Documents tied to the CJNG are pulling a new Jalisco police unit into the fallout from the operation that ended Nemesio Oseguera’s life. The records describe alleged December payments to several security bodies, including the State Roads Police, created under Governor Pablo Lemus. The claims are not proven in court, but they deepen questions about cartel influence, police reform, and whether a force marketed as a highway safety answer was penetrated almost as soon as it was rolled out.
Alleged ledger widens the fallout
The latest reporting on El Mencho’s alleged payroll records pulls a new Jalisco police unit into a major corruption story. Documents tied to the CJNG reportedly list payments to three state security bodies in December 2025. One of them was the Policía Estatal de Caminos. That roads unit was created under Governor Pablo Lemus, who campaigned on highway security.
The records described in the reporting say the cartel paid 456,000 pesos in one month to those three bodies. They assign 40,000 pesos to the roads police. They assign 16,000 pesos to the state traffic police. They assign 400,000 pesos to the state police reaction group known as Los Negros. The alleged entries appear as weekly spending notes tied to Cocula, Acatlán de Juárez, and Sayula. For the roads unit, the report describes four alleged 10,000-peso payments in Cocula.
Why the Lemus connection matters
The reference to Lemus is not incidental. The roads police unit was a public promise of his 2024 campaign. Recruitment for the force began in January 2025. The stated goal was 450 officers and 150 patrol units for Jalisco’s highways. Official Jalisco budget documents for 2025 also show a dedicated Comisaría de la Policía Estatal de Caminos. That helps confirm the unit was formal and active. It was not just a campaign line.
That is what gives the allegation extra weight. The roads police were presented as a preventive force. They were meant to assist drivers and respond to emergencies. They were also meant to restore confidence in state highways. If federal investigators confirm cartel money reached that unit, the case would cut into a reform sold as part of Jalisco’s security reset. At this stage, though, that remains an allegation. It is not a court finding.
What is verified and what remains open
The documents surfaced after the February 22, 2026, operation in Tapalpa. In that operation, Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes was killed after an armed confrontation with Mexican forces. Federal officials later said soldiers had tried to capture him alive. They said troops returned fire after coming under attack. Reporting published this week also says the FGR had been investigating the cartel’s payroll records since November 2025. That suggests the alleged bribery scheme was already on the federal radar before the raid.
What remains unresolved is just as important. The existence of the records has been reported. Their contents have been described in detail. But there is still no public judicial determination that every entry is authentic. Nor is there any evidence that each alleged payment reached the listed officers or units. Lemus has said the FGR should investigate the apparent payroll and jail any official who took cartel money. For residents, commuters, and travelers in Jalisco, that is now the central issue. The question is whether the records will lead to criminal cases that go beyond local police and into the state’s own security project.
With information from El Universal, Gobierno de Jalisco Presupuesto Ciudadano
