The Narco Blog

Who Is ‘El Cromo’? Iván Sánchez Santiago, Flown Out of Guadalajara Under Navy Guard, Faces 3 Murder Warrants — and 4 Others Were Already Arrested in the Killing of a 4-Year-Old in Juchitán, Oaxaca

By The Narco Blog · October 15, 2026

A handcuffed man in a black T-shirt, his eyes covered by a black bar, stands on a runway in front of a Mexican Navy air-ambulance plane, flanked by armed Navy marines and SSPC federal agents. — Navy marines and SSPC agents stand with a man authorities identified as Iván “N,” alias “El Cromo,” beside a Navy plane during his transfer after his arrest in Guadalajara. Photo: handout from Mexico’s Navy (Semar), SSPC and FGR, via Infobae.

“El Cromo,” the alleged Los Cromos leader arrested in Guadalajara on Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026, is Iván Sánchez Santiago, Infobae México reported. Officials had released only his first name. By Wednesday night he was in Mexico City under Navy guard. El Imparcial de Oaxaca and Por Esto reported that he had been handed to the federal prosecutors’ organized-crime unit, FEMDO. Mexico’s security cabinet links Los Cromos to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) in Oaxaca’s Isthmus of Tehuantepec.

His alleged place in Los Cromos

According to Infobae, federal authorities say Sánchez Santiago ran the group’s operations in the Isthmus. He allegedly answered to Rafael de Jesús Álvarez Palma, “Fallo” or “Comandante Renco.” Oaxaca’s state prosecutors (FGEO) say Los Cromos began as a local gang in Juchitán de Zaragoza and later allied with the CJNG. Infobae says the group operates in Juchitán, Tehuantepec, Salina Cruz, Ciudad Ixtepec, El Espinal, Magdalena Tequisistlán and Unión Hidalgo. The hunt for him ran from Oaxaca and Chiapas to Jalisco, the outlet added. It also reported that Mexico’s Financial Intelligence Unit (UIF) froze accounts tied to the case at the same time.

Security chief Omar García Harfuch said Wednesday that the detainee faces two arrest warrants for aggravated homicide involving three victims. Intelligence records also cite a third warrant from 2020.

The 4-year-old’s case: what is known

Harfuch said Los Cromos is accused in the killing of a 4-year-old girl in Juchitán. Infobae dates the case to Nov. 10, 2025, citing the FGEO. That day the bodies of two women and a man were found at the entrance to Guiguyita, and contact with the girl and her mother was lost. The girl was later found dead in a house in colonia La Planta.

So far four other people have been arrested in that case, Infobae reported. Three women found at the house were ordered to stand trial for aggravated homicide. A bank-security police officer was arrested as the alleged killer. The FGEO has not formally tied Sánchez Santiago to that case file, the outlet noted.

A man in a black T-shirt, his eyes covered by a black bar, stands handcuffed between two masked Mexican Navy marines in front of a banner reading Marina. — A man authorities identified as Iván “N,” alias “El Cromo,” between two Navy marines after his arrest. Photo: handout from Mexico’s Navy (Semar), SSPC and FGR, via El Imparcial de Oaxaca.

What comes next

No court date has been announced. Juchitán’s former mayor, Miguel Sánchez Altamirano, “Quetu,” remains jailed in El Altiplano, accused of protecting the group. No response from Sánchez Santiago or a lawyer has been reported. He is presumed innocent.

Sources

Infobae México (Ingrid Scarlet Rubi Resendiz), “Quién es Iván Sánchez Santiago, el ‘Cromo’ señalado en el caso de la niña asesinada en Juchitán,” Oct. 14, 2026
El Imparcial de Oaxaca, “Bajo custodia federal: ‘El Cromo’ llega a CDMX y queda en manos de la FEMDO,” Oct. 14, 2026
Por Esto, “Trasladan a ‘El Cromo’ a CDMX bajo fuerte operativo de seguridad,” Oct. 14, 2026
El Informador, “De Juchitán a Guadalajara…,” Oct. 14, 2026 (quotes Harfuch’s full statement)
Photos: Semar/SSPC/FGR handouts, via Infobae and El Imparcial de Oaxaca

Reported Oct. 15, 2026, from the outlets above. Officials have not publicly confirmed the full name Infobae published. The accusations are allegations, not court findings. The Narco Blog did not independently verify them.