Army unit in Mexico killings has past controversy

AP: An army officer and seven soldiers who face disciplinary action for their participation in the killing of 22 people in rural southern Mexico belong to an army battalion with a history of incidents.

The Mexican Defense Department said the eight were involved in the June 30 incident in San Pedro Limon, an encounter that the military initially reported as a shootout but that a witness has described as a massacre. Read more, 

Mexican drug cartels try to establish direct ties in Las Vegas, officials say

Las Vegas Sun: Jackie Valley. Mexican cartels are working to establish a direct foothold in Las Vegas to sell drugs here and use the region as a stepping stone to shipping large quantities of drugs to the East, law enforcement officials say.

The vast majority of drugs entering the region still come via long-established routes through Phoenix or Southern California and are overseen by middlemen. But with greater frequency, traffickers here are ordering drugs directly from cartels in Mexico, enforcement officers have found. Read more.

Reclaiming the Forests and the Right to Feel Safe

NY Times: Karla Zabludovsky. CHERÁN, Mexico — The woman’s exhausted eyes reflected the flames dancing in front of her. A 38-year-old grandmother, she is also a leader of the civilian insurgency that has taken over this mountain town in the state of Michoacán, 310 miles west of Mexico City. Sixteen months of cold and sleepless nights at Bonfire No. 17, one of a number of permanent burning barricades set up here, have taken their toll.

But like the rest of the residents, she cannot afford to let her guard down.

On the morning of April 15, 2011, using rocks and fireworks, a group of women attacked a busload of AK-47-armed illegal loggers as they drove through Cherán, residents said. The loggers, who local residents say are protected by one of Mexico’s most powerful criminal organizations and given a virtual free pass by the country’s authorities, had terrorized the community at will for years. Read more.

Cartels cast shadow over Mexico polls

Al Jazeera: Speculation rife over role of criminal syndicates as country votes for new president amid continuing drug violence

Juarez, Mexico - Covered in tattoos and working on a construction site in scorching desert heat is a reformed cartel assassin Luis (a pseudonym), who killed several men on orders from his bosses. "I was a bodyguard for one of the biggest gang members in Juarez," he told Al Jazeera. "We killed people, sold drugs and ran operations from inside prison and on the streets."

Luis was never interested in politics, but higher up the ranks of Mexico's notorious drug gangs, it seems likely that major players want to influence their surroundings. "All political things are like the mafia," Luis said. "I can tell you because I've been there."

As Mexicans head to the polls, analysts and security officials are split on what role wealthy criminal syndicates play in the country's political process. Along with picking a new president on Sunday, voters are electing: five governors, hundreds of congressional seats and nearly 1,000 local-level officials. Read more.

Drug Cartels Ready Themselves for Mexico Elections

AP: EMILIANO ZAPATA, Mexico – Elections in Mexico are Sunday and drug cartels have taken notice, but forget who is going to be president these cartels are interested in who is going to be mayor.

It's easier to influence a local election than an extensive well-financed national one.

It's a principal Mexican drug cartels swear by.

As Mexicans head to the ballot box Sunday, cartels are influencing Mexico's local elections by registering their votes with scare tactics, and cold hard cash to make sure whoever is elected doesn't interfere with their lucrative operations. Read more.

Drug War: Car Bombing, Police Ambush Show Sophisticated Tactics of Mexico's Drug Gangs

InSight Crime: "The recent killing of 12 policemen in Guerrero, and a car bomb in Tamaulipas, serve as illustrations of the threat of large-scale violence posed by Mexico’s drug trafficking organizations.

... it is not clear whether the two attacks in Guerrero are linked, although state officials have said they believe they are. A note left by the decapitated heads said "this will keep happening to those who continue supporting the 'FM,'" which presumably stands for the Familia Michoacana. The drug gang is highly active in the region of the state, known as "Tierra Caliente," and is currently battling for control with a splinter group known as the Caballeros Templarios." read more

Drug War: Security Surge in Michoacan to Confront Familia-Knights Templar Battle

InSight Crime: "Mexico deployed approximately 4,000 troops to the western state of Michoacan, where rival criminal gangs are engaged in a heated battle over control of the Tierra Caliente agricultural region.

... The deployment appears to be in response to a wave of violence seen in Michoacan's rural Tierra Caliente region since late 2011. In the most serious incident, 13 men were found dead outside the town of Zitacuaro on January 9." read more

Drug War: Prosecutor says 5 police officers shot dead outside Mexico City tried to extort suspects

Note: this prosecutor´s statement is based on the statements of supposed members of a drug cartel as to why they called in an attack on the police.

AP/Washington Post: "Mexican authorities say five police officers fatally shot near Mexico City after stopping a car were trying to extort money when they were attacked.

Mexico State prosecutor Alfredo Castillo says the officers from the town of Ixtapaluca (Ees-tah-pah-lu-ca) asked the four La Familia Michoacana cartel members in the vehicle for 6,000 pesos (about $460) to let them go." read more

Mexico Politics: The Michoacán Debacle: Fault Lines Ahead of the Mexican Presidential Election

A good, clear explication of the election turmoil in the Mexican state of Michoacán and how it may foreshadow the coming presidential election

Upsidedownworld: "On December 28, Mexico’s Federal Electoral Tribunal (TEPJF) annulled the recent mayoral election in Morelia, Michoacán, as the ugly fallout to the state’s gubernatorial and local elections in November continues. Opposition parties have called for the rest of the results to be thrown out as well – an unlikely prospect – amid a slew of controversies that hint at turmoil to come in this year’s presidential race.

... Ostensibly, the elections in Michoacán represented another significant victory for the PRI, with the party’s Enrique Pena Nieto a strong favorite to take the presidency on July 1. However, they also illustrated all too well the difficulty of holding fair elections in a region of the country plagued by corruption and organized crime." read more

Drug War and Mexico Politics: Mexico to probe report of drug campaign financing

Associated Press: "Mexican federal prosecutors said Tuesday they are opening an investigation into a taped telephone conversation in which a reputed drug cartel leader purportedly threatens residents of a town in western Mexico to vote in favor of one candidate." read more

Drug War: Mexico Declares the End Has Come for Familia Gang

A look not only at the decline of La Familia, but also of the rise of Los Caballeros Templarios, the Knights Templar, to replace it in the state of Michoacán and form links with other cartels. One or more hydra heads replace the one cut off.


InSight Crime: "The arrest of a commander of the Familia Michoacana is another blow to the sinking criminal group, just days after the Mexican government declared the gang had all but disappeared from its traditional home turf. As El Universal reports, Hector Russel Rodriguez Baez, alias "El Toro," was detained following a shootout with Federal Police in Chalco, Mexico State, this weekend. A spokesman with the Public Security Ministry (SSP) said that Rodriguez Baez was the highest ranking member of the Familia in Chalco, a Mexico City suburb of some 300,000 people.

... According to a recent report from Excelsior, officials with the SSP and the Mexican military view the Familia as a non-entity in Michoacan, with the Caballeros Templarios (Knights Templar) taking their place as the foremost group in the region, and absorbing their production and trafficking operations." read more

Drug War Bloodshed: 20 Killed in Shootouts in Mexico

20 Killed in Shootouts in Mexico - NYTimes.com: "Twenty people were killed Friday in multiple shootouts in two states, law enforcement officials said. In Michoacán, 14 bodies were found in three different locations. ... In the border state of Sinaloa, a confrontation between members of an organized crime gang on a highway left six people dead, three of them unarmed civilians." read more

Mexico Drug War: The 'Zeta Killers' and the Rise of Narco-Horror

This analysis of the Mexico crug cartels' use of media rambles a bit, but presents some interesting points of view on the history and function of "narco-horror" as communication.

InSight Crime: "The release of a new video showing an armed group calling themselves the "Zeta Killers" confirms the evolution of Mexico's drug war into a battle of information, images, and propaganda played out in the media."

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Mexico Drug War: Key figure in cult-like drug cartel captured in Michoacan

The Washington Post: "The Mexican army captured a key figure in the cult-like Knights Templar drug cartel that is sowing violence in western Mexico, a top officer announced Tuesday. Saul Solis, 49, a former police chief and one-time congressional candidate, was captured without incident Monday in the cartel’s home state of Michoacan, Brig. Gen. Edgar Luis Villegas told reporters during a presentation of Solis."

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Drug War - Collateral Damage: Mexico police kill 4 gunmen, rescue kidnap victims

sfgate.com: "Four gunmen were killed by Mexican police in a shootout that led to the release of five kidnapping victims in the western state of Michoacan, authorities said Wednesday.

The suspected criminals had abducted the two women and three minors earlier this month using a fake police car and fake federal police uniforms, federal police said in a statement. Authorities said the men killed had ties to the Knights Templar, an offshoot cartel of pseudo-religious La Familia organization."

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Whack-a-mole Drug War: Mexican cartels splinter, branch out as drug war rages

A good description of the chaos created by the U.S. and Mexican governments' "whack-a-mole" drug war strategy.

latimes.com: "As Mexico's military and federal police seek to arrest or take out top cartel figures, the drug groups inevitably splinter in the subsequent power vacuums, and new self-described "cartels" are formed, although it is practically impossible to know how large or organized the new groups can be. Out of those, subgroups branch out, often seeking to claim new territory or "clean up" against a rival."

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Whack-a-mole Drug War: Mexican soldiers kill 8 suspected cartel gunmen during highway shootout in Michoacan state - The Washington Post

The Washington Post: "Eight suspected drug cartel gunmen were killed in a shootout early Tuesday with Mexican soldiers in the western state of Michoacan, a government official said.

...In the Pacific coast resort city of Acapulco, at least 10 people were slain in less than 24 hours, including a television host and two police officers, authorities said."

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Whack-a-mole Drug War: Upstart Gangs Eat into Cartel Hegemony

From 'InSight Crime,' an analysis of the dynamics of the fragmentation of Mexican cartels

Mexico: Upstart Gangs Eat into Cartel Hegemony: "While the most obvious symptom of Mexico’s current struggle with organized crime is stratospheric rates of violence, the fracturing of powerful trafficking organizations into a constellation of smaller groups could have a more lasting impact on the country. ...

The most obvious reason for the growth of the smaller gangs is pressure from the federal government. A significant number of kingpins have been killed or arrested in the past two years in particular, and one capo’s demise often sparks fighting between subordinates and rivals for control of his network. (The government denies this, though not very convincingly.) But even beyond the takedowns of capos, a more aggressive federal policy creates space for newcomers, because one group losing a significant chunk of its operators or having its favored cocaine route shut down by the army creates opportunities for ambitious small-timers.

But this is not a one-off phenomenon; instability breeds further instability, because the new groups don’t enjoy the same level of dominance as their predecessors did. Even after winning control over a given territory, their reign is subject to continued challenges."

Whack-a-mole Drug War: Mexico Should Cut Hype Over Drug Gang Arrests

From 'InSight Crime'

Mexico Should Cut Hype Over Drug Gang Arrests: "Mexico’s decision to focus on combating the Zetas, the country's most brutal drug gang, has begun to deliver results, with the Defense Ministry announcing a series of heavy blows against the organization -- but the government should be careful not to oversell its successes.

According to the ministry, an operation dubbed “Lince Norte” (Northern Wildcat), delivered some flashy results: authorities confiscated 1,300 firearms, roughly half a million dollars in cash, and more than 3.5 tons of drugs. In addition, the ministry said that 30 Zeta gunmen were killed in confrontations with the government, and 12 kidnap victims were rescued. ...

The successes, such as they are, of Lince Norte are part of a newly announced government strategy of prioritizing the fight against the Zetas. As the Dallas Morning News reported in July, “The Mexican government is refocusing its drug-war strategy to take down the Zetas paramilitary cartel, a significant shift in approach that is likely to be met with increased violence...”

This shift in Mexican policy comes alongside a focus on the Zetas in the most recent U.S. organized crime strategy, also released last month by the Office of National Drug Control Policy. While the strategy does little to radically alter the tools the U.S. government has at its disposal, the fact that the Zetas are the only Mexican drug gang it mentions by name demonstrates that the group is at squarely in the middle of the Obama administration’s radar screen as well.

Whether this recent Mexican operation has any lasting impact on the Zetas remains to be seen, but the triumphant press release celebrating the operation counts against the government’s credibility to a certain degree, because the men paraded before the cameras as vital parts of the Zetas command structure are not well known figures. Describing the arrest of Quintanilla as a major blow against organized crime simply makes people distrust the government’s pronouncements.

Likewise, the U.S. government often exaggerates the effect of its anti-drug sweeps. One example is the Justice Department's breathless description of thousands of arrests in "Project Delirium" earlier this month, which they hailed as a "surgical strike" against the Mexican Familia Michoacana drug gang."

Whack-a-mole Drug War: Mexican police arrest Caballeros Templarios cartel member

The mole whack of the day

Mexican police arrest Caballeros Templarios cartel member - Fox News Latino: "A Caballeros Templarios drug cartel member suspected of being in charge of operations in Apatzingan, a city in the western state of Michoacan, has been arrested by the Federal Police, the Mexican Public Safety Secretariat said.

Nery Salgado Harrison was arrested on Sunday northwest of Apatzingan, a bastion of Los Caballeros Templarios, the secretariat said."