Gabriela Ponce, owner of the 30-year-old Bazar de Gaby in Mexicali, announced she is shutting down her business after receiving a written death threat linked to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG). A man on a motorcycle delivered a note to her shop over the weekend demanding extortion payments and warning that she and her son would be killed and her business burned if she refused to pay.
Ponce filmed herself reading the threatening note aloud and posted the video on social media on May 3, making an emotional appeal for authorities to intervene. In the video, she said she could not afford the demanded payments. “Let it all burn inside, but I have no more money to give,” she said, according to Mexican media reports.
Threat Delivered to Blind Spots in Security Cameras
The bazaar, located at the intersection of Héctor Terán Terán and Lombardo Toledano streets in Mexicali, sells household goods. Ponce told reporters the man who delivered the threat knew the blind spots in her security camera system. Despite having at least 12 cameras installed inside and outside the business, none captured the courier. Her security staff could not detain him.
Ponce said the business had been struggling financially and could no longer sustain its employees, let alone cover criminal extortion fees known in Mexico as “cobro de piso” (protection payments). She announced in her video that Bazar de Gaby would close permanently, making it another Mexicali business forced to shut its doors because of organized crime.
Baja California Prosecutors Open Investigation
The Baja California State Attorney General’s Office (FGE) confirmed on May 6 that it has opened an investigation into the threats against Ponce. Authorities have also placed her under special protective measures, though officials did not specify what those protections entail.
The CJNG, once led by Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes (“El Mencho”) before he was killed by the Mexican Army in February 2026, has long relied on extortion as a revenue source. The cartel is known for taxing businesses across multiple industries in regions where it operates. Ponce’s case has drawn national attention, with multiple Mexican outlets covering the story as an example of the extortion crisis facing small business owners across the country.
This story was first reported by Infobae México and Baja California Post.