(NewsNation) — A Mexican mayor has been arrested amid an investigation into cartel operations, according to multiple reports.
Teuchitlán Mayor José Murguía Santiago denies any involvement with the Jalisco New Generation cartel despite allegations of collusion, per the BBC.
The outlet reported that bone fragments, clothing items and hundreds of shoes were found at the Izaguirre Ranch when activists went looking for missing relatives. It was later confirmed to be a training site of the cartel.
“If they want to investigate me, let them, I’m clean and willing to say what I know,” Santiago said to local media prior to his arrest.
As cited by the BBC, Mexico’s attorney general said there was no evidence the ranch had been used as something of a cremation site, but investigations are still ongoing.
Border Patrol ready for possible onslaught from cartel: Exclusive
Mike Banks, the Border Patrol chief, told NewsNation exclusively that his agency is ready for a possible onslaught from the cartel, even though there have been record-low border crossings and decreased fentanyl seizures.
Banks said that as the United States puts more security along the southern border, they have seen more traffic being pushed to the coast. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem has the Coast Guard and destroyers monitoring and patrolling those areas.
Fentanyl seizures across March and April only totaled 1,371 pounds, despite it being 21,900 pounds during the last fiscal year. It is the first time in almost three years that any month has had less than 1,000 pounds of fentanyl seized.
Due to the country’s improved security at the border, Banks said the cartels want to traffic fentanyl and other narcotics into other areas, like Canada, Central and South America and Europe.
“Instead of being pushed north into the United States, they’re looking for new markets, because we’re closing the market on the United States,” Banks said.