Basic food basket and construction through the roof, the emporium of La Familia Michoacana in the State of Mexico

MEXICO CITY ( Proceso ).– The New Michoacan Family, as the U.S. government identifies it, has managed to build an alternative financial empire based on a complex parallel market of inputs, through control of diverse sectors ranging from construction materials to basic products, as Proceso revealed in its 2400th edition.

In October 2022, through various complaints, this media outlet revealed that the criminal group, controlled by brothers Jonnhy el Pez and José Alfredo Hurtado Olascoaga, known as el Fresa, eliminated free competition, set prices, controlled the market, and established quotas in at least 35 southern municipalities: nine in Guerrero and 26 in the State of Mexico.

For now, the Liberation operation has only reached 14 towns in the State of Mexico, with a total population of almost one million inhabitants: Amanalco, Donato Guerra, Ixtapan de la Sal, Ixtlahuaca, Malinalco, San Felipe del Progreso, Sultepec, Tejupilco, Temascaltepec, Tenancingo, Texcaltitlán, Tlatlaya, Valle de Bravo and Villa Victoria.

It also revealed that the operational network also employs the executive branch of unions such as Libertad and Bradosva, specifically assigned to each sector and region, in collusion, complicity, and even the participation of municipal authorities.

Gears

During the operation, Yareli "N," a sitting council member in the Ixtapan de la Sal municipality, was arrested. Judicial authorities ordered her to be held in pretrial detention during the indictment hearing. She is being investigated for her possible involvement in the crime of express kidnapping for extortion.

The complaint against him alleges that in April 2025, he allegedly participated in the deprivation of liberty of a merchant from the municipality, whom he took to a hotel room where he allegedly demanded a sum of money in exchange for allowing him to continue his business activities and, if he refused, "he would harm him or his family."

The State of Mexico prosecutor, José Luis Cervantes, explained that the councilwoman is also a cousin of Alicia "N," another of the detainees, allegedly in charge of accounting and financial operations for construction materials in the area, who allegedly forced customers of the establishments to purchase products at inflated prices and, if they did not comply, threatened them with "being kidnapped or even killed."

She was in charge of persuading clients—the agency stated—and to do so, she housed them in a hotel she managed; to prove her connection to criminal groups, while she persuaded them, she showed them her stables, which housed more than 50 highly registered horses, believed to belong to the criminal group's leaders.

Also arrested was Eli "N," the owner of a materials store in Valle de Bravo, the only one authorized by the criminal group to sell materials in the region. "That is, no one built anything unless the materials were purchased from his company at the price he set."

Gonzalo “N”, alleged leader of the Bradosva Union, “the only person authorized to “move” the materials, is being investigated for the crime of aggravated extortion, since when an individual or independent construction company tried to transport construction materials in vehicles not belonging to the union, he demanded large sums of money from the drivers and those responsible in exchange for not “burning or throwing away” his work, and even went so far as to deprive them of their freedom.”

Jorge "N," Alicia "N's" partner, was the head of lumberyards in the municipality of Valle de Bravo; "not a single log or plank could be rented or sold without being marketed by him, including fine woods for the interiors of cabins and farms in the region."

Another of those arrested, José Fernando "N," is identified as the person in charge of coordinating the sale of timber products in the Ixtapan de la Sal region and the logistics of public taxi operators. For this reason, during the operation, taxi drivers in the region blocked the municipality's roads as a means of putting pressure on authorities.

Likewise, Antonio "N," allegedly in charge of the distribution and sale of meat in the municipalities of Almoloya de Alquisiras, Sultepec, and Texcaltitlán, was arrested.

Finally, Alejandro "N" was captured on July 22 in Quintana Roo; he is identified as being in charge of selling chicken to merchants in Ixtapan de la Sal.

In the parallel raid, authorities seized 63 properties: 24 material stores, six mines, three butcher shops, three chicken farms, two steel and profile stores, two lumberyards, two union offices, two glass shops, a pig farm, a package store, a slaughterhouse, a ranch, a hotel, an egg store, a bean, flower, and fish food store, and a weighing scale.

Overpricing

Cervantes Martínez indicated that Operation Liberation "investigates the coercion exerted by criminal groups or individuals through economic entities, by setting abusive quotas or prices and forcing them to buy, sell, or acquire goods, supplies, or services at predetermined locations under an extortionate scheme."

With this modus operandi, which began to emerge around eight years ago following the first formal extortion complaints, it was found that "criminal organizations subject individuals and sometimes entire communities to a market-based system marked by abuse and threats, and which focuses on very specific aspects of the region's economic activity."

The common denominator is the excessive price increases on products that residents cannot purchase in direct establishments because they are monopolized by the criminal group.

The State of Mexico Prosecutor's Office compared the cost of some products in the municipalities inspected and compared them with those established in Toluca, the capital of the State of Mexico. In the case of construction materials, it found that overpricing reached 144.15% per kilo of wire rod in Valle de Bravo. Twisted wire and blocks of blocks exceeded the average price of 100% in the 14 municipalities, while the rest of the materials were also overpriced.

Glass, aluminum, and steel were controlled under the same scheme: doors, windows, gates, tubular frames, sheets, door frame profiles, and electrode boxes cost up to 80% more than on the market.

This alternative tax also affects the basic food basket. Chicken, in general, costs up to 140% more, as in Sultepec, and even the leftovers become a luxury item, reaching 118 pesos in Ixtapan de la Sal (a 375% premium), while in Toluca it costs 25.

Ministry authorities also detected overpricing for beef and pork, ranging from 5.13% per kilo of beef in Texcaltitlán to 47.06% per kilo of ribs in Sultepec.

Operational framework

The Attorney General's Office investigations suggest that, in order to control the construction sector, the criminal organization dissolved the transport organizations operating in the region and formed organizations such as the "Sindicato Libertad" and the "Sindicato Bradosva," responsible for selling materials in the municipalities of Villa de Allende, Donato Guerra, Valle de Bravo, and Texcaltitlán, among others.

On the day of Operation Liberation, both mobilized their truck drivers to close the roads in the area as a means of exerting pressure to regain the freedom of the detainees, as well as the seized properties and merchandise.

Through these organizations, the criminal structure forced the population to purchase products, controlling the prices and transportation of gravel, sand, rebar, cement, mortar, plaster, and other products used in construction.

In Valle de Bravo, merchants were forced to purchase materials through the Bradosva Union and the materials suppliers "Jimex," owned by Eli "N," "Construrama," and "Aceros Arriaga."

Jimex allegedly extracts materials from the San Francisco mine in the community of San Francisco Oxtotilpan, located in the municipality of Temascaltepec. Those who purchased materials from unauthorized locations or used other transportation services were robbed of their merchandise, and the drivers of the trucks were beaten.

The Attorney General's Office's investigations revealed that this organization also operated in Texcaltitlán through the distributor "Tixca," where construction products shipped from Valle de Bravo were sold.

The Libertad Union, for its part, operated in the municipalities of Villa de Allende and Donato Guerra. Those who wanted to purchase materials had to go to their offices, where they were given a voucher that could be exchanged at authorized locations. The materials were transported from the San Juan, Michoacana, Nieto, and Velázquez mines located in the municipality of Donato Guerra.

In Ixtapan de la Sal, the Prosecutor's Office found that this scheme operated through the "Ávila" and "Omega" materials stores, owned by Eli "N," who provided transportation vehicles and storage facilities for the suspects Libertad and Bradosva. According to the agency, the "El Boulevard" materials store, "Grupo Vulcano," "Aceros Omega," "Vidriería Liverpool," and the "Santa María" lumberyard were also part of the scheme.

In Malinalco, the scheme allegedly operated through a "Construrama" warehouse, a "Malinalco" warehouse, and a "Ferremateriales La Coyota" warehouse. In Tenancingo, it operated through the "Lobo" materials store.

The agency indicated that Yareli, Alicia, Jorge, and José Fernando were in charge of inviting merchants from Ixtapan de la Sal, Tonatico, and surrounding municipalities to stay at a well-known hotel in the area, where they spoke to them about "the importance of being aligned" with the criminal group. If they did not obey, they were deprived of their liberty by groups of people carrying firearms.

In Temascaltepec and Tejupilco, the “Casa Villa” and “Construrama” stores were seized, although the company that managed the latter franchise decided to eliminate that chain of stores in the municipalities under surveillance by Operation Liberation, so the establishments that still bear its name do so apocryphally.

This extortion scheme was also detected in municipalities in the north of the state, such as San Felipe del Progreso, through “Materiales Santa Cruz,” “Grupo Ferretero Macoll,” “Casa el Cerro,” “Grupo Coloso,” and “Materiales Torrefuerte”; Villa Victoria, with the “Franco Ordoñez” materials stores; and “Mac” in Ixtlahuaca.

Other businesses seized include the "Don Celes" butcher shop in Texcaltitlán, where Antonio "N" allegedly used a scale on Tuesdays to weigh cattle sold at a market and charged customers a fee of five pesos per kilogram. The same applies to a pig farm in Temascaltepec and a butcher shop in Sultepec.

The investigations led to the establishment that in Tejupilco, the criminal group forced the closure of the municipal slaughterhouse and a few meters away, in the "Lodo Prieto" area, established another one, without permits, where it charged high fees for the slaughter of animals and the resale of meat.

The criminal group even established a package distribution center in the municipality of Tejupilco, which monopolized the arrival of any packages from Mercado Libre, Estafeta, or FedEx to the surrounding municipalities; these were inspected, stamped, delivered for an extra charge, or simply stolen.

During the police operation, 18 exotic animals, 52 horses, and 128 vehicles were also seized and will be investigated. Cattle, meat, fodder, cement, rebar, etc. were also seized, and will be distributed to residents by the State of Mexico Welfare Secretariat through a program it determines.