Mexico: 'Comandante Lastra,' in charge of Rancho Izaguirre recruitment center, arrested

The Mexican government confirmed on Monday the capture of José Gregorio “N,” alias "El Lastra", who was identified as the head of the recruitment center located in Teuchitlán, Jalisco, where dozens of incidents of torture and murder allegedly took place.

In press conference, Secretary of Public Security Omar Gracia Harfuch spoke about José Gregorio “N,” allegedly responsible for the criminal recruitment and training of young people at Rancho Izaguirre.

Harfuch said that "in the framework of the National Security Strategy that contemplates the strengthening of coordination, intelligence and investigation actions, on March 20 José Gregorio 'N,' AKA 'El Lastra' or 'Comandante Lastra,' leader of the criminal cell responsible for the recruitment of people for the Jalisco Cartel - New Generation, was arrested in Mexico City."

According to Harfuch's statements, "The arrest was carried out by personnel from the Mexican Army, the National Guard and investigative personnel from the secretary of security."

The secretary of security explained that "through the investigations it was possible to identify their criminal structure and main operational leaders, among them José Gregorio, AKA 'Lastra,' who is one of the main collaborators of of Gonzalo 'N,' AKA 'El Sapo,' one of the regional leaders in Jalisco, Nayarit and Zacatecas for the criminal organization."

‘El Lastra’ was in charge of the recruitment center

According to Harfuch, "Lastra was responsible for recruitment for the Jalisco Cartel - New Generation and was in charge of the training center located in Rancho Izaguirre, in the municipality of Teuchitlán, Jalisco."

According to the official, the individual has beenlinked to the recruitment of people for the criminal organization during the period from May 2024 to early March 2025. It is known that Jose Gregorio 'N' had a group of collaborators who were dedicated to the recruitment process.

‘El Lastra’ arrested for being in charge of recruitment for the Jalisco Cartel - New Generation

According to testimony collected by Harfuch, José Gregorio “N” stated that he killed people who resisted to receive training or tried to escape. Likewise, beatings and torture were frequent at the training center.

Characteristics of the recruitment process

During the recruiting process, social media was used to offer fake job opportunities through deception, in addition to using closed groups where criminal activities were mentioned. Some of these publications referenced job offers for the criminal organization and offered a position as a security guard with a payment of 4,000 to 12,000 pesos (roughly $200-600) per week.

The interested parties were summoned to different bus stations from where they were taken to the training center at Rancho Izaguirre. Once at the ranch, the training consisted of handling firearms and physical conditioning.

According to Harfuch, "The training had a duration of one month, during which time they remained incommunicado. Depending on aptitude, recruits were assigned a position within the organization and were also assigned to different entities to increase the strength of the criminal organization.

39 online recruitment pages discovered

Thanks to the analysis and follow-up work, the Investigation and Cyber Patrol area of the Secretariat of Security and Citizen Protection carried out a search and analysis of profiles on social media related to the recruitment of people to join organized crime activities.

This action led to the removal of 39 recruitment pages on different platforms. The review of different platforms continues, as well as the request for the removal of many more pages.