home, where they took positions and fired at the officers. 

Soldiers from the Army and National Guard were sent to aid the police involved. Eventually authorities were able to breach the home and subdue the hitmen.

In the video shown below, a civilian watches police officers and military soldiers near the house. In the video, the guy filming says “that's the house that's being raided.”

Video Source: Vigilante Nocturno

Strangely, only one arrest was reported even though all accounts of the event describe multiple “armed assailants” being involved. The one detainee was identified by the newspaper El Heraldo as José de Jesús, 51 years old. The house was searched.

Authorities found and seized the following:

• 17 tactical vests/plate carriers
• 7 ballistic plates
• 4 firearms 
• Ammo 
• 1 white BMW
• 1 black Dodge RAM pickup truck
• 2 red Yamaha motorcycle

Security forces spread out and tried to secure the perimeter of the area. Police officers approached an event space (likely a banquet hall) located two blocks away, near the intersection of Fragua Street and Piquín street (location shown above), that was hosting a party. 

Standing near the space were two heavily-armed men. The men were wearing tactical vests and carrying AK-47 style firearms which they were not legally permitted to carry. 

El Heraldo wrote that “with the goal of safeguarding the integrity of the attendees, Jose Alfonso M, 25 years old, and Manvin Geovani G, 18 years old, were arrested [by authorities].” 

The wording surrounding their arrest is strange, with the Heraldo article seeming to imply that if there wasn’t a party going on, the men might not have been arrested. However La Silla Rota alleged that the two men were “related to the criminal cell” which attacked them earlier.

Authorities continued to spread out and secure more of the area. According to La Silla Rota, cartel hitmen opened fire on a group of security forces patrolling nearby Alemania street in the La Martinica neighborhood (location shown above).

In retaliation for the various arrests and seizures, the cartel group had their hitmen create narco-road blockades at various points in the city. These roadblocks are created by hitmen commandeering vehicles, especially large trucks, from civilians at gunpoint and setting the vehicle ablaze. 

The videos below depict some of the burning blockades created and contain no graphic content.

Video Source: All Source News

Video Source: Jorge MTZ

Video Source: A-Proximidad

The blockades were created on sections of the San Juan-Lagos highway, at the intersection with the San Sebastián highway, on Benigno Romo Avenue, on the the Poniente San Martín highway, and at the intersection of Martín Huerta Blvd and De las Rosas Street and in the Poniente San Martín highway.

Teocaltiche - CJNG vs CDS May 30, 2023

The incidents in San Juan de los Lagos came just four days after a major cartel battle between Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG) and the Sinaloa Cartel (Cártel de Sinaloa, CDS) in the nearby municipality of Teocaltiche. 

The proximity between San Juan and Teocaltiche can be seen on the map below.

According to El Norte , at approximately 8:00 pm on May 30, 2023, hitmen from the CJNG and the CDS got into a shootout near the intersection of Juarez Street and Juan Pablo II Boulevard, right at the entrance into the town of Teocaltiche.

The battle was said to last for approximately an hour and heavy gunfire was exchanged. After the battle ended, the surviving hitmen created at least 15 narco road blockades to prevent authorities from reaching the town.

Hitmen likely collected the bodies of those who were killed and removed them from the area. By the time Army soldiers arrived in the area only one dead hitman was discovered.

Two abandoned armored vehicles were seized by the soldiers. Photos taken of the incident appear to show that the vehicles seized belonged to the CJNG, with one reading “Operativa Cobras” and another reading “Operativa Panteras”.

In some recent, groundbreaking reporting done by the news publication Dominio Publico, a state police officer alleged that a third CJNG armored vehicle had broken down as hitmen were fleeing the area. The hitmen pushed the vehicle inside a brick warehouse near kilometer 5 of the Teocaltiche freeway. 

At some point in time, state police officers arrived in Teocaltiche and they discovered the third, broken down armored vehicle hidden in the warehouse. One of the state officers filmed and photographed the vehicle, which clearly read “CJNG” and “Operative ALFA 1-4”. The video they filmed can be seen below.

The state officer said that fellow officers painted over the CJNG markings to disguise the vehicle’s original owner. The officers also reportedly planted firearms and drugs inside the vehicle. Officers arranged for a tow truck to be sent to the warehouse in Teocaltiche. 

When the tow truck arrived, on Thursday, June 1, 2023, the armored vehicle was hitched up and state police began escorting the vehicles out of the town, intending to pass the vehicle to CJNG hitmen at another location. Dominio Publico reports that residents of Teocaltiche noticed the suspicious towing situation and began filming what was going on with their smartphones. Army soldiers were also notified of the vehicle being towed. 

This, evidently, made state officers rethink their plan, and they instead claimed the vehicle was seized after they spotted it earlier that day and that hitmen abandoned it after state officers pursued them.

This, evidently, made state officers rethink their plan, and they instead claimed the vehicle was seized after they spotted it earlier that day and that hitmen abandoned it after state officers pursued them. 

The state Attorney General was then contacted about the vehicle and it was properly seized as evidence, with the plan to give it back to the CJNG abandoned.

The Cartel Landscape 

So, who are the CDS and CJNG leaders responsible for this region, who are sending these hitmen to battle in Teocaltiche? 

The newspaper El Mural published Army intelligence documents leaked by Guacamaya. The files cover the main CDS figures in this region in the chart shown below.

The local CDS group’s main leader is allegedly Mario González. His criminal history is covered in detail in this previous story. Reporting under him is allegedly his brother, Ramon González. Ramon was also mentioned by CJNG hitmen as one of their enemies in the region in a March 2022 video which was covered here.

Another man who allegedly works under him is Yasser Lara Casiano. Details about him are few and far between.  Mario González’s group is allied with Elpidio Mojarro Ramirez, alias “El Pilo”, the leader of the CJNG splinter group La Resistencia. He is also allied with Martin Alejandro Beltran Coronel, alias “El Aguila”, the leader of the CDS group La Corona.

Mario González’s group is allied with Elpidio Mojarro Ramirez, alias “El Pilo”, the leader of the CJNG splinter group La Resistencia. He is also allied with Martin Alejandro Beltran Coronel, alias “El Aguila”, the leader of the CDS group La Corona.

Meanwhile, the local CJNG group is allegedly headquartered out of the municipality of Nochistlán, Zacatecas, where it's led by Gerardo González Ramíre, aliases “El Gera” and “El Apa”. El Gera is alleged to lead the CJNG enforcer cell “Grupo Pantera”.

El Gera is most well known for his August 2022 meeting with CJNG figure Ricardo Ruiz Velasco, alias “El RR”, which got raided by Army soldiers yet did not result in the arrest of either El Gera or El RR. 

El Gera and Grupo Pantera report under Mencho’s godson, Adrián Alonso Guerrero Covarrubias, alias “El 08”, one of the top figures in the CJNG alongside other figures like El 03 and El RR. To read about El 08’s criminal history, please see this previous post. 

El 08 and his brother Javier Guerrero Covarrubias, alias "El Javi", were just named in brand new US sanctions released earlier today.

San Juan Sources: El Mural, SDP Noticias, Telediario, La Silla Rota, César Jiménez Mtz, El Heraldo de México, TV Azteca, Quiero TV, Informa FM

Teocaltiche Battle Sources: El Occidental, El Norte, SDP Noticias, Dominio Publico

Cartel Landscape Sources: El Mural, Nochistlan, Miguel

Map Sources: Miguel & Balam, El Heraldo de Aguascalientes

Video Sources: Vigilante Nocturno, Jorge MTZ, A-Proximidad, All Source News, Dominio Publico

Special thanks to Sol Prendido and Redlogarythm

Further Reading on the Region & Cartel Figures Involved

To read more about Mario González Gutiérrez and El Aguila, click here 

To read more about El 08 and his brothers, click here

To read an English translation of the CJNG video on Teocaltiche, click here 

Or a different CJNG video denouncing Mario González, click here

Or a CJNG attack on the military near Teocaltiche, click here