Mexico arrests alleged Jalisco cartel leader 'R2'

Authorities in Mexico have announced the arrest of an alleged leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), one of the country's main criminal groups.

Rafael Alvarez, known as 'R2', was arrested in an operation in the city of Zapopan, in the Guadalajara metropolitan area, on Sunday. Mexico's Navy said the operation was carried out on the basis of intelligence shared by the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

Alvarez is suspected of heading the CJNG's 'Los Rs' cell. Mexico's Security Minister Omar Garcia Harfuch said the cell is mainly linked to extortion, drug trafficking, homicide, illegal deprivation of liberty, kidnapping and attacks against authorities.

Harfuch said the group's extortion victims included business owners and avocado producers.

Alvarez was wounded in a shootout that broke out during the arrest. He is receiving medical care, Harfuch said on X.

There is an outstanding arrest warrant against Alvarez in Mexico for aggravated homicide, and another warrant for his extradition to the United States.

Mexico's National Intelligence Center and other agencies took part in the operation. Nineteen other people were arrested along with Alvarez.

Alvarez is accused of involvement in the killing of at least 19 people. Among them is last year's murder of Carlos Manzo, the popular crime-fighting mayor of Uruapan in the avocado-producing Michoacan state.

The CJNG operates in the states of Jalisco and Michoacan. In 2025, the US government designated the group a 'foreign terrorist organisation'. It is notorious for violent tactics and attacks on authorities.

The group competes with the Sinaloa Cartel over drug trafficking into the United States.

Since the death of CJNG founder Nemesio 'El Mencho' Oseguera in a military operation in February, several of the group's top leaders have been apprehended.

But reports of kidnapping for ransom are still coming from the areas where the cartels are active.

An estimated 134,000 people are believed to be missing across Mexico, with Jalisco recording the highest number of disappearances.