The meeting is at a McDonald’s or a Burger King. There, a taxi driver drops off the young men who have found a new job. A couple waiting for them pays for their ride, and willingly or not, their foray into the world of crime begins. They are the newest recruits of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG).
The modus operandi is practically the same: very attractive job offers, easy entry, and good salaries. The only requirement is to arrive at a fast-food establishment in Guadalajara and its surrounding areas.
It should be noted that these fast-food establishments are not part of the criminal network. They are merely used as a meeting point for unsuspecting individuals to be tricked into joining the criminal ranks.
What is the modus operandi?
“They meet them at a Burger King establishment, they give them notice, they send them an Uber, and that’s how they pick up the people… Exactly, there are many Burger Kings (sic), most of them in Jalisco, or McDonald’s, that’s where they meet people and that’s how they disappear from that place,” Raúl Servín, a member of the Guerreros Buscadores collective of Jalisco, explained to MILENIO.
Those interested in the jobs they offer, whether or not they knew what they were going to do, were previously mainly met at the Guadalajara Bus Station or another location in the metropolitan area.
Organized crime has been operating this way for months, even years.
But with the appearance of Rancho Izaguirre, their modus operandi was exposed, and now they’ve sought out other locations with constant traffic so as not to arouse any suspicion. And that’s how they ended up targeting the famous hamburger franchises.
“Everything with promises of work is how they get them into the networks, but ultimately it’s to get them into crime,” Servín added.
Recruiting machín: this is how they convince them
MILENIO had access to a conversation between a person looking for a relative and an acquaintance who is a member of the CJNG.
In the chat, held via Facebook Messenger, the criminal explains via voice messages the modus operandi of what he calls The Company. He promises to ask if the person they are looking for is among the new recruits.
He even reveals that in the training (which he calls The Righteousness), the new members are kept incommunicado, but assures them that they are not harmed and are only taught how to shoot, and then they are sent to Michoacán or Jalisco, depending on the cartel’s needs:
—”Haven’t you heard anything from my friend?”
—”Don’t you think he’s gone to work for the company (…) Let me ask.”
And directly regarding “the buddy,” he replies: “No, not yet.”
And he adds via voicemail:
“Pretend that at that McDonald’s, they summon them to work for the company, you understand, that’s why I’m telling you, to see if in any case they sent him to work for the company, let me ask, I’m going to ask, let me wait a few days for the right ones to go up to the hill.”
“Do you have anyone to ask?”
“I really hope so. Yes, here at the company.”
“We just want him to communicate. We want to know that he’s okay.”
“Pretend that when they send them to the right, the right one lasts almost a month, yes, and you have no communication with your family, nothing, absolutely nothing,” the interviewee explains.
“If he went to work, there’s no problem. We’re not going to do anything. Not even sue, not anything.”
—”No, don’t worry about it. I hope he did get a job because at that McDonald’s on Revolución, they’ll call them to hire them.”
—”Because look, if that’s the case, we as a family wouldn’t know anything. If not…believe me, we wouldn’t have been looking for him.”
Young people don’t tell their families
“There are many situations like this… you know what I mean, they don’t tell the families, and then they report that I’m already here working, and what the hell… I’m here looking for you, I hope that’s the case, really, I hope the guy is okay and has gotten a job at the company. Let me investigate this side of the company anyway.”
—“New ones arrived yesterday, and in fact, I noticed yesterday, and no, I mean, no, they got out from the right side.”
—“Oh no, how stressful. Oh, okay. I didn’t know that.”
—“So you know my cousin?”
—“Yes, I know him. The guy drove around in a white truck and he doesn’t mess with anyone, I know him like crazy.”
—“I think they’re taking them to different places, right?”
—“No, no, they all come here to Michoacán, it’s the same old story, they all get sent here. And like I told you, they call them at that McDonald’s. I don’t know what messages he had with that slut, don’t they know or something?”
—“Oh, okay, well, I hope so. I mean, not because I like that he’s working. But so I don’t have to deal with the uncertainty anymore.”
—”No, I know, I know, so as not to get carried away with the fucking thing, no, I hope so, and yes, anyway, he wasn’t doing anything wrong, so if you say he’s screwing up, well, no, the bastard doesn’t need to, I know him like I told you.”
—”That kid is another jerk (sic), he’s never given us any problems like that.”
“I know the guy (sic), he’s really calm, he does chatter and everything, but he doesn’t get into trouble (sic).”
—”Exactly, because he already knows how things are, he’s more mature. We haven’t heard from him since Saturday.”
—”And his phone doesn’t ring or anything, absolutely nothing, or what’s up?”
—”We only know that a woman and a man picked him up at that McDonald’s. That the woman got out to pay for the Uber. As I said, we haven’t moved anything with the prosecutor’s office.”
—“Ahh, so he did start working, he did start working.”
—“Because we already know how things are. But we do want to know how he is.”
—“How do you know that? Did you see messages or something? So he did start working, that’s how they work it, my girl (sic), so he did start working. He came in for, like, a month, 20 days, 15 days.”
—“Just pass the right hand and from there they send them to the hills, and from there they contact the family, you know.”
—“Oh no, and while I’m with the bitch, there’s uncertainty.”
“Yes, yes, because that’s how they work it, I mean, the Uber arrives and they get out, pay for it, and then they pick her up, well, you know what I mean, the kid, and then they take the kid and from there they send him to the hills. I’m telling you, because I know how things are going more than anything, but that’s already a good sign. What you’re telling me is fine, because the guy (sic), he’s just going to be on the right side, on the right side they’re just going to teach him how to shoot and all that, I don’t know what the fuck he’s doing if he doesn’t need to.”
—”Well, like you say, I hope so. But he has to have the balls to do things.”
—”And because that’s what balls are for. If not, as soon as he fucks, he’ll be screwed.”
“Well, yes, I’m 23 years old, you think, and I got involved when I was 14, 15, and then I dropped out and got involved again, and well, look at me… No, they don’t screw him (sic), they don’t screw him, it’s not like it used to be, they don’t apply it anymore.”
—”Oh, of course! Where do you know him from?”
“Right there, from Lomas…”
—“Oh, okay. Well, if you investigate anything, please let me know.”
—“The truth is, his mom’s in really bad shape. The poor thing doesn’t even know what.”
—“More than anything, tell him what I’m telling you, because that’s how it is… the company, you know what I mean. They arrive in Uber, they meet them at a certain place at McDonald’s, the Uber arrives, they pay, and then we go (sic), they take him to work, you know, they do that practically because they see the fun or whatever.”
—“Well, yeah, like training. A month without communication or anything. Well, let me tell him, let’s see what he does.”
—“Yeah, well, tell him, tell him. Later, the guy will send you pictures like that… Yeah, that’s how they do it, they send them right away, and even more so because right now they’re recruiting a bunch of people because they need people for the hills.”
Search Groups on Alert
In the working groups they’ve held with the Ministry of the Interior (Segob), search groups have requested attention be paid to job postings on social media, especially those aimed at young people.
They asserted that, through these platforms, organized crime has found one of the most efficient ways to recruit young people and add them to their ranks.
“Another point we requested was help with job platforms for young people who are looking for work and are kidnapped in this way, how they can take down those platforms,” said Berencie Miramontes of Guerreros Buscadores upon leaving a working group meeting with the Ministry of the Interior (Segob).
Meanwhile, the University of Guadalajara warned last May of an upsurge in disappearances of young people between the ages of 15 and 19, which, it said, could be related to forced recruitment by organized crime.
Between January and April, 616 people were reported missing.
Although the figure did not vary significantly compared to the same period in 2024, there was a shift in the age group with the most disappearances, which went from 25 to 29 years old to 15 to 19 years old, with 102 and 122 reports, respectively.
According to the university committee, the number of disappearances of people between the ages of 15 and 19 has varied alarmingly in recent years. In 2023, the average was 9.8; by 2024, it rose to 11.8, and in 2025, it reached 25.3.
Although the causes of disappearances are varied, the committee believes the increase is likely due to forced recruitment into criminal groups, as the incidence increased starting last summer and has remained high ever since.
The municipalities with the most reports during that period were:
Zapopan (21).
Guadalajara (21).
Tlajomulco (13).
Tlaquepaque (13).
El Salto (8).
Ixtlahuacán de los Membrillos (6).
Moreno Lakes.
Ocotlán (4).
Encarnación de Díaz (3).
Puerto Vallarta (3).
Tala (2).
Other municipalities (16).
Source: milenio
