Notorious Jalisco Cartel Eyed in Kidnapping, Killing of 3 Siblings in Mexico
A Mexican Navy soldier stands guard ahead of the official visit of President of Mexico Andrés Manuel López Obrador to La Morita on January 11, 2019 in Bavispe, Mexico. Obrador will meet with Lebaron and Langford families two months after 9 of its members were killed in an ambush near La Mora, an isolated community in the Mexican Northern State of Sonora; 6 children and 3 women died in an attack perpetrated by suspected members of a drug cartel. Photo by Luis Gutierrez/Getty Images

Authorities in a western Mexican state continue to investigate the abduction and killing of three siblings that allegedly involved members of the powerful Jalisco cartel.

Law enforcement in Mexico's Jalisco state said it could have been a case of mistaken identity. According to Associated Press, Jalisco state prosecutor Gerardo Octavio Solis Gomez said Ana Karen Gonzalez, 24; Luis Angel Gonzalez, 32; and Jose Alberto Gonzalez, 29; were kidnapped Friday night.

A group of armed men wearing tactical vests with the Jalisco New Generation Cartel's initials allegedly abducted the siblings from their home at Tlaquepaque in Guadalajara, Jalisco.

Reports said the siblings were forced into a vehicle and driven away. Shortly after the incident, agents from the Jalisco state prosecutor's office were attacked by armed men while escorting an individual.

Jalisco state prosecutor Solis Gomez said the two federal agents and another person survived as they traveled in an armored van. Solis Gomez noted that this escorted person, whom authorities did not identify, lived on the same street as the kidnapped siblings.

On Sunday morning, the bodies of the Gonzalez siblings were found wrapped in bedding and dumped on the side of a road in San Cristóbal de la Barranca town. The Jalisco cartel also left a message with the bodies, which included a warning to the government.

Solis Gomez said authorities are now investigating whether the cartel's members abducted the siblings by mistake. The state prosecutor noted that these organized crime groups have "to act fast, and there is always a chance that they made a mistake."

The abductions came as hundreds of individuals fled villages in Jalisco's northern part to escape turf battles between the Jalisco cartel and the rival Sinaloa Cartel, and hundreds of activists, students, and teachers protested in Guadalajara, wearing white and demanding justice in the killings of the Gonzalez siblings.

Jalisco Cartel Celebrates Mother's Day

Meanwhile, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) delivered Mother's Day gifts to some communities in Mexico. Members of the Jalisco cartel delivered gifts to communities in Guanajuato, Jalisco, and Michoacán on Monday.

The gifts were in the name of their leader Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as "El Mencho," according to Mexico News Daily.

With their faces covered, members of the Jalisco cartel arrived in the said communities with banners that read: "Mr. Mencho and the CJNG wish all mothers a happy day."

They handed out household appliances such as blenders, stoves, microwaves, and irons. The activity was recorded in videos, which were later posted on social media.

Some of the recipients stayed in the area to pose for the camera. Others immediately headed home with their new appliances. A song by the band Los Tucanes de Tijuana, which pays homage to El Mencho, was being played from the drug cartel's vehicles.

Gerardo Rodríguez Sanchez Lara commented on the Jalisco cartel's act. Sanchez Lara is a professor of national security at the University of the Americas, Puebla.

Sanchez Lara said the move was a strategic one rather than charitable, as it shows they want social support to create a social shield. Last December, the Jalisco cartel had shown the same gesture when they handed out toys to people.

Jalisco Cartel's Fight for Power

The Jalisco cartel is considered to be one of the most powerful and notorious drug cartels in Mexico.

In December 2020, the former governor was allegedly murdered by members of the cartel in a bar in Puerto Vallarta. Last June, Garcia Harfuch was attacked by at least 12 hitmen in one of Mexico's busiest areas, according to a Business Insider report.

Released footage showed that the Jalisco cartel has access to .50-caliber Barret sniper rifles and FN SCAR assault rifles, which are normally used by U.S. special forces.

David Saucedo, a Mexico-based journalist and security analyst, provided a glimpse of the hierarchal order of the organization.

Saucedo told InSight Crime that the cartel's structure is absolutely vertical, with "El Mencho" being the brain behind everything.

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