A Message to His Mother Led Troops to Them: 2 Young Men, 21 and 24, Allegedly Lured by the CJNG With Job Offers, Found Alive in a Puerto Vallarta House
One of the two young men managed to get a message to his mother. That contact led Jalisco investigators and Mexican Army troops to a house in Puerto Vallarta, where they found Carlos Gaudiel Mitoma Pérez, 21, and Luis Ángel Olivo Patiño, 24, alive. Authorities suspect the two had been recruited by the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) with job offers that looked legitimate and then held captive, El Financiero reported on Oct. 9, 2026.
Who was found, and where
According to El Financiero, Mitoma is from Guadalajara and Olivo was living in Toluca, in the State of Mexico, where a missing-person report had been filed for him. Blanca Trujillo, Jalisco’s deputy prosecutor for missing persons, said the operation, carried out with state authorities and the Secretaría de la Defensa Nacional, located both men and placed them under protection.
Investigators identified a property in Puerto Vallarta where the two were allegedly held. Inside they found clothing, three cell phones and notebooks with handwritten notes. Trujillo said no weapons or drugs were found there. El Financiero reported that the investigation points to the men possibly having been put to forced labor.
What investigators still don’t know
El Financiero reported that authorities are trying to find out who contacted the men with the job offers and who took part in holding them. The state prosecutor’s office said it would keep working to identify those responsible and to establish how the two ended up at the house. No arrests had been reported, and no evidence tying specific people or a specific CJNG cell to the case had been made public.
A pattern in Jalisco
El Financiero said the case is one of several Jalisco investigations into people who disappeared after possible job scams. In July 2026, three students who went missing in Puerto Vallarta were found alive, and authorities said criminal recruitment was a possible motive. Visitors can find wider safety context on our Puerto Vallarta safety page.
Sources
- El Financiero: Un mensaje a mamá, la pista para encontrar a dos jóvenes reclutados por el CJNG en Puerto Vallarta (Oct. 9, 2026)
- MILENIO: Jalisco Prosecutor’s Office finds 3 missing students alive in Puerto Vallarta (July 2026, earlier case)
- Photo: August Dominus, Wikimedia Commons (CC0); file photo, not from this case.
Reported Oct. 9, 2026, from El Financiero’s account, which cites Jalisco’s deputy prosecutor for missing persons. The CJNG link is a suspicion reported by authorities, not a court finding. Authorities had not announced arrests or said how long the men were held.