The Narco Blog

Arrested at 5 a.m. in a Valle de Bravo Vacation Home: Alleged Caborca Cartel Boss ‘Cara de Cochi,’ Whose Group Ran Drugs From Altar to Rocky Point (Puerto Peñasco), Mexicali Outlet Reports

By The Narco Blog · October 11, 2026 · Updated October 11, 2026

Lake at Avándaro, Valle de Bravo, State of Mexico, with boats and parked cars on the shore under a cloudy sky — The lake at Avándaro, Valle de Bravo, State of Mexico, where Lindero Norte says “Cara de Cochi” was arrested. This photo is not from the arrest. Photo: B.jars, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Jesús Darío Murrieta Navarro, alias “Cara de Cochi,” described as the leader of the Caborca Cartel, was arrested before dawn on Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026, at one of his vacation homes in Avándaro, the upscale lakeside area of Valle de Bravo in the State of Mexico, the Mexicali outlet Lindero Norte reported in an exclusive. His group controlled drug trafficking from Altar to Puerto Peñasco, the Sonora beach town Americans call Rocky Point, the outlet said.

Rain-soaked main street in Caborca, Sonora, lined with palm trees, with the town's mission church in the distance — A street in Heroica Caborca, Sonora, the town that gives the Caborca Cartel its name. This photo is not from the arrest. Photo: Comisión Mexicana de Filmaciones, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0.

What Lindero Norte reported

State police arrested Murrieta Navarro on an arrest warrant at about 5 a.m. inside a house in Colonia Avándaro, and he is being held in the Toluca prison, according to the report by Jorge Heras. The outlet said the group he led had a running feud with Los Chapitos. Lindero Norte did not say which charges the warrant covers or which court issued it.

On Oct. 11, Sinaloahoy also published a report headlined as the arrest of “El Cara de Cochi” and seven other people in the State of Mexico. The Narco Blog could not access that article’s text. As of Oct. 11, The Narco Blog had not found a statement from the State of Mexico prosecutor’s office, Mexico’s federal Security Cabinet or Sonora authorities confirming the arrest.

Who is ‘Cara de Cochi’?

Ríodoce described him in March 2025 as the Caborca Cartel’s leader and one of the men closest to Rafael Caro Quintero. Infobae reported the same month that he was named as the alleged head of a group called “La Barredora 24/7” and as the chief of hitmen for Rodrigo Omar “N,” a Caborca Cartel lieutenant arrested in April 2023. Neither outlet reported any charges against Murrieta Navarro.

His name has come up in arrest reports before. In February 2025, Nación321 reported that he had been captured in Caborca, but cited no official source. A month later, Sonora prosecutors arrested a 25-year-old in Hermosillo who, they said, claimed to be the nephew of a criminal target’s wife. Ríodoce and El Universal identified that target as “Cara de Cochi.”

Why it matters for Rocky Point

Altar, Caborca and Puerto Peñasco are all in northwestern Sonora, the Mexican state that borders Arizona, and Rocky Point is a popular beach getaway for Arizonans. If Lindero Norte’s account is right, the alleged boss of a group it says controlled that route was taken far from Sonora, in a weekend resort area west of Mexico City. See our Rocky Point safety page for current advisories.

Sources

Reported Oct. 11, 2026, from the published sources above. The arrest rests on one outlet’s exclusive report and had not been officially confirmed as of this writing. The Narco Blog has not independently confirmed it or reached authorities or Murrieta Navarro’s representatives. He has not been convicted of any crime and is presumed innocent.