Federal Agents Kill CDMX Cartel Founder in Naucalpan Shootout

Edgar Aarón Vázquez Alvarado, known as “El General” or “El Lic,” died in a shootout with federal agents in the municipality of Naucalpan, Estado de México, on Thursday, November 5, 2026. Omar García Harfuch, the Secretary of Security and Citizen Protection, confirmed the death of the leader and founder of the Cártel Nuevo Imperio.

The group operated across the State of Mexico, Morelos, and Mexico City. Authorities stated that intelligence work led them to properties connected to a criminal network involved in kidnapping, extortion, homicide, dispossession, money laundering, fuel theft, and drug trafficking to the United States and Canada.

Federal forces executed an operation in the Lomas Verdes area. According to officials, occupants of a vehicle identified the agents and opened fire. Security forces returned the gunfire, resulting in the death of two individuals, including Vázquez Alvarado. The official cause of death was listed as an exchange of gunfire during an attempt to arrest him for organized crime.

Vázquez Alvarado was the subject of a sanction by the U.S. Treasury Department on November 19, 2025. The agency accused him of providing protection in Mexico to Ryan James Wedding and using police contacts to identify targets for his criminal organization.

Investigators also identified him as the intellectual author of the homicide of Milton Morales Figueroa. Morales Figueroa served as the intelligence commander for the Mexico City Secretary of Citizen Security. He was shot dead in the municipality of Coacalco on July 21, 2024.

The operational details indicate that the initial contact between the two sides was hostile. The agents were in the process of effecting an arrest when the gunfire began. The two fatalities occurred in the same encounter, with Vázquez Alvarado being the primary target of the investigation that triggered the operation.