CJNG propaganda knocks at Mexico City’s door again

Four videos in six and a half months, a very long list of names and threats and, above all, ubiquitous warlike paraphernalia: weapons, bulletproof vests, helmets. A branch of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) is running a full-blown propaganda campaign in the south of Mexico City, the State of Mexico, and Morelos, criticizing the tactics of rival criminal groups in short videos. They condemn extortion, accuse others of usurping their brand and announce major “cleanups” of local gangs. Sometimes they single out politicians and local officials; on other occasions they ask that no one be protected. They say they are the ones who will restore order.

The images have drawn attention for the initials on the vests of those featured — CJNG — a name bearing grim resonance in the capital after the June 2020 attack on then-police chief Omar García Harfuch, now Claudia Sheinbaum’s federal security secretary. A long-standing tactic of organized crime groups in Mexico, the footage has also shocked for what it proclaims: the muted announcement of an incursion, a prelude to wars and atrocities the country has seen plenty of over the past 20 years. In the capital, authorities are studying the videos but avoid speaking of alarm.

The four clips — the first released in December and the latest this week — appear to be filmed at the same location: a property among low hills in a rural area. In the second, released March 1, more than 20 figures appear, hooded, wearing balaclavas and caps, all heavily armed. In the others the shots are tighter and not all members can be seen. The staging is similar across the four: one figure, a man, reads from a mobile phone screen; the others remain silent. In the first video, from December 27, a drone is seen flying over the group on the left side.

The images suggest a territorial push by this CJNG branch, first in Morelos — in Huitzilac, Jiutepec and Emiliano Zapata — and later in the south of Mexico City, in the boroughs of Tlalpan, Xochimilco and Tláhuac. In the first two, the visible message and paraphernalia link the group to La Gente del Serio, a CJNG faction allegedly led by Francisco Jaramillo Valdovinos, alias “Serio.” Over the past year that group has released other videos touting its activities in Guerrero. Press reports link Serio to Audias Flores, “El Jardinero,” a second-tier CJNG commander arrested in April in Nayarit, where he had relocated in recent years.

Once powerful, the CJNG now operates amid uncertainty. In February, soldiers killed Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera in an operation in the municipality of Tapalpa, Jalisco. In April, marines arrested El Jardinero, one of the main contenders to succeed him, leaving only Mencho’s stepson, Juan Carlos Valencia, alias “03,” and Gonzalo Mendoza Gaytán, “La Rana,” linked to the criminal group’s forced-recruitment operations in Jalisco, at large among the top leadership. Questions about how deep the criminal group’s crisis goes after these blows dominate the panorama. Its capacity to continue expanding, as in previous years, is in doubt.

That is why authorities are cautious: they have seen similar situations before — propaganda videos from criminal groups announcing their arrival in the capital, a way to flaunt strength in front of rivals. In 2022, for example, a suspected faction of La Familia Michoacana did the same, announcing its presence in another southern borough, Milpa Alta. But current caution requires attention, given the CJNG’s criminal record in the capital, notably the near-fatal attack on García Harfuch. That assault illustrated the group’s reach and how easily it was able to organize an assassination attempt on a high-ranking official without being detected.

As often happens in these cases, La Gente del Serio’s videos stress they have no problem with authorities so long as they do not support the “extortionists.” In the latest clip, released Monday, they declare war on Unión Tepito and the Tláhuac Cartel to “restore order” in Mexico City and the State of Mexico. “We’re going after all the extortionists from Unión Tepito and the Tláhuac Cartel [...] This goes out to all those who are collecting protection money in our name, seizing houses and land like El Yayo and El Macero,” a man reads from his cellphone. Unión Tepito is the capital’s long-established mafia, repeatedly reborn and fed by criminal networks in the downtown area. The Tláhuac Cartel targets small local gangs in the south.

The mention of Macero and Yayo is not new. In the May 28 video, the penultimate clip, a man dressed in black says: “This is a communiqué for Tlalpan and its towns — Parres, Topilejo, San Miguel Xicalco, La Magdalena, San Miguel Ajusco, Santo Tomás Ajusco, San Andrés, San Pedro Mártir, San Salvador Cuautenco, San Mateo Jalpa, San Francisco Tlalnepantla and all of Xochimilco. You are informed that the cleanup has already begun. We’re coming for all the fucking filthy extortionists, starting with you, Chucho Macero, Yayo [...] Stop pretending you’re the company [the CJNG], because you are not. Authorities, the problem is not with you.” A former criminal operating in the capital, Macero has been arrested several times. His current whereabouts are unknown.

The earlier videos, from March and December, target Morelos-based mafias. The March clip mentions Jiutepec and Zapata, in the Cuernavaca metro area. A man reads: “This message is addressed to Jiutepec and Zapata — to merchants, unions, bars, restaurants, towing yards, taxi drivers, routes, grocery stores: stop paying protection money and extortion.” He then accuses Jiutepec’s municipal president, Eder Rodríguez, of protecting extortionists. “Anyone who does not align will be eliminated. Get out before the war with the four letters [CJNG]. We are the same ones from Huitzilac and Temixco. Now present in Jiutepec and Zapata. And we’re going after all of Morelos,” he adds.

The reference to Huitzilac, in northern Morelos, near the capital, ties back to the December video. This time the speaker says: “To all the people of Huitzilac: you are informed that we are already here and present throughout the state. We do not harm third parties. What we want is peace. And all those fucking filthy people who try to defame our initials, who put up fake posters, who killed two of my guys, I will not forgive them. The turf is ours. To the government, we do not get involved with you. We want to cleanse the community, but if you support those people, you know what happens. We’re bringing the full tactical and technological team to track anyone who impersonates us.”

The man names “Purinas, Mancillas, Mundo, Colillo, Cagueros and Panteoneros,” among others. Alejandro Mancilla, Huitzilac’s municipal secretary, was murdered in 2025, as was his son Erick. The Purinas are a local Huitzilac criminal gang, a fact once acknowledged by Admiral José Ortiz Guarneros, former Morelos security secretary during Governor Cuauhtémoc Blanco’s administration (2018-2024).

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