The Narco Blog

7th Arrest Over the 2025 Ambush on Federal Agents in Acapulco: ‘El Junior,’ Alleged Los Rusos Cell Boss Accused of Extorting Central Market Vendors

By The Narco Blog · October 11, 2026

Detained man in a white tank top and blue pants, face blurred, standing against a stone wall between Marina, SSPC and Guerrero state police officers at night — Eliceo “N,” alias “El Junior,” after his arrest in Acapulco, Guerrero, flanked by Navy, SSPC and state police officers. Photo: SSPC (Mexican government handout), via El Financiero.

Mexican federal and Guerrero forces have arrested Eliceo “N,” alias “El Junior,” in Acapulco. Authorities describe him as the leader of a cell linked to the criminal group Los Rusos and accuse him of extorting vendors at Acapulco’s Mercado Central. Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch announced the arrest on Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026, El Financiero and Proceso reported. He called it the seventh arrest tied to the cell that attacked federal agents in the resort city in October 2025.

What authorities say he did

According to El Financiero, Harfuch said the detainee is linked to extortion of Mercado Central merchants, homicides and attacks on transport workers. The operation was run by the Security Ministry (SSPC) and the Navy with Guerrero’s state police and state prosecutors. Proceso identified him as Eliceo “V” “N.” Officials reported seizing two firearms, cartridges, 300 doses of drugs and a pickup truck. Neither outlet gave the date of the arrest itself.

Harfuch wrote on X that attacks on SSPC personnel “no quedarán impunes” (“will not go unpunished”) and thanked Guerrero Gov. Evelyn Salgado, TV Azteca reported. TV Azteca put the case tally at seven detained and one alleged gunman dead.

A rifle, a silver handgun with an ornate grip, magazines, cartridges, a phone and hundreds of small blue bags of suspected drugs laid out on a table — Weapons, ammunition and doses of suspected drugs that authorities say were seized in the operation. Photo: SSPC (Mexican government handout), via El Financiero.

The October 2025 attack

El Financiero reported on Oct. 19, 2025, that men on a motorcycle had opened fire on SSPC agents patrolling Acapulco neighborhoods the day before. Three agents were wounded. One attacker was killed, and another was wounded and arrested. Six people were detained after the attack. Harfuch named one of them, Antonio “N,” as the mastermind. Local media identified him as Antonio Bautista Vargas, “El Cabañas,” an alleged Los Rusos plaza boss arrested in Cuernavaca, Morelos.

Who are Los Rusos?

El Financiero describes Los Rusos as a group led by Juan José Ponce Félix, “El Ruso,” that mainly traffics drugs in Mexicali and commits other crimes in Guerrero and Oaxaca. The outlet cites U.S. intelligence reports saying Ponce Félix worked directly for Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada in 2012. It says the group later became the armed wing of Zambada’s faction, Los Mayos (La Mayiza), of the Sinaloa Cartel. Officials have not publicly said whether the Acapulco cell takes orders from that leadership.

Sources

Reported Oct. 11, 2026, from the published sources above. The Narco Blog has not independently confirmed these details or reached authorities or Eliceo “N”’s representatives. He has not been convicted of any crime and is presumed innocent.