Juchitán’s Ex-Police Chief Ordered to Stand Trial, Accused of Using His Post to Protect CJNG-Linked ‘Los Cromos’ — the 3rd Person Charged Since Mayor ‘Quetu’ Was Arrested
A judge has ordered Jhon Keny Moreno Segura, the former commissioner of the municipal police in Juchitán de Zaragoza, Oaxaca, to stand trial. Prosecutors accuse him of using his post to protect “Los Cromos,” a cell they call the operational arm of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG). He is the third person sent to trial in the case that began with the Sept. 23 arrest of Mayor Miguel Sánchez Altamirano, “Quetu.” The Oaxaca state prosecutor’s office (FGEO) announced the ruling, El Universal and El Heraldo de México Oaxaca reported on Oct. 1.
What the prosecutors allege
El Universal and El Heraldo reported the charges as aggravated extortion and crimes against state security. The FGEO’s own graphic lists only crimes against state security. It also says he is held in the Tanivet prison in Oaxaca. According to El Heraldo and La Razón, he was arrested on Sept. 24. At his first hearing, the judge ruled that the arrest was legal, El Universal and La Silla Rota reported.
Investigators allege he used his post as commissioner to protect Los Cromos, El Universal reported. The FGEO called the ruling “un nuevo avance” (“a new step forward”) in an effort to find and break up the “redes de complicidad” (networks of complicity) that let criminal groups operate in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. Some outlets spell his first name “John Keny” or “John Kenny.”
A wider case against Los Cromos
La Silla Rota reported that Los Cromos operates in seven Isthmus towns: Juchitán, Salina Cruz, Santo Domingo Tehuantepec, Ciudad Ixtepec, El Espinal, Magdalena Tequisistlán and Unión Hidalgo. It said authorities link the group to about 70% of the 957 homicides recorded in the region over four years. Quetu is held in the federal Altiplano prison. His co-defendant, Carlos Alberto P. L., “La Parka,” is held in Perote, Veracruz.
A town run by an interim government
According to El Heraldo’s timeline, Juchitán’s municipal police were disarmed after the arrests, and state and federal forces took control. On Sept. 30, Oaxaca Government Secretary Jesús Romero López said work would continue “casa por casa, barrio por barrio” (house by house, neighborhood by neighborhood) under the “Plan Juchitán para la Paz.”
El Universal’s video report on how extortion grew in the Isthmus under Los Cromos:
For background, see our profile: Who is ‘Quetu’?
Sources
- El Universal (Juan Carlos Zavala), “Vinculan a proceso al excomisario de Seguridad Pública de Juchitán,” Oct. 1, 2026.
- El Heraldo de México Oaxaca (Roberto Badillo), “¡Daba protección a ‘Los Cromos’! Ex comisionado de policía municipal de Juchitán es vinculado a proceso,” Oct. 1, 2026.
- La Silla Rota (Karla Alva), “Vinculan a proceso a excomisionado de policía de Juchitán,” Oct. 1, 2026.
- La Razón, “Vinculan a proceso al excomisionado de la policía municipal de Juchitán, ligado a Los Cromos,” Oct. 1, 2026.
- El Heraldo de México Oaxaca, “Crisis en Juchitán: qué pasó con Miguel Sánchez Altamirano, día a día,” updated Oct. 1, 2026.
- Photos: FGEO handout and Especial, via El Heraldo de México Oaxaca.
Reported Oct. 2, 2026, from the Mexican news reports listed above. The Narco Blog did not independently verify these accounts. Being ordered to stand trial is not a conviction. Moreno Segura, Sánchez Altamirano and Carlos Alberto P. L. are presumed innocent. The reports did not name a defense lawyer for Moreno Segura or give his response.