The criminal cell known in Oaxaca as Comandante Cromo or Los Cromos has received several hits from the Navy in recent weeks. The latter, as part of the Operation Sable security plan, managed to capture 53 of its members, including high-level operators who were trying to seize the area through which the train of the Interoceanic Corridor of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec will pass, as published The Universal. The Secretary of Security and Citizen Protection, Omar García Harfuch, explained in a press conference on Wednesday that agents from the Secretariat of the Navy have been deployed in advance in several areas where complaints have been registered and where intelligence work has detected a greater risk of future crimes.
The lands that connect the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean through which the Interoceanic Corridor will pass, the mega railway project started by Andrés Manuel López Obrador and carried out by Claudia Sheinbaum, are very precious loot for organized crime. Not only for the investment of 120,000 million pesos promised by the former president and for the economic activity that the train will bring, but also for the surrounding land on which industrial parks will be built and where the inhabitants of Veracruz and Oaxaca will be employed. Two years ago, hundreds of neighbors reported being violently expropriated from their land by speculators linked to organized crime and local extortionists. Among these is the Los Cromos cell.
The Oaxaca Prosecutor’s Office began reporting this criminal group last year, when intelligence work led to the identification and capture of RMS, alias Cromo or El Balatas, a man who is described as a “priority target as he is considered a generator of violence in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec region” and leader of the cell. Investigators linked the detainee to a murder that occurred on February 8, 2024 in the area, when the victim was at home and was approached by a group of people who arrived in a vehicle and opened fire. The Prosecutor’s Office managed to have RMS charged with crimes against health, for sending messages with threats, murders and organized crime activities in the Isthmus region of Tehuantepec.
The second high-profile arrest of a member of the group showed that they also engage in the kidnapping and smuggling of migrants. When PATV, alias El Tonche, was captured last May, authorities placed him in Los Cromos’ second line of command. He was accused of kidnapping at gunpoint in October 2024 in Juchitán de Zaragoza a group of people, including migrants, who were forced to call their families to ask for ransom. That year they also captured five other members of the group, including drivers, hitmen and personal escorts of the leaders.
Since last summer the Prosecutor’s Office has tightened its grip on the criminal group. The arrests of members followed one another and revealed the network of the cell that collects floor fees in various businesses in Juchitán de Zaragoza. If their victims refused to pay, the burning of Oxxo branches, murders in taquerias and the appearance of posters with messages and threats about drug trafficking began.
Since Operation Sable was undertaken, the Oaxaca Prosecutor’s Office has reported several seizures of kilos of marijuana and crystal, as well as the capture of over 65 members of the group. This progress and the fall of numerous members identified as street leaders allowed them to ensure the dismantling of the group’s hierarchy.
The coup in recent days has led to the arrest of other members, including money collectors, extortionists of farmers and traffickers of synthetic drugs. Harfuch declined to comment on whether the group’s criminal activity poses a threat to the Interoceanic Corridor project, but confirmed that security and intelligence operations have been carried out to prevent crimes in the area. In the meantime, work continues to progress and should be completed in July.
