Whack-a-mole: Former military train La Familia, according to La Razón

Those drug "moles" are getting smarter and smarter and more vicious.

Quadratín (original in Spanish)

"MORELIA, Mich., December 14, 2010 .- Discipline. Order. Obedience. Basic Principles of the Special Forces of Colombia are applied to assasins trained by ex-military of that country and other collaborators of La Familia Michoacana in the Sierra Madre del Sur of Mexico's western state of Michoacán.

"The isolated of the world," local groups of youth, other (Mexican) nationals, Guatemalans and Salvadorans are trained to kill, torture, dismember and disappear opponents, according to U.S. and Mexican intelligence reports released by the Mexico City daily, La Razón.

"All have been trained with military and religious dogma, which starts with a 'retreat' of three to six months," the report states. Preparation for the “faith,” allegedly gets under way with sessions for "changes in attitude" that include personal development, values and ethics, according to revelations made by La Familia members previously detained by the Secretary of Public Security (SSP).

With their values reinforced, the trainees - mostly recovering addicts - are, at the same time, given training in handling weapons, both long and short arms, and tools for torture and butchering. Meanwhile, they receive a salary that amounts to $2,500. Once trained, they are released into the streets.

La Familia Michoacana is competing with the Sinaloa Cartel, the Beltran Leyva Cartel and the Zetas for control of the southern and central Pacific region (of Mexico) in order to bring in cocaine from Colombia and manufacture synthetic drugs (methamphetamine).

In the past two years, the states of Guerrero, Michoacan, Estado de Mexico, Guanajuato, Tamaulipas and Jalisco have been scenes of persecution, massacres and multiple events of extreme violence related to this type of training.

The Federal Police report that the family has a presence in 19 of the 36 states (of Mexico), and that it recently detained 580 people from the cartel, of which 423 are linked to activities against health (narcotrafficking) and 157 dedicated to kidnapping or extortion." Dec. 14, 2010