The National Agricultural Council (CNA) recognized the work of the Ministry of Public Security and Citizen Protection for the arrest of César Alejandro Sepúlveda Arellano Botoxalleged leader of the criminal group Los Blancos de Troya, in Michoacán.
“This action represents a relevant advance in the fight against high-impact crimes, such as extortion and floor collection, which have directly seriously affected producers, transporters and marketers in the agri-food sector,” declared the organization directed by Jorge Esteve Recolons.
Lee: With the collection of extortion, ‘Botox’ financed his fight against the CJNG in Tierra Caliente
He added that these operations show concrete results and send a clear signal that it is possible to advance in the recovery of security and the rule of law in the productive regions of the country.
“Insecurity in the countryside and in supply chains puts those who produce food at risk, otherwise it impacts the final prices of products, distorts markets and threatens the timely supply of food for the entire Mexican population,” he indicated.
Botox He was arrested and put in prison in 2018. He came out of prison and founded Los Blancos de Troya. Since 2023 there was an arrest warrant and a reward against him.
Botox he sold chicken, recyclable material and cigarettes, collected floor fees from lemon producers and transporters, and controlled the Buenavista garbage dump to finance his criminal operations and his fight against the Jalisco New Generation Cartel in Tierra Caliente, according to an intelligence report delivered to the militia and police authorities in December 2021.
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The floor fee charged by the Blancos de Troya to lemon producers was – at that time – one peso per kilo, considering that around 20 tons of citrus were sold daily in Tierra Caliente, according to an analysis by the National Intelligence Fusion Center.
Los Blancos de Troya maintained control of the main roads, gaps and trucks between the municipalities of Apatzingán and Buenavista, “with the purpose of forcing the transporters to pay the fees established by the criminal organization.”
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Michoacán is disputed by the Jalisco Nueva Generación Cartel and the criminal group Cárteles Unidos, which brings together criminal cells such as the Viagras, the Familia Michoacana and the Blancos de Troya, which are characterized by the generation of a high rate of violence.
In the municipality of Apatzingán, the Blancos de Troya are the main generators of violence in the neighborhoods and rancherías of the municipality that produce lemons and avocados.
