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Tag: Drug Cartels

  • Trading Violins For Guns: Combating Cartel Violence

    Efrain has set aside his violin and picked up a rifle. This man is a man who once prided himself on entertaining audiences as a mariachi singer in the Mexican state of Michoacan. Now Efrain driven by hopes of avenging the deaths of his two young nephews.

    The young men were just nineteen and twenty years of age when they were murdered by members of the vicious “Knights Templar” drug cartel. They had been kidnapped. Even though their family managed to pay the ransom money as demanded by their captors, the nephews were murdered anyway.

    Efrain seeks to defend his remaining family members and prevent such a tragedy from happening again. He is part of a group of vigilantes which formed last year in an effort combat cartel-related violence in the region of Tierra Caliente. The area has become the central combat zone between the Knights Templar and the vigilantes.

    The Mexican drug cartels have spent years terrorizing the families within their reach. In addition to trafficking, they engage in hostage taking and extortion. As with Efrain, often the targeted individuals are harmed and murdered even when they comply. The goal isn’t just to make money; it’s to promote a sense of sheer terror.

    Efrain shared that as a mariachi singer, he would often be forced to perform at parties thrown by members of the drug cartels. However, now he and other victims decided they’d had enough. They were and are determined to fight anyway they could.

    But some are questioning the true motivations of the vigilantes. Despite being made up of money-strapped locals, it is curious how they came to be so well armed. This supposed discrepancy has led to rumors that rather than being made up of local victims, it is a group of individuals funded by rivals drug cartels, looking to claim the territory the Knights Templar are fighting to control.

    An anonymous woman who was questioned by the AFP believes the truth may lie somewhere in the middle.

    “It is clear that they got fed up with making payoffs to the Knights Templar. All we want is to not have to pay them so they will leave us alone”.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Mexico Prison Stormed By Gunmen, Nine Dead

    An exchange of gunfire occurred on Friday at a prison in Guerrero, Mexico.

    Six men disguised as police officers commuted to the facility in a stolen pickup truck and pretended to transport an inmate.

    Once inside the doors of the prison, they started confrontation with some of the guards and inmates.

    Four inmates and five assailants were killed in the shootout. The sixth assailant suffers from injuries but is in stable condition. One prison guard is currently being treated for a gunshot wound.

    Following the event, army troops were immediately called to the scene and surrounded the prison’s vicinity.

    The motive behind the raid is still unclear, however, authorities believe that a Mexican gang may have carried out the attack. It is not uncommon for gangs to invade prisons to free their members or to seek revenge by killing those from rival gangs.

    As one of the worst states in Mexico, Guerrero has a high crime rate of gang activity.

    In September 2012, one of the deadliest shootouts happened on the streets of a small town patrolled by Mexican soldiers. (image)

    A heavily armed group of gang members, nine men and one woman, attacked the troops in a case most likely related to drugs. All attackers died in the shootout including one soldier.

    Furthermore, gang members are attacking leaders of the state. In July 2012, police chief of Ayutla was found shot to death.  Many deaths alike have sparked a movement of vigilantes wearing armed masks, carrying weapons and managing roadside checkpoints in an effort to protect their communities.

    As the one of the most popular tourist locations, Guerrero suffers terribly from excessive violence but citizen patrol continues to fight against that which is destroying the community.

    Images via Youtube, WochitGeneralNews

  • Zetas Leader Captured, Probably Won’t Reduce Cartel Violence

    Zetas Leader Miguel Angel Trevino Morales was recently captured in Mexico. His arrest is a major win against the drug cartels that have terrorized Mexico for the past few years.

    It’s being reported that Morales was arrested when Mexican Marines pulled over a pickup truck near Nuevo Laredo. The truck contained not only Morales, but also a bodyguard, an accountant, eight guns and $2 million in cash.

    Now that Morales is in state hands, he’ll be tried by a court for charges of murder, torture, kidnapping and other crimes related to the drug trade. The murder and torture charges will be the easiest to prove as his cartel – the Zetas – left hundreds of bodies in its wake, including a recent event where 49 headless bodies were found, over the last few years. In fact, his position as a leader has him being charged with ordering the kidnappings and deaths of 256 people.

    Unfortunately, his arrest will probably not make a dent in the amount of violence that continues to rock Mexico on an almost daily basis. The cartels are not deterred when a leader is captured or killed. They just put somebody else in charge, and business continues as usual.

    In the case of the Zetas, it’s suspected that Morales’ brother, Omar, will become the next leader. He isn’t known to be as brutal as Morales, but that could all change with his ascension to power. He will have to prove that he has what it takes to fill his brother’s shows, and doing so could lead to even more violence.

    Of course, there’s always the chance that Omar will be weak. Under his leadership, the Zetas may even begin to diminish and lose its power. Unfortunately, other cartels are more than willing to step in and take over territories lost by once dominant cartels. In this case, the Sinaloa cartel, headed by Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, is expected to grow in power if the Zetas cede power under Omar.

    Either way this goes, Mexico is not any safer from the drug cartels that continue to perpetuate violence throughout the nation. In fact, things may become more dangerous if the Zetas and the Sinaloa go to war over territory.

    [h/t: AP via USA Today]

  • 49 Headless Bodies: Mexico’s Grisly Discovery

    In gruesome news out of Mexico today, authorities found the mutilated bodies of 49 victims dumped on the highway leading to Texas from San Juan over the weekend and are calling it “drug related”, as the spray-painted tag “100% Zeta” was found on a sign nearby.

    The Zetas are a heavily-armed gang and have been at war with rival drug cartel Sinaloa for years now; mass body-dumpings have been found in recent months, leading authorities to believe things are about to come to a head. The latest victims–43 men and 6 women–had their heads, hands, and feet chopped off, which will make it extremely difficult to identify the bodies. Autopsies began yesterday.

    The city’s police force has become woefully understaffed, leading to fear on the part of the citizens caught in the middle of a cartel battleground, where the fight for territory so often ends in bloodshed. But authorities insist they are doing what they can to keep the people of Mexico safe.

    “This continues to be violence between criminal groups. This is not an attack against the civilian population,” said Jorge Domene, a security spokesman.

    Because there have been few recent reports of people missing, police believe the victims are from another state, or possibly migrants. They say this is one of the worst massacres in Mexico in many years.

  • In Mexico, Tweeting About Drug Cartels Can Be Fatal

    Twitter, for all its various criticisms, has been proven to be an effective message carrier, especially for citizens looking for social change. The events in areas like Egypt, Syria, Libya, as well as the explosive use during the Japanese earthquakes show when you cut through the unending noise in Twitter–I LUV BEING A BIELBER–there is some very valuable signals worth paying attention to.

    Unfortunately, however, one area where tweeting about social change is not recommended is in Mexico when discussing the powerful and deadly drug cartels that base their operations there. In fact, such defiance may result in a brutal, inhuman response from the enforcers of these gangs.

    Such is the case currently going on in Mexico, which came to light after two bodies were found hanging from a bridge in Nuevo Laredo. The victims were viciously murdered in what looks like another case of cartel retaliation. In this case, the difference is, the two victims defied the cartels by speaking out against them on Twitter.

    For their efforts, they were disemboweled and put on display as a message for others who feel defiant towards the cartels and want to voice their opinions about it. The story of the two victims has since exploded on the Internet, and while the cartels are discussed, it’s the victims’ use of Twitter to speak out against these entities that’s getting the attention.

    The fact that there were warnings found by the victims, with one mentioning posting “funny stuff,” is powering the narrative. One warning, courtesy of CNN, says:

    “This is going to happen to all of those posting funny things on the Internet,” one sign said. “You better (expletive) pay attention. I’m about to get you.”

    The warning signs left with the victims, who, according to CNN’s report, still haven’t been identified or claimed, mentions two blogs specifically, Al Rojo Vivo and Blog del Narco.

    While the brutality of these murders cannot be overlooked–read CNN’s article for a descriptive account if you’d like–it should be noted that the defiance towards the cartels has not deceased:

    On the Al Rojo Vivo forum, where citizens can make anonymous tips, one person wrote: “Don’t be afraid to denounce. It’s very difficult for them to find out who denounced. They only want to scare society.”

    That being said, if you are going to denounce these cartels, make sure they don’t or can’t find out who you are after the criticism goes live. This is one place where Internet anonymity would be wise.