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Mexico’s navy captured Rafael Alvarez, known as “R2,” on Sunday in Zapopan, in the Guadalajara metropolitan area, during an operation guided by intelligence from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
Authorities suspect him of leading a cell in the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), one of the country’s two largest criminal organizations. The Navy identified the cell as “Los Rs.”
“This cell is mainly linked to extortion, drug trafficking, homicide, illegal deprivation of liberty, kidnapping and attacks against authorities,” Mexican Security Minister Omar Garcia Harfuch noted.
He also pointed to “business owners and avocado producers” as targets of the cell’s extortion.
In a post on X, Garcia Harfuch wrote that the suspect suffered injuries in an exchange of gunfire during the raid and is now under medical treatment.
Garcia Harfuch also said Alvarez faces a Mexican warrant for aggravated homicide, along with a separate one seeking his extradition to the U.S.
Other agencies, including Mexico’s National Intelligence Center, joined the raid, and 19 more suspects ended up in custody.
At least 19 killings have been tied to Alvarez, among them the assassination last year of Carlos Manzo, Uruapan’s popular anti-crime mayor in the avocado-rich state of Michoacan.
Active in Jalisco and Michoacan, the CJNG received a “foreign terrorist organization” designation from the U.S. administration in 2025 and has a reputation for brutality and assaults on officials.
The group vies with the Sinaloa Cartel for dominance over drug smuggling into the U.S.
Authorities have detained a number of senior cartel figures since CJNG founder Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera died during a military operation in February.
Even so, ransom kidnappings continue to be reported in regions where cartels operate.
Some 134,000 people remain unaccounted for nationwide, and Jalisco has logged more disappearances than any other Mexican state.
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