Gunfire during warrant operation
Mexico's Security Cabinet said federal personnel were carrying out an operation connected to a warrant when they came under fire, according to The Rio Times. Debate and El País México reported that the confrontation occurred in Lomas Verdes, a residential area of Naucalpan in the State of Mexico, after criminals traveling in a vehicle spotted the agents and began shooting.
Security Minister Omar García Harfuch confirmed Vázquez Alvarado's death on X. The participating agencies included the Security Ministry, Navy, National Intelligence Center and the Attorney General's Office's investigative unit.
The account carried by The Rio Times left the second person killed unnamed. El País México, citing official sources, identified him as Edwin González, known as El Ronco, a former investigation commander in the State of Mexico. According to Debate, González allegedly worked as Vázquez Alvarado's escort or close collaborator.
Authorities reported no arrests or seizures. García Harfuch said investigators would continue working to identify and locate other members of the group.
Cartel origins and criminal investigations
Authorities attribute the group's founding in 2017 to Vázquez Alvarado and Óscar Antonio García Alvarado, known as El 300, who is now imprisoned. Debate reported that Cartel Nuevo Imperio emerged after Sinaloa Cartel cells fragmented and expanded its operations into the State of Mexico, Morelos and Mexico City.
Investigations cited by AD Noticias placed some of the group's activity in Naucalpan, Huixquilucan, Tlalnepantla, Nicolás Romero, Tultitlán and Cuautitlán Izcalli. Vázquez Alvarado was born in Mexico City on February 14, 1984, according to Debate's profile.
Investigators suspected Vázquez Alvarado of ordering the July 2024 killing of Milton Morales Figueroa, who coordinated a special operational unit of the Mexico City police. Morales Figueroa was shot dead.
Authorities also investigated Vázquez Alvarado in connection with kidnapping, extortion, murder, illegal land seizures, money laundering and fuel theft, as well as drug trafficking to the United States and Canada.
U.S. sanctions and links to the Wedding case
On November 19, 2025, the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control imposed sanctions on Vázquez Alvarado, describing him as an alleged former member of Mexican security forces with ties to high-level officials. The measures also covered VRG Energéticos, Grupo RVG Combustibles and Grupo Ares Imperial, three companies identified as belonging to him. The companies' assets subject to U.S. jurisdiction were blocked.
García Harfuch said the U.S. agency had accused Vázquez Alvarado of providing protection to Ryan James Wedding, the former Canadian Olympic snowboarder charged in a U.S. cocaine trafficking case. El País reported that Wedding voluntarily surrendered at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico in January 2026 and was transferred to the United States hours afterward.
In a separate development involving Wedding's network on November 5, 2026, Colombian authorities arrested Mexican federal judge Luis Benítez Alcántara. U.S. authorities accuse the judge of taking a $2 million bribe in exchange for granting bond and ordering the release of Andrew Clark, described as the network's second-in-command. Clark was subsequently arrested again and sent to the United States.
