More than 15 families displaced by the Ardillos criminal group in Mexico returned to their homes in Guerrero, according to an August 16 statement by the Federal Ministry of the Interior (Secretariat de Gobernación – SEGOB).
In May, the Ardillos launched an offensive against rival criminal groups and local police forces in the rural, mountainous region known as Guerrero’s Montaña Baja. Mexico’s Security Minister Omar García Harfuch said the attacks were part of an attempt by the Ardillos to expand territorial control and push out a rival clan known as the Tlacos. The Ardillos reportedly used high-caliber weapons and explosive-laden drones in a wave of violence that lasted more than a week.
More than 1,000 people from several Indigenous communities in Alcozacán, Tula, and Xicotla were displaced during the local conflict, and videos shared on social media showed residents fleeing their communities as gunfire could be heard in the background.
SEE ALSO: Mexico Criminal Profile
“We left terrified, running, because otherwise the Ardillos would catch up with us and start shooting,” one resident said in one of the videos that circulated online.
Who Are the Ardillos?
The Ardillos are a relatively small group compared with other criminal organizations in Mexico, but they have become one of the most influential in Guerrero state.
Their origins can be traced to factions associated with the Beltrán Leyva Organization and the Gulf Cartel, which once profited from heroin production and trafficking in Guerrero’s mountainous regions. However, following a series of arrests and deaths of their leaders during the 2010s, the organizations splintered into several groups, including the Ardillos and the Tlacos.
Since then, the Ardillos have consolidated their presence across several municipalities in the region, including Chilapa, Quechultenango, Mochitlán, Tixtla, Juan R. Escudero, Zitlala, Atlixtac, Ahuacotzingo, and Acatepec. It inherited part of the heroin trade and later diversified into illegal mining and the extortion of Indigenous communities.
Its ability to impose control over these territories rests in part on its capacity for violence. The Ardillos have access to sophisticated weaponry, including high-caliber firearms and explosives deployed using drones. This has spread fear among residents and fueled several waves of violence over the past two decades. In 2020, for example, communities in the area drew national attention after images emerged of young children taking up arms to protect themselves from Ardillos incursions.
SEE ALSO: Ardillos Criminal Profile
But the group’s power also stems from its deep roots in local political structures. Bernardo Ortega Jiménez, for example, the brother of alleged Ardillos leader Celso Ortega Jiménez, has held several political positions in Guerrero, including serving as mayor of Quechultenango from 2002 to 2005 and two terms as a state legislator. In addition, Mercedes Carballo Chino, Celso Ortega Jiménez’s sister-in-law, is currently the mayor of Chilapa.
To learn more about this criminal group, read our full profile here.