Tepic, Nayarit, June 19, 2026 — Nayarit prosecutors say an internal investigation has exposed a police-linked “halconeo” network that allegedly fed operational information to criminal groups through large digital chats and messaging platforms.
State prosecutor Elvia Ludmila Heredia Verdugo said investigators found active agents, former agents, and ministerial command-level numbers inside WhatsApp groups with more than 2,500 participants, where security-force movements were allegedly shared during operations.
The case has so far led to the arrest of a former head of the state Ministerial Investigation Agency and the detention and linking to the process of three active police officers. In Mexico, “linked to process” is not a conviction; it means a judge found sufficient initial evidence to allow the criminal case to continue.
A counter-police network
“Halconeo” is the practice of watching, tracking, or collecting operational information for criminal groups. In Nayarit’s Penal Code, it includes obtaining and communicating information about municipal, state, federal, or military security work to a criminal group, with the aim of helping crimes or allowing suspects to flee.
That makes the allegation more serious than ordinary corruption. Prosecutors are describing a system meant to strip police operations of surprise. When raid routes, patrol movements, or investigative activity are passed along in real time, criminal groups gain time to move people, weapons, vehicles, or evidence.
One detail stands out: the alleged use of shifts and phone handoffs. Some officers allegedly worked set “halcón” schedules and turned over the phones at the end of their shifts, distancing themselves from the devices used to pass information.
Heredia Verdugo framed the case as part of a broader purge inside the Fiscalía. “No, it needs to be investigated,” she said, describing a break from what she called a previous instruction not to look into certain internal cases.
This goes beyond the arrests
The number 2,500 should be read carefully. It refers to people allegedly on digital platforms or in chats, not to the 2,500 people formally charged. Publicly available information points to four police-linked arrests or prosecutions so far.
Still, the scale described by prosecutors gives the case regional importance. It suggests that investigators are looking not only at individual officers, but at how criminal groups may have built early-warning systems around security operations.
Nayarit has already been under pressure from related security cases this year. In May, investigators were examining alleged links involving narcolaboratories, “halconeo,” and municipal authorities in the state. The latest disclosure points the scrutiny inward, toward the agencies expected to investigate those networks.
No public alert, but real institutional risk
There is no public indication that this case represents an immediate street-level emergency. The available reports do not describe a specific threat to beach towns, tourist zones, or public events.
The risk is institutional. If criminal groups can receive alerts from inside security agencies, enforcement becomes weaker before officers ever reach the street. That affects public safety, investigations, and public trust.
The phones are now the case
The investigation appears to hinge on digital evidence: WhatsApp groups, phone numbers, and records allegedly tying public servants to criminal communication channels.
That fits the way modern “halconeo” works. The old image of a lookout watching a road has not disappeared, but the more valuable information now moves through phones. A message sent minutes before an operation can be as useful to a criminal group as a lookout posted at an intersection.
For prosecutors, the test will be whether the evidence leads beyond the first four cases. For Nayarit’s security agencies, the harder test is whether the internal cleanup reaches the people who made those networks possible.
