Two mayors in central Mexican cities have been arrested on federal extortion charges, while authorities are currently searching for a third mayor. The mayors are all from the central state of Morelos.

This week, Mexico’s Security Cabinet announced the arrests of Agustin Toledano, the current mayor of Atlatlahucan, and Irving Sanchez, the former mayor of Yecapixtla. Authorities are still actively searching for Cuautla’s Mayor Jesus Damian Corona.

The arrests are all part of the ongoing Operation Beehive, aimed at taking down cartel-connected extortion operations that are helped by city officials throughout Mexico. Depending on the region, city officials in Mexico work hand in hand with criminal organizations to extort local businesses.

So far, the operation has focused on Central and Western Mexico, resulting in the arrest of several politicians. The most famous case dealt with the mayor of Tequila, Jalisco, earlier this year, Breitbart Texas reported. In that case, the politician had his campaign supported by the Cartel Jalisco New Generation, which allowed them to set up a widespread extortion operation in the region. The group even targeted liquor makers.

For the most part, Operation Beehive has avoided the border state of Tamaulipas, where both the Gulf Cartel and the Cartel Del Noreste faction of Los Zetas continue to operate with complete impunity, often with the complicity of Tamaulipas government officials.

Breitbart Texas has reported that city officials in Matamoros have collected extortion fees from local business owners. The issue gained some traction when Julio Almanza, the leader of a local chamber of commerce, spoke out but died in 20204 at the hands of cartel gunmen soon after in a crime that remains unsolved.

 Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart News Foundation. He co-founded Breitbart News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com. 

Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.