Convoys from the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) have entered communities in the municipality of Santa María Chimalapa, Oaxaca, where residents report direct threats, displacement, and the suspension of basic services, warned the National Committee for the Defense of the Chimalapas region.
The alert is focused on Chocomanatlán (formerly José López Portillo) and Nuevo San Andrés, where families fled to the hills and mountains after the arrival of armed groups who, according to testimonies, intend to seize control of the territory.
“They’ve arrived, they’ve arrived,” residents reported in WhatsApp audio messages.
The Committee’s coordinator, Miguel Ángel García, told REFORMA that the area had remained outside of drug trafficking routes, but is now facing a violent eruption due to criminal disputes spreading from Chiapas.
Agrarian and local authorities urgently requested, in writing, the presence of federal forces to protect approximately 700 residents, given the imminent risk of armed attacks, forced displacement, and murders.
The request is exclusively federal, due to distrust of state authorities in Oaxaca and Chiapas, García said.
The crisis worsened after the arrest of the Mayor of Cintalapa, Ernesto Cruz.
Following that event, the coordinator commented, criminal groups retreated to the Chimalapa-Jiquipilas region.
“The underlying issue is a struggle between two cartels. One dominates on the Chiapas side, and on this side, in the Jiquipilas-Chimalapa area, the other, the one with the four letters (CJNG), has established itself through a figure they haven’t been able to capture,” he stated.
This advance was consolidated with the recruitment of lookouts and hitmen in communities like Nuevo San Juan and Río Frío, from where the violence spread south to Chocomanatlán.
“The night before last, they tried to get there to kill them; there were four trucks loaded with hitmen. The attack was aborted due to a misunderstanding among themselves,” he recounted.
He indicated that the incident led to the suspension of classes and IMSS Bienestar services.
“People are sleeping in the mountains to survive,” García summarized.
Given the arrival of the CJNG and the escalation of violence, the Committee demanded immediate and permanent federal intervention.
“We don’t want military patrols that come and go; that only stirs up trouble. We demand a permanent military camp in Chocomanatlán,” he emphasized, specifying that Nuevo San Andrés is also severely threatened.
“It has to be the federal force; both states are involved, and people no longer feel safe,” he warned.
“What we are asking for is to prevent bloodshed. If they don’t act now, a massacre is a real possibility.”
The communities are located in the eastern part of the Chimalapas region, bordering the northwest of Cintalapa, Chiapas, an environmentally and territorially strategic corridor for drug trafficking.
Local sources identified Juan Manuel Valdovinos Mendoza, known as “The Lord of the Horses,” as being behind the incursion into the Chimalapas region. Authorities and community sources have identified him as a high-profile criminal operative with the capacity to move armed men, resources, and local networks in the area between Chiapas and Oaxaca.
His nickname stems from his control and use of ranches, stables, and rural routes, which for years allowed him to conceal illicit activities under the guise of agricultural businesses.
In the region, he is seen as a facilitator of violence, rather than a direct perpetrator, with ties that reach municipal structures and local protection networks.
For years, Valdovinos Mendoza operated along the Cintalapa-Jiquipilas-Quiquipilas axis in western Chiapas, a strategic area due to its mountainous terrain, narrow roads, and limited communication, historically used as a retreat corridor and refuge for criminals, according to official records.
Testimonies gathered in the region indicate that after breaking with the Sinaloa Cartel, he aligned himself with the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, which was seeking to expand into the Isthmus and eastern Chimalapas.
From there, he allegedly orchestrated the advance of lookouts and hitmen into communal communities in Oaxaca, taking advantage of land disputes and the weak state presence.
His record includes accusations of forced recruitment, territorial control, protection of illegal activities, and the use of communities as buffer zones against federal operations.
In October 2024, authorities attempted to capture him in a failed operation, which reinforced his profile as a high-priority target who has not yet been apprehended.
Since then, he has been identified as one of the main figures responsible for the CJNG’s incursion into the Chimalapa Region, using communities such as Nuevo San Juan, Río Frío, and the corridor toward Chocomanatlán to extend territorial control and secure escape routes, sources warned.
Source: reforma
