Mexican federal forces arrested Tequila Mayor Diego Rivera Navarro and three officials in Operation Beehive for extortion rackets against alcohol producers, using official threats alongside alleged CJNG cartel violence. Allegedly, the proceeds were diverted personally, with ties to CJNG, including prior questioning over a concert that praised narcos.
Security Minister Omar Garcia Harfuch announced the arrest, linking it to common complaints and a national anti-extortion push. Three other mayors from Mexico State were also detained. Rivera is stuck in pretrial detention amid ongoing probes.
Annoucing the daring arrest, Omar H Garcia Harfuch, the Secretary of Security and Civilian Protection decalred, “Following up on Operation Swarm, during which three municipal presidents from the State of Mexico were detained, and stemming from several citizen complaints, in a coordinated operation by @Defensamx1, @SEMAR_mx, @FGRMexico, @SSPCMexico, and CNI, Diego “N”, the municipal president of Tequila, Jalisco, was detained in Jalisco.”
Adding more context, he stated, “Three additional public servants from the municipal government were also detained: the Director of Public Security, the Director of Cadastre and Property Tax, and the Director of Public Works.”
“These actions are carried out as part of the National Strategy against Extortion and the fight against corruption, as instructed by President @Claudiashein,” the Mexican official concluded, tying this to a broader anti-corruption push.
Other unnamed officials explained, “Tequila city officials would use the city offices to extort businesses under threat of sanctions and bureaucratic shutdowns. Resistance to the extortions was at times met with threats of violence at the hands of cartel gunmen. The funds from those rackets were then funneled out for personal gain.”
Adding another worrying insight, a Mexican journalist claimed, “#Mexico 17 maquiladora entrepreneurs in #Reynosa were extorted by armed men, who demanded 6 million pesos from them. Luis Miguel Iglesias, former official of #Tamaulipas and campaign coordinator for @Claudiashein, is identified as the one who summoned them to the meeting.”
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Reacting to the dramatic arrest, a translated Spansih Langage source stated, “🚨🇲🇽 | NARCO MAYOR: According to the FRG file, the Morena mayor of Tequila, Diego Rivera Navarro, was collecting between 25 and 60 million pesos in extortion money (“piso”) from small merchants and business owners, and he was never arrested because he was under the protection of Morena.”
Responding, a social media user said, “This has existed since the PRI’s times; it’s just that these folks simply applied Robin Hood, except the poor ones are them. This practice exists in tianguis—come to Ecatepec, here they charge $150 pesos per street spot to sell, and there are over 2000 spots per tianguis.”
Following this arrest, Harfuch arrested other members of the network. “With information obtained by the Naval Intelligence Unit @SEMAR_mx, a 4-month investigation was initiated that included analysis of criminal patterns and fixed and mobile surveillance,” he said.
The official added, “Elements…carried out 12 simultaneous searches in the state of Querétaro, where 30 people were detained, among them Diego “N”, alias “El Flaco”, operator of the organization “Los Salazar”, affiliated with the Sinaloa Cartel. Diego “N” coordinated the sale and distribution of drugs in the state capital, as well as arms trafficking, attacks on rival groups, homicides and recruitment activities.”