Cartel Boss 'El Lastra' Busted for Recruiting College Kids Into Killer Army
"El Lastra," CJNG recruiter, busted for luring teens with fake jobs and torturing resisters at a "training" ranch. Accused of drug crimes, gun possession and student kidnappings.
Another one bites the dust! Jose Gregorio "N," a.k.a. "El Lastra," a top dog in the ruthless Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), is behind bars after a weekend bust, announced Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch.
"El Lastra," linked to the Izaguirre Ranch case in Teuchitlán, is ID'd as the mastermind behind recruiting fresh meat for the CJNG machine.
According to testimony, this guy was running a real-life horror show! Recruits who dared to resist the cartel's training or tried to escape faced brutal beatings and torture.
Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo spilled the beans at a press conference, calling "El Lastra" a key lieutenant of Gonzalo "N," a.k.a. "El Sapo," a regional boss with fingers in Jalisco, Nayarit, and Zacatecas. Turns out, "El Lastra" ran the cartel's recruitment and training center at the Izaguirre Ranch.
Harfuch revealed that "El Lastra" was preying on young, impressionable teens, luring them in with bogus job offers on social media. The slimeball also used closed groups to advertise the cartel life. The unsuspecting victims were then picked up at bus stations and hauled off to the Izaguirre Ranch for "training."
From May 2024 through the beginning of March 2025, "El Lastra" and his crew were hard at work recruiting new soldiers.
Torture Ranch
Life at the Izaguirre Ranch was no walk in the park. Recruits were forced to hand over their belongings, don the cartel uniform of tactical gear and boots, and kiss their cell phones goodbye. For about a month, they were cut off from the outside world. The "training" involved weapons handling, physical conditioning, and a whole lot of indoctrination. Depending on their skills, the recruits were then assigned roles within the cartel.
Word on the street is that "El Lastra" is also suspected of being the brains behind the illegal detention of two university students back in June 2024. He reportedly met with Gonzalo N. in Puerto Vallarta back on March 10 to get the green light to shut down the training camp. Before his capture, he tried to lay low in Tala, Jalisco, before making a desperate attempt to hide in Mexico City.
Harfuch emphasized that since September 2024, authorities have collared 49 individuals tied to "El Lastra's" recruitment ring, with "El Lastra" himself being the biggest catch.
Meanwhile, "El Lastra" and Abril Dianeh Robles Vázquez are officially facing charges. "El Lastra" is accused of illegal possession of firearms restricted to the military, plus corruption and drug trafficking. Robles is also in hot water for drug trafficking.
Both are being held in maximum security prisons – "El Lastra" at Altiplano and Robles at Morelos.
The arrests were the result of a joint operation between federal agencies and the National Guard. During the bust on the Mexico-Toluca highway, authorities seized weapons, drugs, cash, and vehicles.
