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
“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.
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.