UIF identifies 55 people in the CJNG financial network

Analysis results

The Ministry of Health reported that tests carried out on lettuce and water samples from the Taylor Farms Mexico plant were negative for the parasite Cyclospora cayetanensis —which causes severe diarrhea— and also for fecal coliforms. The analyses, carried out by Cofepris, confirmed that the product complies with the physicochemical parameters established in national standards.

Traceability and false positive

Taylor Farms has a traceability system that allowed United States authorities to identify the origin of the product and track a batch held at customs in Laredo, Texas. That batch never entered US territory.

The sample obtained from that batch returned a false positive, a situation that the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recognized in an update published on July 19. The Ministry of Health emphasized that the product is suitable for human consumption.

The United States Department of the Treasury identified Florencia de Benito Juárez, Zacatecas, as one of the key points of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) to manufacture fentanyl, cocaine and methamphetamine.

According to the agency, José Octaviano García Martínez is the current head of the plaza in the area, accompanied by Cuauhtémoc Rivera Zepeda and Uriel Hernández Morales. These last two would be in charge of the clandestine laboratories in Zacatecas and Jalisco. All three report to Audias Flores Silva—alias El Jardinero—, designated as successor to the late leader Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, El Mencho.

Criminal presence in a small municipality

Florencia de Benito Juárez barely covers 328 square kilometers in the south of the state, in the Sierra Madre Occidental, adjacent to Jalisco. Despite its size, the municipality has been the scene of organized crime operations.

In March 2025, authorities dismantled a camp used by a criminal cell. Months later, in June, they destroyed a greenhouse used for growing marijuana. Both operations sought to neutralize illegal infrastructure.

The municipal president elected in 2024 is Fortino Cortés Ramírez, who will conclude his term in 2027.

Recent violence and federal response

On Saturday, July 18, 2025, 10 bodies were found in the municipalities of Morelos, Pánuco and Sain Alto. Of the victims, six were construction, mining and entertainment businessmen. Two others were officials of the Fresnillo city council: Fidel Alvarado de la Torre, secretary of Municipal Social Development, and firefighter Jesús Gerardo Muñetón Hernández.

Given these events, the Secretariat of National Defense deployed 100 Special Forces elements on July 22. They joined the 400 Army and National Guard troops who had already been operating since July 19. They carry out ground reconnaissance and deterrent actions in Zacatecas, Guadalupe and Fresnillo.

The conflict in the region is not new. On May 20, 2011, a clash between rival groups—known as The Florence War—left 77 people dead. The journalist Alfredo Valadez Rodríguez documented this episode in the book of the same name, published by Ediciones Proceso in 2021.

The president of the Board of Directors of the Chamber of Deputies, Kenia López Rabadán (PAN), questioned the decision of the National Electoral Institute (INE) to remove the debate on the regulation of early campaigns from its agenda. He considered that the authority must act independently to stop these acts, especially those initiated by Morena in its internal process of selecting candidates for governors for 2027.

“The electoral authority must make an objective, clear and evident analysis, and without any type of subordination to anything. Hopefully the electoral authority can soon make a clear definition so that there are no anticipated campaign events,” he declared at a press conference.

López Rabadán warned that processes initiated outside the electoral calendar, even if they intend to be integrated later, are illegal and must be sanctioned. He insisted that pre-campaigns without legal basis generate bad practice for the country.

Position on Councilor Montaño’s project

The legislator also rejected the project of “General Guidelines to regulate and supervise the processes, acts, activities and propaganda carried out in political processes” promoted by counselor Jorge Montaño. He pointed out that any modification to the law should have been made 90 days before the start of the electoral process, and not now.

“If they want to modify the law, they had up to 90 days before the electoral process began to modify the electoral rules. If we get used to the law being violated and no one saying anything, it will be terrible for the country,” he stated.

The PAN member’s call comes amid Morena’s progress in defining its candidates for 2027, which has raised alerts about possible early acts of proselytism. The INE, for its part, has not issued an official position after removing the issue from the agenda.