Two members of Mexico City-based Cartel Union de Tepito face extortion charges over threats to burn businesses unless regular protection fees were paid.

The arrest took place recently in Mexico City when authorities found two men identified only as Jose and Edgar, the Mexico City’s Attorney General’s Office revealed. In Mexico, authorities do not release surnames and will digitally cover parts of faces in mugshots.

Local news outlets identified the two men as members of the feared Union de Tepito Cartel, which has generally taken control of Mexico City’s drug trade, kidnapping, and extortion rackets.

The two men are accused of demanding $50,000 pesos from businessmen in the Iztacalco borough. One victim reported the extortion attempt, leading authorities to the suspects.

According to Infobae, La Union de Tepito has entered into an alliance of convenience with Cartel Jalisco New Generation under the name New Alliance (Nueva Alianza). The pairing has become more relevant in recent months as their shared rival, the Sinaloa Cartel, seeks turf in Mexico City.

Sinaloa Cartel gunmen clashed with authorities in a large-scale shootout in July as part of a kidnapping investigation. Gunmen barricaded themselves with a belt-fed machine gun, grenade launchers, 50. cal rifles, and other weapons. Authorities deployed more than 500 police officers to arrest 14 gunmen.

Weeks after that shootout, authorities in Mexico City seized a two-ton shipment of cocaine belonging to the Sinaloa Cartel.

Editor’s Note: Breitbart Texas traveled to Mexico City and the states of Tamaulipas, Coahuila, and Nuevo León to recruit citizen journalists willing to risk their lives and expose the cartels silencing their communities.  The writers would face certain death at the hands of the various cartels that operate in those areas including the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas if a pseudonym were not used. Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles are published in both English and in their original Spanish. This article was written by “L.P. Contreras” from Mexico City and “E.F. Robles” from Jalisco.