The Veracruz State Attorney General's Office (FGE) reported the arrest of two people who are allegedly related to the deprivation of liberty and murder of retired teacher Irma Hernández Cruz, 62, in Álamo Temapache, Veracruz.
The detainees are allegedly members of the Sombra criminal group, now calling themselves the Veracruz Mafia.
The alleged criminals are Víctor 'N', alias El Cholo o Moyo, and José 'N', El Gastón o Águila , arrested during an operation in the municipality of Cerro Azul, bordering Álamo Temapache.
What did the Prosecutor's Office say about the arrest?
The FGE reported that, as a result of desk and field investigations, security forces, in coordination with the Ministry of National Defense, the Ministry of the Navy, the Ministry of Public Security, and the Ministerial Police, carried out an operation in Cerro Azul.
During the operation, vehicles, firearms, ballistic cartridges, a knife, cell phones, cash, dried green grass with characteristics similar to marijuana, as well as a substance with characteristics similar to crystal were seized.
Those arrested are believed to be members of the Sombra criminal group, now calling themselves the Veracruz Mafia.
FGE INVESTIGATES DETAINEES FOR THEIR PROBABLE PARTICIPATION IN THE DEPRIVATION OF LIBERTY OF I.H.C.
— FGE Veracruz (@FGE_Veracruz) July 25, 2025
What happened to the teacher?
The elderly woman was driving a taxi along Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz Street, in front of the Municipal Market, when armed men intercepted her and forced her into a van.
Shortly after, a video was released in which the teacher appears kneeling, surrounded by armed men, sending a message to her fellow taxi drivers, in order to get them to agree to pay a fee or floor right to a criminal group.
"Fellow taxi drivers, you don't mess around with the Veracruz mafia. Pay your dues properly," he said in the video.
However, on Thursday, July 24, the teacher's body was found lifeless in the community of Tepetzintlilla, near the municipality of Cerro Azul.
"Without impunity," says the state government.
After this, the Security Cabinet shared that, in coordination with the Government of Veracruz, they began work to clarify the homicide.
"The institutions that make up this Cabinet are working together to find those responsible. There will be no impunity," they shared on social media.
At the same time, they reported that within the framework of the National Strategy against Extortion, a dispute between criminal groups related to the collection of illegal fees is being investigated.
