The criminal organization known in Oaxaca as Commandante Cromo or Los Cromos has suffered several blows from the navy in recent weeks. The last operation, based on the Operation Sable security plan, succeeded in capturing 53 members, including high-level operators, who, as announced, attempted to occupy the area of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec through which the Interoceanic Corridor train passes. universal. Secretary of Security and Civil Protection Omar García Harfucci detailed in a press conference this Wednesday that personnel of the Secretary of the Navy have been preemptively deployed to several areas where there is a record of complaints and where intelligence revealed a high risk of future crimes.
The land connecting the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean, traversed by the Interoceanic Corridor, a rail megaproject initiated by Andres Manuel López Obrador and continued by Claudia Sheinbaum, is an invaluable loot for organized crime. Not only because of the 120 billion pesos of investment promised by the former president and the economic activity the railway will bring, but also because of the surrounding land where the industrial park will be built and employ residents of Veracruz and Oaxaca. Two years ago, hundreds of neighbors reported having their land violently confiscated by speculators and local extortionists with ties to organized crime. Among them is Los Cromos Cells.
The Oaxaca Prosecutor’s Office began reporting on this criminal group last year, and intelligence led to the identification and arrest of RMS, also known as Cromo, or El Baratas. They describe the man as a “priority target as he is considered the originator of violence in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec region” and the leader of the cell. Investigators have linked the detainee to a murder that occurred in the area on February 8, 2024. The victim was at home at the time when a group of people arrived in a vehicle and opened fire. The Prosecutor’s Office successfully charged RMS with crimes against health for sending messages containing threats, murder, and organized criminal activity in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec region.
The group’s second high-profile arrest showed they were also keen on kidnapping and smuggling migrants. When PATV, also known as El Tonche, was captured last May, authorities placed him in command of Los Cromos’ second column. He is accused of kidnapping at gunpoint a group of people, including migrants, who were forced to call their families to demand ransom in October 2024 in Juchitan de Zaragoza. That year, they arrested five more members of the group, including the driver, the hitman, and the leader’s personal bodyguard.
Prosecutors have been stepping up their crackdown on criminal groups since last summer. A series of arrests of members revealed a network of cells denouncing the floor rights of several companies in Juchitán de Zaragoza. When victims refused to pay, the burning of Oxo branches, shootings at taquerias, and posters with drug messages and threats began to appear.
Since Operation Sable was carried out, the Oaxaca Prosecutor’s Office has reported the arrest of more than 65 members of the group, as well as the seizure of several kilograms of marijuana and crystal. These advances, along with the downfall of several members identified as Plaza bosses, ensured that the group’s hierarchy was dismantled.
The coup in recent days has resulted in the arrest of many more members, including fee collectors, extortionists from ranchers, and synthetic drug traffickers. Mr. Halfuch declined to comment on whether the group’s criminal activity posed a threat to the Interoceanic Corridor project, but acknowledged that security and intelligence operations were being carried out to prevent crime in the region. Meanwhile, construction is progressing and is expected to be completed in July.
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