Overview

• State and federal forces detained La Hiena in Santa María Mixtequilla during a dawn Operation Sable raid.
• Authorities identified Hermelinda M. O. as a key leader of the Cártel San Luis Rey and the region’s principal large-scale drug distributor.
• Investigators seized at least two AK-47 assault rifles and a Galil military-grade rifle from a property linked to her father-in-law ‘El Melchorcillo.’
• Officials say she assumed cartel control after the 2023 ambush that killed ‘El Melchorcillo’ and that the group is tied to more than 50 homicides in the Istmo de Tehuantepec.
• She is now under ministerial custody pending judicial proceedings as authorities push to weaken the cartel’s local network.