At least seven "Narco Schools" have been seized in the Valles region of Jalisco.

 "Char" for Borderland Beat 

This information was posted by EL OCCIDENTAL 

From 2017 to date, 33 people have been detained in camps and ranches.

MARCH 13, 2025

Elizabeth Ibal

Organized crime has taken root in the Valles region, where operations to capture regional leaders of organized crime have rarely been carried out, while illicit activity by the Jalisco New Generation Cartel continues unabated. At least 10 camps, ranches, and lands have been seized where this group has been detected operating.

This area includes the municipalities of Ahualulco de Mercado, Amatitán, Ameca, Cocula, El Arenal, Etzatlán, Hostotipaquillo, Magdalena, San Juanito de Escobedo, San Marcos, San Martín de Hidalgo, Tala, Tequila, and Teuchitlán. Currently, the latter municipality is the one at the center of the storm.

The Izaguirre ranch is not the first to be seized in Teuchitlán. Three have been seized there since 2015.

The first of these was the Los Amiales ranch, a 50-hectare property that had been confiscated by criminals in 2013, but which was recovered by the State Attorney General's Office in December 2015 during the administration of Prosecutor Eduardo Almaguer Ramírez.

At the time, the head of the agency stated that evidence of murders had been found inside, including walls with gunshot wounds and evidence that at least nine people had been murdered at the site.

At that time, the site was discovered after the disappearance of two young men from Ahualulco de Mercado. During a search overflight, the two were spotted by the agency's helicopter. The bodies of the young men were seen from above. Later, then-Prosecutor Eduardo Almaguer announced that a request for forfeiture of assets would be filed.

For its part, the non-governmental organization Mexicans Against Corruption and Impunity (MCCI) released a report in which National Guard members reported the location of a farm with several charred bodies in August 2019. The report indicates that it was on a farm in La Estanzuela.

Meanwhile, in 2020, National Guard members also seized another ranch in Ahualulco de Mercado, which had been confiscated by the Jalisco New Generation Cartel from a PRI politician. At the time of the seizure, they found bags of drugs.

Meanwhile, on September 18, National Guard members located the Izaguirre ranch, located 57.9 kilometers from the Metropolitan Zone.

That day, 10 people were arrested, two others were released, and a body was found wrapped in wicker. In this case, a Tala police officer is facing charges of missing persons.

In a subsequent raid on that property, on March 5 of this year, by the Guerreros Buscadores de Jalisco collective, hundreds of skeletal remains were found in six plots and four graves, in addition to more than 400 pieces of clothing and footwear.

Meanwhile, on January 30 of this year, the National Guard and the Mexican Army seized another ranch used by criminals operating in the region, which was also used as a training center. Thirty-six young people were rescued there, having been recruited through deception and false job offers. In addition, two individuals were arrested and charged with missing persons.

Recently, another ranch belonging to the United Hearts in Search of Our Treasures collective was discovered, abandoned on a dirt road in Santa Cruz del Astillero, in El Arenal.

Camps in mountainous areas

On April 10, 2017, the Regional Single Force located another clandestine camp used by alleged members of organized crime in the area known as Sierra Alta, in the mountainous area of ​​the Navajas district, in the municipality of Tala. Charred remains, weapons, tactical gear, vehicles, and communication equipment were found there, and a man nicknamed "El Baby" was arrested. It was a makeshift camp made of tarps and branches.

In July of that same year, the State Prosecutor's Office seized five other makeshift training camps known as "schools for hitmen." Nineteen people were arrested there for missing persons.

Alleged Regional Leaders Arrested

Few operations have been carried out in the Valles region by federal authorities. On September 22, 2015, Giovanni C., alias "El Duende," a suspected cartel leader, was arrested in San Antonio Matute, Ameca. Since then, no operations have resulted in the arrest of any of the area's criminal leaders.

José Ángel "M," alias "El F25," was arrested in Tequila in 2022 during a federal force operation.

Numbers

33 detained in camps

7 drug-related school ranches

10 land and property properties seized, operated by criminals

SOURCE: EL OCCIDENTAL