Alleged Tren de Aragua leader and two associates held in Mexico City; 92 marijuana doses seized
Mexican agents arrested Nelson Arturo Echezuria Alcántara, described as the leader of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua in Mexico, and two associates in Mexico City on 4 October 2025. The arrests turned up 92 doses of marijuana along with crystal methamphetamine, crack, phones and cash.
Federal agents arrested the alleged leader of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua
in Mexico, Nelson Arturo Echezuria Alcántara, and two of his direct associates
in Mexico City on 4 October 2025.[1]On the three detainees, Venezuelan
nationals aged 29, 37 and 36, officers found 92 doses of marijuana, 44 doses of
crystal methamphetamine and 18 doses of rock cocaine, as well as two mobile
phones and cash.[1]
García Harfuch said the three were named in accusations of human trafficking.[2]In a joint statement the security agencies said the detainees already faced
arrest warrants for human trafficking and organised crime, and that Echezuria
also had an outstanding warrant for offences against health and criminal
association.[1]The three were informed of their constitutional rights before
being handed to the Public Prosecutor’s Office, which was to determine their
legal situation.[1]
The three Venezuelan detainees had arrest warrants for their operations in
Puebla, Morelos, the State of Mexico and several boroughs of Mexico City.[3]
Photos and video
Photo published by Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch showing Nelson Arturo 'N' and two of his associates after their arrest in Mexico City on 4 October 2025. Photo: @OHarfuchPhoto details
The marijuana seizure is stated only as 92 doses; no weight in grams or kilograms was published, so no cannabis weight is recorded.
The doses were listed together with crystal methamphetamine, crack, phones and cash and were not attributed to individual detainees, so no combined drug total is used as a cannabis figure.
The submitted El País article is partly behind a subscriber wall, so most details come from the same-day EFE, El Universal and Univision accounts of the same arrests.
No charges beyond the existing arrest warrants were reported, and no court or legal-status ruling was published after the three were handed to prosecutors.
The joint statement says arresting officers identified and detained the three while on security patrols, while Univision says the warrants covered operations in four states; the exact order of the warrants and the arrests is left open.
Left out, as its quotation was not found in El Universal: The US ambassador to Mexico, Ronald Johnson, welcomed the arrest on X, writing that it was good for the Mexican people.
Left out agency types, as its quotation was not found in SWI swissinfo.ch (EFE).
Left out case stage, as its quotation was not found in SWI swissinfo.ch (EFE).
Guardia Civil Estatal officers detained three suspected drug sellers in San Vicente and Ciudad Valles, in San Luis Potosí's Huasteca. They seized two marijuana doses from a couple and 11 bags of marijuana from a third man, along with cristal that is not counted as cannabis.
State police and federal forces detained two people during patrols in Acapulco's Paso Limonero and Cervantes neighbourhoods, seizing 41 small bags of suspected marijuana, 20 doses of suspected crystal and a motorcycle. Authorities reported 30 bags of suspected marijuana and the motorcycle in Paso Limonero, and 11 bags in Cervantes.
Guardia Civil Estatal officers detained Daniel “N” in Ciudad Valles and Pedro “N” in Ciudad Fernández, with the Army joining the second stop. Officers seized methamphetamine doses, bags of marijuana and a Chevrolet pickup, reporting 78 drug doses overall; both men were handed to investigators.
Security forces detained a man in San Vicente, a town in Bahía de Banderas, Nayarit, after finding six doses of suspected marijuana and 15 packets of suspected crystal methamphetamine among his belongings. He was handed over to prosecutors to face an investigation for offences against health as part of joint patrols against street-level drug dealing.
