Second-In-Command For Cartel Del Noroeste And Leader Of 'Los Chukys' Arrested In Nuevo Laredo

Mexico's security cabinet confirmed this week the arrest of Ricardo "G," alias "El Ricky" or "Mando R," who has been labelled as a regional leader for the Cartel del Noroeste (CDN) as well as one of the leaders its armed wing known as "Los Chukys."

In a statement shared on his X social media account, Mexico's top security official Omar García Harfuch said El Ricky could be the mastermind behind extortions, homicides and attacks against police officers in the state of Nuevo Leon.

Harfuch claims that El Ricky coordinated attacks against military personnel in Nuevo Laredo last August, which resulted in two deaths and five soldiers injured. He added that the person in question is the recipient of arrest warrants for homicide and for kidnapping.

According to official accounts, Ricardo "G" was arrested by members of the National Guard in the municipality of Nuevo Laredo at around 7:46 a.m. on Monday. After he was captured, cliques loyal to him began a series of shootings and organized road blocks around the area.

Information confirmed by Infobae Mexico said El Ricky was a high-ranking member of the Cartel del Noroeste, led by Juan Cisneros Treviño alias "Juanito Treviño," an alleged family member of Miguel Ángel and Omar Treviño Morales, former leaders of the criminal group known as "Los Zetas."

Reports suggest that his proximity to the Treviño family allowed El Ricky to consolidate his position within the criminal group, expanding its reach to the states of Tamaulipas, Coahuila and Nuevo Leon.

Besides his role as second-in-command for the cartel, reports suggest El Ricky was linked to multiple crimes. In September of 2023, hitmen working for Los Chukys abandoned coolers filled with human remains in the city center of San Nicolas de los Garza, Nuevo Leon. Apart from the coolers, the alleged cartel members left a banner in which they confessed the armed wing was also responsible for human smuggling along the U.S.-Mexico border.

What is the Cartel del Noroeste?

According to InSight Crime, the criminal group known as Cartel del Noroeste emerged from the remnants of the Zetas and it has long controlled the border city of Nuevo Laredo.

Since at least 2019, the CDN has been in constant clashes with other Gulf Cartel and Zetas cliques, as well as parts of the Sinaloa cartel and the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG).

The criminal group has made of Nuevo Laredo its stronghold. And according to government officials, the Cartel del Noroeste is the "law and order" around the region.

"The [Northeast Cartel] decides what's permitted and what isn't," a government official who works with at-risk youth in a neighborhood controlled by the group told InSight Crime.