An investigation into an alleged cartel training ground and killing field in western Mexico has led authorities to uncover how one of the world’s most violent cartels used TikTok to recruit its gunmen.
This week, Mexico’s Public Security Secretary Omar Garcia Harfuch revealed details about the March 20 arrest of Jose Gregorio “Comandante Lastra” Lastra Hermida, one of the lead recruiters for Cartel Jalisco New Generation. Lastra was directly under Gonzalo “El 90 or El Sapo” Mendoza Gaytan, the regional leader for CJNG in the states of Jalisco, Nayarit, and Zacatecas.
According to Harfuch, Lastra and his associates used more than 39 TikTok accounts to reach out to hundreds of individuals and lure them with false job offers. The group offered the candidates between 4,000 and 12,000 pesos per week.
Mexican authorities arrested Jose Gregorio Lastra, a leader with CJNG who was in charge of recruiting and training for the organization. (Credit SSPC de Mexico)
Those who accepted the offers were then asked to meet at bus stations, from where CJNG gunmen would take them to Rancho Izaguirre. Once there, the individuals had their phones taken and were provided with tactical gear and clothing for a month-long training session as CJNG gunmen. After the training, the gunmen were sent to various parts of Mexico to bolster the organization’s ranks.
As Breitbart Texas reported, Rancho Izaguirre has sparked international outrage after activists reported discovering hundreds of shoes and other personal items from the property, which was reportedly used as a cartel killing field, incineration site, and mass grave.
As part of the ongoing investigations into Rancho Izaguirre, authorities reported the arrest of Comandante Lastra and 48 others tied to CJNG recruiting and training operations. According to Harfuch, Lastra was the head of recruiting and training from May 2024 until this month’s arrest.
Editor’s Note: Breitbart News Foundation traveled to Mexico City and the states of Tamaulipas, Coahuila, and Nuevo León to recruit citizen journalists willing to risk their lives and expose the cartels silencing their communities. The writers would face certain death at the hands of the various cartels that operate in those areas, including the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas, if a pseudonym were not used. Breitbart News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles are published in both English and their original Spanish. This article was written by “L.P. Contreras” from Mexico City.
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