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30 August 2025

Veracruz Police Under Investigation As US Targets El Chapos Son

Federal probes into police corruption and cartel ties in Veracruz intensify as US authorities offer a $10 million reward for the capture of Iván Guzmán, spotlighting a new era in Mexicos drug war.

In the sweltering heat of August 2025, the Mexican state of Veracruz found itself at the epicenter of a storm—one not of nature, but of violence, corruption, and criminal intrigue. Federal authorities, intelligence agencies, and military units have launched sweeping investigations into at least ten municipalities in northern Veracruz, probing the alleged ties between local police chiefs, public officials, and some of the country’s most notorious criminal groups. As reported by Milenio and El País, the roots of this latest crisis run deep, intertwining local governance with the shadowy world of organized crime.

The catalyst for this surge in scrutiny came in early August, when authorities discovered the human remains of at least six individuals scattered along the Poza Rica-Cazones highway. The gruesome find was more than just a chilling reminder of the region’s volatility; it was a signal flare, alerting the nation to the scale of criminal infiltration in Veracruz. According to Latin Times, this discovery set off a chain reaction, with federal investigators descending upon municipalities including Tuxpan, Pánuco, Álamo, Tihuatlán, Poza Rica, Papantla, Martínez de la Torre, Tecolutla, Tempoal, Naranjos, Ozuluama, and Chontla.

The situation escalated further with a deadly prison riot in Tuxpan, where seven inmates were killed and eleven others injured. For more than twelve hours, inmates held sway over the facility, their control punctuated by allegations—broadcast via social media—of extortion at the hands of Grupo Sombra, also known as Mafia Veracruzana. This group, formed in 2012 after internal disputes within the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas, has become a central focus of the ongoing investigation. Federal authorities suspect that the violence, which claimed more than thirty lives in Tuxpan, Papantla, Poza Rica, and Álamo during August alone, is largely driven by criminal groups engaged in “cobro de piso”—a form of extortion that demands regular payments from local business owners under threat of violence.

Evidence uncovered so far paints a grim picture: municipal and state officials have been linked to the possession of high-caliber firearms and explosives, further fueling suspicions of collusion with criminal organizations. The stakes are high, and the enemy is formidable. As El País notes, at least four major cartels—the Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación, Gulf Cartel, Noreste Cartel, and Sinaloa Cartel—are currently active in Veracruz, drawn by its strategic location near commercial ports and vital drug trafficking routes.

Amid this turmoil, the federal government has moved to act. In early August, President Claudia Sheinbaum unveiled a sweeping national strategy aimed at combating extortion, which has become a key driver of fear, economic instability, and criminal control in states like Veracruz. The plan targets eight states where 66% of all reported extortion cases are concentrated: the State of Mexico, Guanajuato, Nuevo León, Mexico City, Veracruz, Jalisco, Guerrero, and Michoacán.

The strategy is built around five central pillars: ramping up arrests through intelligence and investigative work; encouraging the creation of state-level anti-extortion units; implementing specific protocols to support victims; training emergency hotline operators in crisis management and negotiation; and launching a nationwide public awareness campaign. Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch, during the plan’s announcement, declared, “Arresting those who commit this crime is a direct way to protect the livelihood of thousands of working families who, every day, through effort and honesty, run businesses, grow crops, transport goods or provide services,” as reported by CNN.

But the plan doesn’t stop at the streets. Recognizing that many extortion rackets are orchestrated from behind bars, the government is also conducting operations in prisons to halt extortion calls. The Financial Intelligence Unit (UIF) is freezing accounts linked to extortion, and authorities are blocking phone lines used for criminal purposes. The hope is that a multi-pronged approach—targeting both the perpetrators and their financial lifelines—will finally turn the tide.

Yet the challenges are not confined to Mexico’s borders. On August 29, 2025, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) launched a high-profile campaign to capture Iván Archibaldo Guzmán Salazar, son of the infamous Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán and current leader of Los Chapitos, a powerful faction of the Sinaloa Cartel. ICE has put a $10 million reward on Iván’s head, placing him near the top of their Most Wanted list. This move underscores just how seriously U.S. authorities view the threat posed by Los Chapitos, who now control a significant portion of the cartel’s drug operations.

Iván, born August 15, 1983, in Culiacán, Sinaloa, has been a central figure in the cartel’s evolution since his father’s capture and extradition to the U.S. in 2016. He and his brother Alfredo Guzmán Salazar “El Guero” are now the only two of El Chapo’s children still active in the cartel; their half-brothers Ovidio “El Ratón” and Joaquín Guzmán López are in U.S. custody. Iván’s criminal record is extensive: in 2005, he was arrested on money laundering charges but released in 2008 due to lack of evidence; in 2012, the U.S. Treasury sanctioned him under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Act; and in 2016, he and his brother were kidnapped by members of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, only to be released days later.

Perhaps most infamously, Iván played a key role in the 2019 “Culiacanazo,” when Mexican forces captured his brother Ovidio. Los Chapitos responded with a wave of violence across Culiacán, forcing the government to release Ovidio to prevent mass civilian casualties. According to ICE, Iván is seen as a mastermind behind trafficking cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and—most alarmingly—fentanyl into the United States. Fentanyl, which can be 50 times more potent than heroin, is linked to tens of thousands of overdose deaths annually in the U.S., making Iván a top target in America’s ongoing opioid crisis.

The campaign against Iván also marks a generational shift in cartel leadership. With El Chapo serving a life sentence in a Colorado supermax prison and El Mayo Zambada having pleaded guilty, the torch has passed to Iván and his brothers. Their approach is markedly different from their predecessors: more public, more brazen, and more deeply intertwined with contemporary culture and technology.

For the people of Veracruz, and for those living in the crosshairs of cartel violence across Mexico, the stakes could not be higher. The intertwining of criminal organizations with local governance threatens not just the rule of law, but the very fabric of daily life. As federal authorities intensify their investigations and both Mexican and U.S. officials ramp up their campaigns against cartel leaders, the outcome remains uncertain. But one thing is clear: the battle for Veracruz—and for the future of Mexico’s fight against organized crime—is far from over.

With new strategies in play and international attention focused on both sides of the border, the coming months will test whether these efforts can finally break the cycle of violence, corruption, and impunity that has gripped Veracruz and much of Mexico for far too long.