Mexican authorities say they have captured Rafael Álvarez Ayala, alias “R2,” an alleged leader of the Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación faction known as Los Rs, following an armed confrontation in Zapopan, Jalisco, that left him and a member of Mexico’s Navy wounded. The operation, carried out on November 8, also netted 19 other people, bringing the total number of detainees to 20.
According to CNN en Español, Mexican officials announced the arrest on Sunday, crediting intelligence work carried out in Jalisco with assistance from information shared by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Mexico’s public security chief Omar García Harfuch said the suspect had a pending Mexican arrest warrant for aggravated homicide along with an extradition order to the United States, the outlet reported. The DEA said separately that R2 was wanted in the U.S. on federal drug-trafficking and firearms-possession charges.
A DEA account retweeted by DEASeattle
early Monday echoed that framing, describing Álvarez Ayala as a senior leader of what it called the CJNG terrorist organization and crediting the DEA with sharing intelligence that helped Mexican authorities locate him. The post also commended Mexico’s public security secretariat, Navy, Army and national intelligence center for bringing him into custody, framing the arrest as part of a broader, cross-border effort to dismantle criminal organizations operating across the two countries.
Shootout Left Suspect and Navy Member Wounded
Per Infobae, Álvarez Ayala and a Navy service member were both injured during the armed confrontation and received medical attention afterward. The outlet did not provide further detail on the extent of either injury. La Razón de México reported that Álvarez Ayala was detained along with 19 other people in Zapopan, a city in the Jalisco metropolitan area.
Diario de Morelos reported that the operation was led by Mexico’s Navy and the federal public security secretariat, with support from Army special forces, and that locating Álvarez Ayala relied on intelligence work by Mexico’s National Intelligence Center combined with information shared by the DEA. Authorities described Los Rs as a cell linked primarily to extortion, drug trafficking, homicide, unlawful deprivation of liberty, kidnapping and attacks on authorities, operating mainly in Jalisco and Michoacán, according to the same CNN en Español report.
Rose to Power After Brother's Arrest This Summer
The Diario de Morelos report also noted that Rafael assumed leadership of Los Rs after his brother Ramón Álvarez Ayala, known as “R1,” was detained in Atotonilco el Alto, Jalisco, on July 30, a timeline corroborated by Infobae. The brothers have a long, tangled history with Mexican law enforcement that predates the current CJNG case entirely.
Infobae reported that Rafael and Ramón were first detained in military operations in Guadalajara and Zapopan back in September 2012. El Financiero later reported that both R1 and R2 were acquitted of organized-crime charges in November 2022, a decade after that earlier arrest — meaning this is not the first time either brother has cycled through Mexico's justice system on allegations tied to organized crime.
Full details on the identities of the other 19 people detained alongside Álvarez Ayala have also not been made public.
