Overview
- The Navy launched Operación Michoacán por la Paz y la Justicia as the centerpiece of the broader Plan Michoacán, activating a large-scale, intelligence-led campaign against organized crime.
- The deployment fields seven Marine Infantry companies, two mine-security sections, two BLONAE bomb-disposal teams, two special forces cells, a manned surveillance aircraft, unmanned systems, two helicopters, six naval vessels and 54 ground vehicles.
- Priority targets tied to CJNG were publicly named with rewards, led by William Edwin Rivera Padilla “El Barbas” at 500,000 pesos and including Nicolás and Gabino Sierra Santana, César Alejandro Sepúlveda Arellano, Andrés Alejandro Sepúlveda Álvarez and the Álvarez Ayala brothers at 100,000 pesos each.
- Objectives include capturing first- and second-tier leaders, neutralizing key operators, dismantling training camps, destroying clandestine laboratories and safe houses, and seizing modified tactical vehicles used in attacks.
- Semar emphasized interagency coordination with SSPC, Sedena and state authorities and pledged actions within the law, while early reports note no confirmed arrests or operational results yet.