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By the time the World Cup ends this month, Mexico City International Airport will have welcomed an estimated 5.5-million extra passengers, with football fans from around the globe converging on the country.
Many of those arrivals are passing through inspection points secured by companies with links to two men authorities suspect of providing weapons to drug cartels.
OCCRP media partner Mexicans Against Corruption and Impunity (MCCI) has found that the two companies — SERPROSEP SA de CV and Armour King SA de CV — were awarded three-year contracts for airport security last year.
The registry document dated 2022 for SERPROSEP lists Jorge Enrique Alberts Ponce and Alfonso Sainz de la Maza Zúñiga as its co-owners.
Alberts is a subject of a November 2025 federal arrest warrant, while Sainz de la Maza is named in the investigation as his alleged associate. Sanz de la Maza Zúñiga is not wanted by authorities.
Journalists were unable to obtain information about current ownership of SERPROSEP SA de CV. That’s because the online registry is not up to date, and Mexican law does not require companies to upload current documentation. Instead, firms can make changes and submit physical documents through a notary.
Physical documents are difficult for journalists to obtain, however, and would involve hiring a lawyer to petition authorities to release them in the public interest.
A SERPROSEP spokesperson said by email that its shareholders have “have no connection whatsoever” with Alberts or Sainz de la Maza Zúñiga.
Reporters requested documentation showing ownership history and proof Alberts is not among the company's owners, but SERPROSEP declined to provide it.
The SERPROSEP spokesperson said the company “has fully complied” with the law and with the obligations entered into under the tender with Mexico City International Airport (AICM).
The contracts show that Alberts was an authorized representative for another company providing security services called Armour King, while Sainz de la Maza was listed as a commissioner in a 2019 incorporation document.
Neither Alberts nor Sainz de la Maza responded to requests for comment. Armour King did not respond to a request for comment.
The Attorney General's Office issued the arrest warrant for Jorge Enrique Alberts Ponce in November 2025 — five months after work on the airport contracts began. Journalists verified his identity by matching the unique national identification code listed in the warrant with code for Alberts listed in the corporate document.
According to the arrest warrant, prosecutors charged Alberts with organized-crime offenses related to alleged hydrocarbon theft and firearms trafficking.
The Attorney General's Office alleges that Alberts controlled five different companies — none of which received airport contracts — to acquire and funnel guns to criminal organizations, including drug cartels. Alberts allegedly carried out those activities in coordination with Sandalio Sainz de la Maza, and several others.
Prosecutors allege the security companies obtained firearms that were then tampered with — such as altering or removing serial numbers — before being distributed to criminal organizations, including drug cartels.
The arrest warrant cites tapped telephone calls in which Alberts allegedly “directs his criminal activity, the trafficking and sale of firearms.” Customers allegedly included “a leader of the Gulf Cartel,” according to the warrant.
AICM said it was not aware that the same people were involved in both SERPROSEP and Armour King, and that it did not know about the arrest warrant for Alberts that was issued after the contracts were awarded.
“At the time of the contracting procedures, the decisions were based on the available official information and the documentation submitted by the participants in accordance with applicable legislation and the requirements stipulated in the call for bids,” AICM said in an emailed response to questions.
“Security is a permanent priority,” AICM added
