12 August 2025

US-Mexico border security report, June 2025

Analysis

Unknown OCG presence

In June the news outlets AFN Tijuana and Zeta Tijuana reported on four different incidents involving narco messages in the municipalities of Ensenada, San Quintín, and Tijuana. The messages were all signed with phrases such as:

‘La limpieza empezó’, or the cleanse began
‘La nueva era’, or the new era
‘Nueva administración’, or new administration
‘Llegó la limpia’, or the cleanse arrived.

It was unclear in open sources whether these messages were written by the same organisation or whether a new organised crime group (OCG) has entered these municipalities intending to compete with existing OCGs.

Tecate municipality

Cártel de los Arellano Félix (CAF): On 16 June, the local online newspaper Zeta Tijuana reported that an unnamed OCG had ambushed Secretariat of National Defence (Secretaría de la Defensa Nacional: SEDENA) personnel during a rural surveillance patrol in La Rumorosa town, wounding two soldiers.

CAF: On 26 June, the local news outlet AFN Tijuana reported the display of a narco banner in front of the municipal palace, signed by the CAF. The content of the narco banner was not available from open sources.

Ensenada municipality

Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG): On 5 June, Zeta Tijuana and AFN Tijuana reported that security forces clashed with two unnamed OCGs in the Hidalgo neighbourhood that day, resulting in three deaths and wounding of one. However, no further details were provided. Security forces discovered a CJNG message at the scene. The content of the narco banner was not available in open sources.

CJNG: On 24 June, Zeta Tijuana reported the display of a narco banner signed by the CJNG that threatened members of the State Preventive Police (Policía Estatal Preventiva: PEP), and denied the CJNG’s involvement in fentanyl trafficking, accusing PEP officers of planting fentanyl on arrestees.

Mexicali municipality

On 5 June, Zeta Tijuana reported an armed clash between an unnamed OCG and officers of the State Force for Citizen Security (Fuerza Estatal de Seguridad Ciudadana: FESC) in Valle de Mexicali. There were no reported casualties.

Tijuana municipality

CAF: On 20 June, Zeta Tijuana and the news outlet Infobae reported the display of two narco banners. Both banners were signed by ‘El Ingeniero’, who, according to the two outlets, is the nephew of Enedina Arellano Félix, co-founder of the CAF.

Chihuahua

Guachochi municipality

News outlets Entrelíneas and Infobae reported that a clash between rival OCGs took place in the municipal seat on 5 June. Following the clash, security forces seized weapons, explosives, and tactical vests.

On 5 June, El Diario MX reported that footage had circulated on social media suggesting the presence of the Cártel de Sinaloa-Mayo Zambada (CDS-MZ)-Los Cabrera OCG in Guachochi. Janes has not verified the footage and is unable to confirm whether it was recorded in June in Guachochi. In May Janes reported that, according to open sources, the municipality of Guachochi had been the site of a dispute between the OCGs Los Palapas, allied to the CDS-Los Salgueiro, and the Los Reyes since at least 2023. Since at least July 2024, the Los Cheyennes cell has been making incursions into the territory.

Ciudad Juárez

On 13 June 2025, Infobae reported that members of an unknown OCG had hung two bodies from a bridge over the Panamericana highway and left a message in a parked vehicle below. The content of the message has not been made public. The OCGs active in Ciudad Juárez and identified by Janes are the CDS-Gente Nueva and Nuevo Cártel de Juárez (NCDJ)-La Línea. It is also very likely that the CDS-MZ-Los Cabrera is present in Ciudad Juárez after the arrest of one of its lieutenants, Juan Carlos N, in Valle de Juárez on 28 May 2025.

Moris municipality

On 22 June, the online newspaper El Sol de Parral reported that a clash had taken place that day between members of an unnamed OCG and army personnel in Moris, with no reported casualties. On 27 June, the news outlet La Opción reported another clash, after which the authorities seized seven temporary camps, 40 kg of ammonium nitrate, detonating cords, and 24 emulsions for explosives. On 30 June, the newspaper La Jornada reported the forced displacement of at least 10 indigenous families in Moris and Uruachi, which occurred following repeated clashes between the OCGs Los Salazar and La Línea from 15 to 30 June. According to the displaced families, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) laden with explosives were used during the clashes in this period.

Madera municipality

On 24 June, El Diario MX reported that Madera’s deputy municipal security chief had been critically wounded in a small-arms attack while on patrol. No further details about the incident were provided.

Guadalupe y Calvo municipality

On 4 June, El Diario MX reported that members of the OCG NCDJ-La Línea were extorting local residents in the El Muertecito area and seeking to displace the CDS-Los Salgueiro.

An ongoing territorial dispute between the NCDJ-La Línea and CDS-Los Salgueiro in Guadalupe y Calvo has triggered waves of violence since July 2023. The region known as the ‘Golden Triangle’, linking the states of Chihuahua, Durango, and Sinaloa, had been controlled by the CDS-Los Salgueiro until July 2023, when the NCDJ-La Línea began disputing the territory. The region’s geography, particularly in Guadalupe y Calvo, is important to drug traffickers as it enables the easy concealment of opium poppy and cannabis cultivation areas, as well as clandestine airstrips used to transport drugs in and out of the country. Since 2023, it has also enabled the concealment of clandestine laboratories producing fentanyl pills. The high mountain range makes it difficult for security forces to patrol the area.