The federal government’s efforts to pacify Michoacán with a new “peace and justice” plan are off to a positive start, with homicides declining significantly in November compared to the previous two months.
At a press conference on Sunday, federal security officials presented an update on the results of Plan Michoacán for Peace and Justice, a 57-billion-peso (US $3.1 billion) initiative that the government devised in response to the Nov. 1 assassination of Uruapan mayor Carlos Manzo and general insecurity in the state.
The plan — under which additional federal troops were deployed to Michoacán — was unveiled on Nov. 9, and has now been in effect for three weeks.
On Sunday, National Defense Minister Ricardo Trevilla Trejo reported that there were 58 homicides in Michoacán between Nov. 1 and Nov. 28, representing a decline of almost 50% compared to the number of murders in each of September and October.
The reduction compared to the 111 homicides recorded in September is 47.7%, while the decline compared to the 108 murders in October is 46.3%.
Morelia and Uruapan, Michoacán’s two largest cities, are among the municipalities where homicides declined in November.
Morelia, the state capital, recorded 3 homicides between Nov. 1 and 28, a decline of 86% compared to the 22 murders registered across the month of October.
Uruapan, considered the world’s “avocado capital,” recorded eight homicides in the first 28 days of last month, a reduction of 60% compared to the 20 registered in October.
Trevilla noted that an additional 1,980 federal troops were deployed to Michoacán last month, bringing the total number of troops on the ground in the state to 10,506. He also highlighted that the federal government’s security operations in the state are supported by more than 1,000 military vehicles, five helicopters and 18 drones, among other equipment.
In addition, Trevilla said that the Mexican Army will provide more than 1,000 G3 rifles to the Michoacán state police, and 70 to police in Uruapan, where military engineers will build National Guard barracks.
The defense minister said that the decision to build the new barracks came after a Nov. 13 meeting with Uruapan Mayor Grecia Quiroz — who replaced her husband as mayor after his assassination — and the municipality’s public security chief.
135 arrests in Michoacán since new plan took effect
Trevilla reported that 135 people were detained in Michoacán between Nov. 10 and Nov. 28.
Among those arrested are an alleged Jalisco New Generation Cartel leader who authorities identified as a mastermind of the assassination of Manzo, and seven of eight municipal police officers who were tasked with protecting the now-deceased mayor.
Trevilla outlined a range of other results achieved by Plan Michoacán for Peace and Justice in the past three weeks. They included:
- The seizure of 57 firearms and almost 7,000 cartridges.
- The seizure of 444.5 kilograms of narcotics and 28,800 liters of “chemical substances intended for the production of synthetic drugs, mainly methamphetamine.”
- The seizure of 110 vehicles and 89 improvised explosive devices.
- The seizure of 629,055 pesos (US $34,445).
- The destruction of “eight camps occupied by organized crime.”
More than 900 arrests in Michoacán for ‘high-impact’ crimes during Sheinbaum administration
Federal Security Minister Omar García Harfuch reported that 932 people have been arrested in Michoacán for “high-impact” crimes since President Claudia Sheinbaum took office on Oct. 1, 2024.
Among the offenses classified as high-impact crimes are murder, kidnapping, rape and extortion.
García Harfuch also reported that almost 23 tonnes of drugs have been seized in Michoacán since Sheinbaum became president, while 924 firearms have been confiscated and 17 methamphetamine laboratories have been dismantled.
The Pacific coast state is one of Mexico’s most violent, with over 1,100 homicides in the first 10 months of 2025.
Beyond gun violence, extortion targeting producers of avocados, limes and other crops is a major problem in Michoacán, the hub of Mexico’s lucrative avocado industry. The state is also coveted by crime groups because precursor chemicals used to make synthetic drugs, including fentanyl, are illegally imported via the Lázaro Cárdenas port on the Pacific coast.
García Harfuch stressed that security in Michoacán is “a national priority.”
“We’re working with intelligence, coordination and zero impunity to recover peace in each municipality,” he wrote on social media on Sunday.
Sinaloa Cartel operative killed by navy
At Sunday’s press conference, Navy Minister Raymundo Morales announced that two members of the “Chapo Isidro” faction of the Sinaloa Cartel had been detained in Sinaloa.
Another alleged member of that faction, Pedro “El Pichón” Insunza Coronel, was killed by navy personnel during an anti-cartel operation in the northern state. On social media, García Harfuch wrote:
“In an operation led by the Navy Ministry, … properties and laboratories were located where weapons, vehicles, drugs and precursor chemicals were seized, and two operators of this criminal cell were detained. Upon attacking naval personnel, Pedro ‘N,’ Pichón, lost his life.”
Insunza, identified as a high-ranking operative in the Sinaloa Cartel faction led by Fausto Isidro Meza Flores (aka El Chapo Isidro), was wanted in the United States, along with his father, Pedro Inzunza Noriega.
En una operación encabezada por la Secretaría de Marina @SEMAR_mx mediante labores de investigación. Se ubicaron inmuebles y laboratorios donde se aseguraron, armas, vehículos, drogas, precursores químicos, se detuvieron a dos operadores de esta célula delictiva y al agredir al…
— Omar H Garcia Harfuch (@OHarfuch) November 30, 2025
“Pedro Inzunza Noriega and his son, Pedro Inzunza Coronel, are charged with narco-terrorism, drug trafficking and money laundering as key leaders of the Beltran Leyva Organization (BLO), a powerful and violent faction of the Sinaloa Cartel that is believed to be the world’s largest known fentanyl production network,” the U.S. Department of Justice said in May.
It noted that an indictment against the two men was “the first in the nation to charge alleged leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel with narco-terrorism and material support of terrorism in connection with trafficking massive amounts of fentanyl, cocaine, methamphetamine and heroin into the United States.”
U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ron Johnson acknowledged the death of Inzunza Coronel in a social media post.
“Congratulations to the Mexican Security Cabinet on their successful operation in Michoacán against the Sinaloa Cartel. Pedro ‘N’ (Pichón) was killed and two other cartel members were arrested in a major operation conducted by Mexican Naval Forces to seize illegal narcotics, vehicles, laboratories, weapons, and chemical precursors,” he wrote.
“Pichón was accused of multiple crimes in Mexico including murders, kidnappings, torture, and violent collection of drug debts. He was also wanted in the U.S. for multiple crimes.”
With reports from Milenio
