The Jalisco New Generation Cartel struck again in Chiapas in the final hours of 2025. At 3:00 a.m. on December 27, a heavily armed group stormed two bars in Villaflores, a town 90 kilometers from the state capital, Tuxtla Gutiérrez, and kidnapped eight men. The masked men wore tactical gear during their assault on La Kábala Sport Bar – Karaoke and Anubis’s Disco Club. They used seven vehicles in this horrific operation.
This Monday, more than 60 hours after the kidnapping of the eight men, the State Attorney General’s Office reported the discovery of six bodies in the community of Santa Julia, in the municipality of Cintalapa, within the area where the cloned military vehicles were found. As a result of the operation on December 29, four people were arrested, and various weapons, ammunition magazines, tactical gear, and vehicles were seized. The bodies have been taken to the morgue to begin the identification process and determine if they are the victims from the bars. Just hours after the mass kidnapping, Sergio Enrique Pereda Tamayo, the businessman and owner of one of the bars, was found dead with a gunshot wound to the leg inside an abandoned pickup truck.
The criminals set fire to both establishments and fled as witnesses looked on in shock at the latest mass abduction in the southern state. The violent raid in downtown Villaflores left three women with burns. They were taken to a hospital for treatment.
The incident ends months of tense calm in the Frailesca region of the state, as this agricultural and livestock-producing area is known. The dispute over territory has brought the CJNG back into the spotlight. According to activists and military reports, the cartel has established a stronghold in central and eastern Chiapas, where it is now engaged in a often silent struggle with the Sinaloa Cartel.
The reappearance of the Jalisco criminal organization has caused concern among the population and even security agencies, as the criminals have marked their vehicles with insignias, numbers, and even military license plates for their criminal activities.
This is how they operated in the early morning of December 27, amidst the confusion of bystanders who witnessed the criminals abducting even bar owners.
The State Attorney General’s Office has indicated that this direct attack is primarily motivated by a dispute over drug sales between two criminal cells operating in the region. Authorities also reported the arrest of seven people who participated directly and indirectly in the kidnapping and arson of the businesses. Prosecutors assert that interrogations and investigations point to the detainees being members of the CJNG (Jalisco New Generation Cartel).
Pressure from the families of the missing has prompted the deployment of an air and ground operation involving the army, the National Guard, and members of the Pakal Immediate Reaction Force.
The attack by organized crime has reignited fear in the towns of central Chiapas. Villaflores has become a place under an unofficial curfew and a hostile atmosphere. Right between Christmas and New Year’s, people have once again barricaded themselves in their homes and have gradually abandoned businesses and social activities, fearing that armed men could reappear at any moment.
The wave of violence has intensified in recent weeks. On December 1, suspected criminals set fire to four vehicles and blocked roads and highways in the municipality. Hours later, state police and ministerial agents engaged in a shootout with criminals in the Cristóbal Obregón ejido, where two civilians were killed and high-caliber weapons were confiscated.
Before Christmas, several banners appeared in different parts of the municipality, allegedly signed by the Sinaloa Cartel. They addressed their rivals with a veiled threat: “Villaflores has an owner.”
The state remains a base of operations for the two most powerful cells of Mexican organized crime, who are fighting for control of drug and migrant trafficking. On December 8, members of the Sinaloa Cartel carried out six attacks in as many communities in the departments of Huehuetenango and San Marcos, Guatemala.
The Guatemalan government reported that the criminals crossed from Chiapas to attack their enemies in the Chiapas and Guatemala Cartel, a faction of the CJNG that emerged in 2023 and has gained ground in the southeast. The Guatemalan army itself has warned of a restructuring of this criminal cell in Central America and its new alliances with other criminal groups.
Source: elpais
