200 Million Pesos From Baja California’s Prosecutors: MCCI Says Tijuana Firm Sanctioned in ‘Mayito Flaco’ Network Sold Them Everything From Tactical Uniforms to Facial-Recognition Software
Baja California’s State Attorney General’s Office (FGEBC) awarded more than 200 million pesos in contracts from 2022 to 2025 to Inteliproof Efficient, the Tijuana security company the U.S. Treasury sanctioned Sept. 29, 2026, as a money-laundering front in “Mayito Flaco” Zambada’s Los Mayos network, Mexicanos Contra la Corrupción y la Impunidad (MCCI) reported Oct. 1. MCCI says the purchases ran from tactical uniforms to facial-recognition software, and that some were paid for with federal security funds.
How MCCI gets to 200 million pesos
MCCI reporter Verónica Ayala found 33 FGEBC contracts with Inteliproof on Mexico’s National Transparency Platform, totaling about 73.2 million pesos, 19 of them awarded without bidding. MCCI adds figures Semanario Zeta Tijuana published in December 2025: 10 contracts worth more than 101 million pesos in 2023 alone and 15 worth more than 49 million in 2022. MCCI counts more than 17 million pesos in 2024 and more than 33.2 million in 2025, when one contract bought facial-recognition intelligence software.
One 8.1-million-peso contract for tactical uniforms in 2024 was funded by the federal FASP public-security fund. MCCI says it was signed for the company by Carlos Villela Gómez Santelices, whom Treasury sanctioned along with partner Marco Antonio Moreno Gómez Santelices. Treasury alleges the two launder money for the Sinaloa Cartel and René Arzate García, “La Rana,” its alleged Tijuana boss across from San Diego (Tijuana–San Diego guide).
These totals far exceed the 9.94 million pesos in 2023 invoices Los Ángeles Press documented, which we reported earlier today; it called its figures partial. MCCI also dates the company’s founding to October 2020, while Proceso reported December 2020.
The state government, Rosarito and the governor’s answer
MCCI says Gov. Marina del Pilar Ávila’s government gave Inteliproof at least seven contracts worth 16.5 million pesos, and that Playas de Rosarito awarded it at least four worth more than 12.8 million (Ensenada–Rosarito guide). Tijuana and Tecate also contracted it.
En Línea BC reported Oct. 1 that Ávila ordered a review of contracts with OFAC-listed firms and barred anyone flagged for suspected criminal activity from supplying the state until their legal status is resolved. “When the contracting was done, it was done according to the information and legal situation available then,” she said. She said authorized staff, not vendors, control the systems and databases, ruling out any breach of citizens’ data,. We found no response from the FGEBC, the company or the Gómez Santelices brothers.
Milenio’s video on the company’s co-founder, a former federal official:
Sources
- Mexicanos Contra la Corrupción y la Impunidad (Verónica Ayala), “Fiscalía de BC pagó más de $200 millones a empresa ligada al Cártel de Sinaloa” (Oct. 1, 2026), as republished by Aristegui Noticias
- En Línea BC (Antonio Heras), “Cancela BC presencia en licitaciones de empresas sancionadas por EU” (Oct. 1, 2026)
- Los Ángeles Press, “Baja California Prosecutor Contracted OFAC-Sanctioned Network” (Oct. 1, 2026)
- Milenio, “Funcionario federal fundó empresa que lavaba dinero para el cártel de Zambada” (video, Sept. 30, 2026)
- Photos: MCCI contract pages and U.S. Treasury OFAC chart, via Aristegui Noticias
Reported Oct. 1, 2026, from MCCI’s review of public contracting records and Mexican press reports. We did not independently review the contracts. U.S. sanctions are administrative designations, not criminal charges, and no one named here has been charged in this matter.