CJNG Killers of the Lagos de Moreno Five Arrested

"HEARST" for Borderland Beat

The CJNG hitmen who forced a young man to stab his four friends to death on camera have allegedly been arrested. Here’s what we know about the detainees so far.

Warning: Some graphic images below this point.

Quick Review

In August 2023, five friends were abducted by cartel hitmen in the town of Lagos de Moreno, located in the state of Jalisco. 

Soon after they disappeared, a video was released which showed one of the men being forced to kill his four friends, who were unarmed and tied up. The man was given only a knife and a rock to carry out the task. Family members of the missing first learned of their death through the video being shared on social media.

The psychologically twisted nature of the video drew national attention and law enforcement began searching for the hitmen responsible.

It was not immediately clear which cartel group had created the video because the larger region was being contested between the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generation (CJNG) and the Sinaloa Cartel, however, the CJNG was heavily suspected.

Law enforcement was able to locate the property where the video was filmed and an additional “property of interest”, however, the investigation then seemed to stall for months, with no substantial updates on the case being released. Then, last week, law enforcement announced they had found the cellphones of the victims “in a property where the victims are believed to have been taken.”

The Lagos Killers Arrested

On December 7, 2023, the federal Attorney General’s Office (FGR) announced that law enforcement and the military had arrested five CJNG hitmen who were allegedly involved in the abduction and murder of the Lagos five. 

Strangely, the FGR statement doesn’t clarify when or where the arrest occurred, other than to say it took place in the Altos Norte region of Jalisco. The detainees are: 

Isidro "N", alias "El Chilo", 45 years old 

Luis Antonio “N”, alias “La Morsa” , 41 years old 

Eruviel “N”, alias “El Conejo” (The Rabbit), 35 years old 

José Fernando “N”, alias “El Fercho” (The Driver), 22 years old

Víctor Armando “N”, alias “El Diablito” (The Little Devil), 21 years old

Dominio Publico writes that the detainees “were allegedly detained while carrying weapons and three vehicles, as well as thousands of fentanyl pills and thousands of cocaine baggies, and a few kilos of marijuana, were seized from them.”

The November 19th Attack on the Soldiers

The FGR alleges these five CJNG hitmen are also connected to an attack that took place three weeks ago, on November 19, in which cartel hitmen ambushed soldiers in the town of Teocaltiche, Jalisco, leaving 3 soldiers dead and 3 more injured. 

The soldiers were driving through Teocaltiche because dispatch received a 911 call which reported that CJNG hitmen were abducting 18-year old Vicente Sánchez Luevano from his home.

Video of the November 19 shooting. Source: Cesar Gutiérrez Priego

Video of the November 19 shooting. Source: Cesar Gutiérrez Priego

Video of the aftermath, as soldiers are flown out. Source: Cesar Gutiérrez Priego

After the attack and once the injured soldiers were evac-ed from the area, the military started a major ground search in the area and Dominio Publico claimed soldiers were searching for Gerardo González Ramírez, aliases "El Gera", "El Güero", and "El Apa”, a CJNG figure from the subgroup los Guerreros.

He’s known to be leading a CJNG group in Nochistlán, Zacatecas, which is trying to out Mario Gonzalez and his CDS hitmen from the Teocaltiche area. El Gera is known to work under Adrián Alonso Guerrero Covarrubias, alias “El 08”. 

Who Do They Work for in the CJNG

ADN 40 writes that, “according to investigations”, the hitmen come from a criminal group “which calls itself GEDDRI (Grupo Elite Delictivo de Reacción Inmediata).” 

Old Guacamaya-leaked intelligence documents showed that GEDDRI primarily operated within the Altos Norte region of Jalisco, which lines up with the location of the kidnapping and the November 19th ambush. 

The documents were originally published by El Pais newspaper

The Guacamaya documents alleged GEDDRI reported under Hugo Gonzalo Mendoza Gaytán, aliases “El Sapo” (The Toad) and “El 090”. However, as noted earlier, these intelligence documents were somewhat old. 

Sidenote: Every news outlet and Twitter account is running with it being spelled “GEDRI” but the insignia clearly spells “GEDDRI”, choosing to include the “de” in the initialism. All the sources which are repeating “GEDRI” are not doing basic due diligence.

Dominio Publico and ADN 40 write that El Chilo led a local GEDDRI cell. El Chilo reportedly received orders from José Luis Gómez Escalera, alias “El Kiki”, who is the overall leader of GEDDRI, which is “directly linked to the brothers Leonardo and Adrián Guerrero Covarrubias, who are regional heads of the CJNG.”

Neither publication makes it clear if the link to Adrián Guerrero Covarrubias, alias “El 08”, and his brother Leonardo comes from law enforcement or their own beliefs about the region. 

So, basically we’ve got two newspapers claiming that GEDDRI works under the Guerrero brothers, but neither clarify the source for this claim, and we’ve also got old intelligence documents which claim GEDDRI works under El Sapo. Both sources have their own potential weaknesses.

ADN 40 also claims that “this armed cell operated directly under the orders of Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, alias El Mencho, and they had a mandate to carry out attacks on military forces as well as to exert their control over the municipalities of Teocaltiche, Encarnacion de Diaz and Villa Hidalgo.” 

It’s unclear if ADN is referring to El Chilo’s cell or the larger GEDDRI group when it claims that they worked directly under Mencho.

New information will be added as the story develops

Sources: El Universal, El Heraldo de México, Notisistema, Lopez Doriga Digital, Reporte Indigo, El Occidental, ADN 40, La Silla Rota, Dominio Publico 

Further Reading

Our First Article on the Video

The First Allegation Against the CJNG

Initial Reports on the CJNG Figures Involved