For the past nine years, Mexico’s Secretariat of National Defense (Sedena) has known the most intimate hideouts of the leaders of La Familia Michoacana. It knows where their relatives live, how they move around, and even where they escape through.
Military intelligence reports hacked by the Guacamaya collective reveal that as early as 2016, Sedena had been monitoring the movements of the family of brothers Johnny and José Alfredo Hurtado Olascoaga, first and second in command of the criminal group, which is blamed for the murders, kidnappings, and extortion now terrorizing large parts of the State of Mexico, Guerrero, and Michoacán.
The documents indicate that Johnny Hurtado Olascoaga, known as “El Pez” (“The Fish”), was known for keeping safe houses near riverbanks and using speedboats as escape routes.
On April 7, 2017, for example, “El Pez” reportedly fled on horseback through a shallow creek after a Sedena operation in the town of Timbinal, in the municipality of Cutzamala de Pinzón, Guerrero, which borders Michoacán and the State of Mexico.
To avoid being tracked when meeting with him, the women in the Hurtado Olascoaga family took security precautions: they were forbidden from answering their phones or would turn them off entirely.
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Members of the organization regularly changed their radio frequencies and were prohibited from using crystal meth. They were subjected to drug tests, and if they tested positive for methamphetamines, they were punished.
In response to the presence of federal forces in the southern region of the State of Mexico, the Hurtado Olascoaga brothers would relocate to towns in Guerrero, and La Familia Michoacana cells would reposition the radio bases used for surveillance.
Despite these movements, the military remained in close proximity. The hacked documents reference a series of unsuccessful operations carried out in April 2017 in Amatepec and Tlatlaya, State of Mexico, and in Cutzamala, Guerrero.
The Mexican government officially recognized the organization’s origins in Michoacán in 2006, when it was allied with the “Cárdenas Guillén” faction of the Gulf Cartel. In 2008, La Familia Michoacana broke away to assume full control of drug trafficking in the state.
Reorganization
Following the death of Medardo Hernández Vera, alias “Lalo Mantecas,” in 2022, military intelligence services reported a possible restructuring of the group in the State of Mexico, with Johnny Hurtado Olascoaga taking the lead, and his brother José Alfredo Hurtado Olascoaga (“El Fresa”) and Josué Ramírez Carrera (“Colibrí”) serving as second in command. Ramírez Carrera has been linked to the kidnapping of poultry shop employees in Toluca on December 22, 2023.
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By 2019, the State of Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office had reported to Sedena the presence of La Familia Michoacana in at least 32 municipalities. By 2024, the number had risen to 75, where the group was reportedly engaged in various criminal activities, including extortion, according to the hacked military files and the second annual report by State Prosecutor José Luis Cervantes Martínez.
Among the leaked files are reports from 2017 and 2018 that detail what appear to be early indicators of extortion—specifically the collection of “piso” (protection money)—in municipalities in the southern part of the State of Mexico.
The following year, investigation files related to extortion saw a major surge, particularly in the State of Mexico. Data from the Executive Secretariat of the National Public Security System shows a 52% increase in reported cases between 2018 and 2019, though the actual number may be much higher due to underreporting.
Year-by-Year Extortion Reports in the State of Mexico:
- 2017: 1,385
- 2018: 1,629
- 2019: 2,487
- 2020: 2,995
- 2021: 3,302
- 2022: 4,153
- 2023: 4,010
- 2024: 3,439
- 2025 (through June): 1,398
In which municipalities does La Familia Michoacana operate in the State of Mexico?
The State of Mexico Attorney General’s Office has identified extortion practices primarily in 14 municipalities: Amanalco, Donato Guerra, Ixtapan de la Sal, Malinalco, Ixtlahuaca, San Felipe del Progreso, Sultepec, Tlatlaya, Tejupilco, Temascaltepec, Tenancingo, Texcaltitlán, Valle de Bravo, and Villa Victoria.
On July 21, 2024, authorities launched “Operativo Liberación” (Operation Liberation) in these areas as part of the National Strategy Against Extortion.
The operation resulted in the arrest and indictment of eight individuals allegedly involved in extortion; however, none of those detained held leadership positions within the cartel’s hierarchy.
Since April 15, 2025, La Familia Michoacana has been designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the United States, accused of trafficking fentanyl, methamphetamine, heroin, and cocaine within its territory.
Both Mexican authorities and the U.S. State Department are currently offering rewards for information leading to the capture of the Hurtado Olascoaga brothers.