Sinaloa Cartel Operative 'El 07' Arrested for Murder of Former Oaxaca Mayor

The Arrest of 'El 07'

The Oaxaca State Attorney General’s Office (FGEO) confirmed the detention of Z.S.S., known as “El 07,” accused of being the material author of the murder of former San Juan Cacahuatepec mayor Pedro Martínez Barroso. The ex-mayor was killed on July 13 when gunmen attacked him inside his hardware store on Ignacio Zaragoza Street in the town center.

Investigators identified El 07 as a member of Los Rusos, a violent wing of the La Mayiza faction of the Sinaloa Cartel with a growing presence along Oaxaca’s Costa region. He was arrested on August 2 following intelligence work, ministerial inquiries, and field operations by the state prosecutor’s office, which then executed an arrest warrant.

Martínez Barroso governed the municipality from 2022 to 2024 and later served in the state government. State Attorney General Bernardo Rodríguez Alamilla said the evidence established El 07’s “probable direct participation” in the crime and stressed that the case is part of a strategy to combat impunity in high-impact offenses. Authorities also linked Los Rusos to a range of crimes, including homicides, kidnappings, drug dealing, illegal firearms possession, and drug trafficking; several investigations remain open to dismantle the group.

Violence Against Local Officials in Oaxaca's Costa Region

The arrest highlights the escalating violence against local elected officials and municipal staff in Oaxaca’s Costa region, where cartel cells have been expanding their territorial control and challenging state authority. Martínez Barroso’s killing follows a pattern: in November 2025, Guadalupe Urban Ceballos, a councilwoman responsible for parks and gardens in the same municipality, was shot dead as she left her home to attend official duties. Her death prompted condemnation from municipal leaders and the Green Party (PVEM) and a demand for a gender-perspective investigation.

The FGEO has reinforced investigations in the Costa region in recent years, yet the presence of a Sinaloa Cartel-aligned group like Los Rusos — involved in drug trafficking and violent enforcement — indicates that local officials remain vulnerable. The detention of a key operative may disrupt some immediate operations, but the broader structural threat persists, as the cartel’s interest in the region is tied to drug transit routes and local rackets. The speed of the arrest in the Martínez Barroso case could signal a rare investigative success, but the pattern of lethal attacks on municipal figures suggests a foundational problem of impunity and weak institutional protection at the local level.