Seven mayors of Puebla have been arrested between March 2025 and September 8, 2026
Seven mayors in the state of Puebla have been arrested between March 2025 and September 8, 2026, accused of crimes ranging from vehicle theft and kidnapping to sexual abuse and money laundering. The arrests are part of Operation Enjambre, coordinated by the federal government’s Secretariat of Security and Citizen Protection (SSPC), and involve municipal presidents from two political forces: four from Movimiento Ciudadano (MC) and three from Morena.
The pattern in the cases is consistent: in all of them, authorities detected links between municipal administrations and organized crime structures operating in the eastern region and the Sierra Norte of Puebla. As a result, the state prosecutor’s office and the SSPC have acted in coordination in each operation.
Isaac Rodríguez Ochoa, mayor of Esperanza, arrested on September 8, 2026
The most recent arrest is that of Isaac Rodríguez Ochoa, municipal president of Esperanza and a Morena member, who was captured in the early hours of September 8, 2026, during Operation Enjambre. The Secretary of Security and Citizen Protection, Omar García Harfuch, reported that the operation included 23 simultaneous search warrants in the municipality and resulted in the arrest of nine people in total.
Rodríguez Ochoa was arrested along with his brother Manuel and Abigail, former director of Public Security in Esperanza. García Harfuch stated that the three allegedly belonged to a gang dedicated to cargo transportation theft, extortion, and kidnapping on the highways connecting Puebla with Veracruz.
During the operation, authorities seized 35 firearms —including two Barrett rifles—, 52 magazines, 11 vehicles —four of them armored and one equipped with homemade armor and a turret—, tactical clothing, a drone, and a signal jammer. The mayor was transferred to Mexico City, as he is also facing investigations into federal crimes.
Said Godos Luna and Juan Pérez Moral: the two previous arrests of 2026
Four days before the arrest of the mayor of Esperanza, on September 4, 2026, Said de Jesús Godos Luna, municipal president of Tepeyahualco, was arrested in San Juan Xiutetelco. The State Attorney General’s Office (FGE) accused him of abuse of authority, failure to fulfill a legal duty, and bribery, although Secretary García Harfuch also linked him to the crimes of express kidnapping and violent vehicle theft. Godos Luna took office under the Movimiento Ciudadano banner.
On August 17, 2026, Juan Pérez Moral, known as El Mantecas, mayor of San Juan Tianguismanalco and a Morena member, was arrested. The FGE executed an arrest warrant against him for rape allegedly committed against a City Council employee, and a judge ordered him to stand trial for that crime.
The state Secretary of Security, Francisco Sánchez González, said at a press conference that when the diagnosis of the state’s criminal map was prepared, authorities detected that officials in several municipalities were linked to the high crime rate recorded in that region, particularly cargo transportation theft on the Puebla-Orizaba highway.
Gerardo Cortés Caballero and the González Vieyra brothers: the 2025 and early 2026 cases
Gerardo Cortés Caballero, mayor on leave of Cuautempan and a Morena member, was captured in Tlaxcala on February 4, 2026, after nine months as a fugitive. Authorities accused him of kidnapping, extortion, organized crime, embezzlement, illicit enrichment, cargo transportation theft, and possession of firearms.
On March 7, 2025, Uruviel González Vieyra, municipal president of Chalchicomula de Sesma, and Giovanni González Vieyra, mayor of Tlachichuca, were arrested simultaneously. Both are brothers and came to power through Movimiento Ciudadano. Uruviel was charged with possession of firearms reserved for the exclusive use of the Army, criminal association, money laundering, and illicit enrichment; Giovanni was charged with receiving stolen goods and, subsequently, abuse of authority.
Their brother Ramiro González Vieyra, mayor of San Nicolás Buenos Aires, managed to evade the March 2025 operation and was arrested on May 29 of that year as he left a judicial hearing. The FGE accused him of drug-related crimes for possession of narcotics and, in a subsequent charge, bribery. All three González Vieyra brothers came to power under the Movimiento Ciudadano banner.
With the seven mayors arrested, the state of Puebla accounts for a significant proportion of municipal presidents in office who were captured in Mexico during the period. The SSPC recorded a total of 85 officials and former officials arrested nationwide as part of Operation Enjambre through May 2026, including seven mayors who were serving at the time of their arrests.
Seven Public Security directors also arrested during the same period
Alongside the arrests of the mayors, the FGE and SSPC arrested the heads of Public Security in the municipalities of Jopala, Tlaola, Tlapacoya, Chietla, Tehuitzingo, and Chila de la Sal. These officials were accused of protecting the operation of clandestine drug laboratories in the Sierra Norte and the Puebla Mixteca region.
The Public Security director of Atlixco, meanwhile, is facing an extortion charge. In all of these cases, investigations point to a systematic penetration of criminal groups into the security forces of municipal governments.
The political responsibility for the arrests is divided between the two forces that govern most of Puebla’s municipalities. Four of the seven arrested mayors took office through Movimiento Ciudadano —the three González Vieyra brothers and Said Godos Luna— while three did so through Morena —Rodríguez Ochoa, Cortés Caballero, and Pérez Moral—.
One unresolved case has also been added to the list of those sought: Alfredo Ramírez Hernández, known as La Yerba, municipal president of Ahuazotepec, has been a fugitive since May 2025 and is being sought by state and federal authorities.
Source: infobae
