Cartel Corner #58: The Next Generation of Narco’s

There was a time, the story goes, when if a local collided with a drug trafficker’s car on the streets of Culiacán — a bastion of the infamous Sinaloa cartel — the narco was likely to hop out to check that everything was ok.

“They’d say: ‘If you have any problems call this doctor and I’ll pay,'” says journalist Javier Valdez, who specializes in delving into the entrails of drug trafficking culture in Sinaloa. “Not anymore. Now they’ll get out of the car with a pistol. Not only will they not pay you; they’ll beat you, threaten you, or kill you.”

Such tales of shifting mafia etiquette are part of the legend of the underworld in Sinaloa but, close observers like Valdez say, there is also truth to the idea that the newer generations rising up within the Sinaloa drug trafficking scene are more violent and impulsive. And none more so than the one emerging to take control right now.

‘There’s no reason to think that things will get better. They’ll either stay the same or get worse.’

Many in Sinaloa today fear that the recapture in January of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, the Sinaloa cartel’s highest profile leader and one of the last of its so-called elder statesmen, could accelerate this transition to rule by the so-called narcojuniors.

Few in Culiacán dispute Chapo’s status as a ruthless and bloodthirsty operator, but many credit his generation of Sinaloa traffickers with ensuring the cartel is still considered less wholeheartedly exploitative and sadistic than some other Mexican groups, such as the Knights Templar or the Zetas. While the point is often overstated, the Sinaloa cartel leadership has traditionally limited the expansion of side-rackets, such as extortion and kidnapping, at least on its home turf.

“The government lauds Chapo’s arrest as if it were the end of drug trafficking or the end of the Sinaloa cartel,” says Valdez, who writes for the Sinaloa investigative weekly Rio Doceand whose most recent book is titled Los Morros del Narco, or Narco Youth. “But there’s no reason to think things will get better. They’ll either stay the same, or get worse.”

At first glance, Culiacán appears little different from any other mid-size Mexican city, yet it is dotted with reminders of its status as the bastion of what is still the nation’s most powerful criminal organization. The hills on the edge of the city are lined with opulent mansions, while a few abandoned houses riddled with dozens of bullet holes stand as a reminder of what happens when all is not well within the cartel.

Many of those holes date from a terrible battle between Chapo and his former allies from the Beltrán Leyva organization that, at the time, residents of Culiacán described as a civil war. It led to a sharp spike in the level of violence across the state from 2008 to 2010, as well as spin off conflicts in other parts of the country where the two groups held sway. Chapo won that war and the Beltrán Leyva group fell apart.

Read the Remainder at Vice News

Cartel Corner #51: El Chapo’s Arrest Won’t Impact War on Drugs

There was a sigh of relief when the Mexican government successfully re-captured drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman last week.  El Chapo, leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, is arguably the most powerful drug trafficker in the world, exporting volumns of illegal narcotics globally and spreading violence in its wake.  However,  DEA Agent Mike Vigil told The Cipher Brief that El Chapo’s capture will not have a significant impact on the drug trade, or what he believes will be a permanent campaign against illicit drugs, until the United States can reduce its demand for drugs. 

The Cipher Brief: How was El Chapo captured? How did the U.S. and Mexico work together to capture El Chapo?

Michael Vigil: The United States and Mexico have a good working relationship and continue to share an abundance of information derived from both technical and human sources on transnational organized crime networks operating in Mexico.  This includes the powerful Sinaloa Cartel headed by Joaquin Guzman Loera, aka Chapo, the most ruthless and cunning drug lord in the world.  With very little formal education, he has built a criminal empire that operates in 6,000 U.S. cities and over 40 countries.  It supplies about 60 percent of the drugs consumed in our country.

The daring escape of Guzman six months ago resulted in the largest manhunt in the history of Mexico.  The Mexican government, greatly embarrassed, committed thousands of security forces and hundreds of intelligence analysts in order to capture him.  Mexican security forces began conducting numerous telephone wire intercepts on individuals associated with Guzman.  This included several of his attorneys who were in constant contact with Guzman.  The intercepted calls led to a Mexican actress, Kate del Castillo.  She is an attractive actress who played a seductive cartel leader in a television series called La Reina del Sur (The Queen of the South).  Guzman became enamored with her and began to communicate directly with her through blackberry telephones.

The Mexican marines also effectively began to constrict the terrain that Guzman used in maneuvering and concealing himself.  This forced Guzman to flee the rugged mountainous areas in the state of Sinaloa and flee to the city of Los Mochis, where he was captured after an intense gun battle, in which five traffickers and one marine were killed.  The DEA and other U.S. agencies worked closely with the Mexican government in providing information on Guzman since his escape, but all the credit goes to Mexico’s security forces, especially the marines who have become the spear point of Mexico’s counter-drug efforts.

TCB: What impact will El Chapo’s capture have on Mexican drug production and distribution? What does this tell us about combatting the War on Drugs?

MV: The capture of Guzman provides a great moral victory, but it will not have a significant impact on drug production and distribution. The Sinaloa Cartel is the most powerful drug trafficking network in the world, and its overall leadership is extremely strong.  Ismael “Mayo” Zambada, the underboss of the cartel, was in charge when Guzman was incarcerated.  He is one of the last remaining “old guard” capos in Mexico and is highly respected by the drug trafficking community.  Although he is wanted in the U.S. and Mexico, Zambada has been able to elude capture by maintaining a low profile and paying large sums of money for protection.  He has expanded the cartel’s operations and ensured its survival in the violent conflict with other drug trafficking organizations such as the Zeta’s, Tijuana cartel, Juarez cartel, and the Knights Templar.

In order to dismantle the Sinaloa cartel, Mexico now has to attack its infrastructure in a strategic manner.  Its security forces have to identify and seize cartel assets, such as properties and bank accounts.  Furthermore, it has to arrest and bring to justice those officials who provide protection to the organization.  With the recapture of Guzman, the work of Mexico is actually only beginning, and it will need strong will and full support of its judiciary for a top to bottom destruction of the Sinaloa cartel.

I do not describe counterdrug efforts as a “war,” because all wars have an end and therefore, to me, it is better described as a permanent campaign against illicit drugs.  It is a campaign that will continue until we reduce the insatiable demand in the U.S., which drives drug trafficking and its related crime and violence.  This requires a strong commitment by each and every community—families, schools, and religious institutions—to educate our young at a very early age of the dangers regarding drug abuse.  It is not an issue that should only involve law enforcement but every citizen of our country.

TCB: After having escaped prison twice, there are fears that El Chapo will do it again.  Can you explain the extradition process and the debate surrounding it? How could extradition prevent El Chapo’s escape, and what are the consequences of not extraditing him?

MV: Extradition requests to Mexico must be made through diplomatic channels and needs to contain a description of the offense, which is the basis for the solicitation.  It must be accompanied by a statement of the facts of the case; the text of the legal provisions describing the essential elements of the offense; the facts and personal information of the person sought; a copy of the arrest warrant issued by a judge or other judicial officer; evidence which would justify the apprehension and commitment for trial of the person sought; when the request relates to a convicted person, a certified copy of the judgment of conviction must be submitted.

In the case of urgency, a provisional arrest may be requested, which will initiate the necessary steps to arrest of the individual.  However, the provisional arrest will be terminated within a period of 60 days after the arrest of the individual if the formal extradition package has not been received.  A judge will review the merits of the request and then make a determination.  If the recommendation is to extradite, it will be sent to the Ministry of Foreign Relations that will make the final decision.

The extradition treaty between Mexico and the U.S. was signed in 1978 and ratified in 1980.  Unfortunately, the history of extradition between both countries has not been characterized by emphatic cooperation on either side.  It has been overshadowed by reluctance and mistrust.   Although it seems to be getting better, it is still sporadic, but Mexico has in the recent past sent several Mexican drug lords to the U.S.

The debate surrounding extradition focuses on many issues, such as the potential mistreatment of nationals extradited to the U.S. or the fact that they will not receive a fair trial.  Mexico doesn’t believe in the death penalty and will not extradite anyone unless it  receives assurances that capital punishment will not be imposed. Another significant factor is that of national dignity, in which Mexico will appear to be weak and not be able to deal with its own criminals.

Extradition proceedings in Mexico can last anywhere from six months to six years.  Guzman has the best legal representation money can buy and can stall the process for years unless the Mexican government acts decisively.

All drug lords fear extradition, and Guzman is no exception.  If he remains in Mexico, he will continue to have access to his criminal organization.  He will also be able to bribe and intimidate authorities and possibly engineer a third escape.  If extradited, Guzman would no longer have this support system, and bribery and intimidation will be extremely difficult.  He knows that once convicted, he will never be a free man again.

TCB: The Rolling Stone interview has been really controversial throughout this entire ordeal.  How could law enforcement have used the article to help locate El Chapo?

MV: The article in the Rolling Stone didn’t play a role in the capture of Guzman.  It was telephone wire intercepts and other investigative tactics that resulted in his arrest.  Unfortunately, the interview was actually quite superficial and did not reveal anything new.  The value comes from self-incriminating statements made by Guzman, which can be used in criminal proceedings in the U.S.

Read the Original Article at The Cipher Brief

The Tactics of Narco Criminal Insurgencies and their Deadly Repercussions

How the Mexican Drug Cartel’s Violence along the Border Threatens America’s Safety

By Hammerhead

Very often crime statistics about America’s Southern Border Security can be confusing or misleading. Most main stream media only release articles and summaries about what is happening in Mexico proper but not what is actually taking place ON THE BORDER, ie, the Border Towns that connect U.S. and Mexico.

So to show how precarious the situation really is, I took a small sampling of events that happened over the span of roughly a few months down on the border (October thru December 2015) that were not widely reported by mainstream news outlets:

• Two Home Invasions in two different border towns (both on the American side) by heavily armed groups of men, both looking for large amounts of cash or drugs. Two assaults and a carjacking were reported.
• Two shootouts in border towns (both on Mexican side) between drug cartels and Mexican Federal Police and Military, with the capture of one cartel leader and the attempted capture of another. No fatalities reported, but civilians were told to shelter in place and not leave their homes.
• A major shootout in Hidalgo County on a  Texas Interstate between A” Rip Crew” (a crew that hijacks drug shipments and money) and a Gulf Cartel Drug Shipment of 540 lbs of marijuana. An innocent bystanders vehicle was shot up but the occupants were unharmed.
• A Group of Cartel members fired a RPG rocket at a Police Station on the Mexican side. The rocket missed and landed as a dud in a nearby field where Bomb disposal crews were called to disarm it.
• Seven Bodies of Suspected Drug Smugglers were found 160 yards from the Arizona Border. The people had been tortured before being executed and one had been decapitated. The bodies were found in a popular staging area for human trafficking.
• A Cartel Assassin named “El Mano Negro” (The Black Hand) was arrested in California for 9 murders and suspected in 34 other murders across 12 States.

It is easy to see from this short summary, that the often repeated mantra of “random acts of violence” by main stream news media does not hold water. What we are seeing along our Southern Borders is nothing short of a dedicated CRIMINAL INSURGENCY between not only multiple well armed and well-trained criminal cartels who are fighting for control of the lucrative drug transport corridors and plazas along the U.S./Mexican Border but also the Local and Federal Mexican Police, The Mexican Military (including the Army and Navy) and various Auto-Defensas (Civilian Vigilante Defense Groups) that take it upon themselves to defend certain towns and villages. These groups when they first started out were fairly successful in driving the cartels out of certain areas in Mexico, but it did not take long for the cartels to infiltrate and corrupt the groups and now currently, most of the larger groups are under the control of either the Government or the Cartels themselves as a proxy guerilla force.

To help you understand how this criminal insurgency was birthed, I want to quote from an article entitled “Los Zetas: Massacres, Assassinations and Infantry Tactics” written by John P. Sullivan and Samuel Logan.

PRAETORIAN REVOLT: GAINING INDEPENDENCE

“By early spring of 2010, the Zetas split from the Gulf cartel’s control, triggering a tectonic shift in Mexican cartel alliances. The Gulf-Zeta split broke the duopoly known as the Company, which had been maintained by both factions to pursue drug trafficking and distribution, human trafficking, product piracy, kidnapping, and petroleum theft. This shift—announced by posting banners known as narcomantas in several Mexican states—is currently fueling the high levels of violence throughout much of Mexico, especially those areas (plazas and corridors) being contested by the Zetas.6 The result was a war of “all against all”—cartels vs. Zetas vs. the police, military, and increasingly, the state itself. “The result of the Gulf-Zeta split is a new battle for primacy among Mexico’s criminal enterprises. The Zetas, formerly enforcers, muscle or a ‘praetorian guard,’ turned on their masters.”

It has been estimated that the number of civilian dead from cartel violence in Mexico surpasses the number of civilians killed in the worst years of fighting in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan combined.

So now that we understand how serious of a threat this insurgency poses to our security, what are some distinct characteristics and tactics these cartels use that make them so dangerous to America’s safety and security?

1. Willingness to Cross the Border to Achieve their Goals

For quite a long time, the mainstream media has pushed the ideal that cartel violence only happens “across the border” in Mexico and very “rarely” does the violence come north. One only has to look at the short list of crimes I posted above that to see that is not true. Two Home Invasions, a Shootout on a Texas Freeway and a Cartel Assassin who has murdered 9 people for sure and suspected of killing 12 more running loose on American Soil? Newsflash: The Violence is HERE now guys. Sooner or later, more innocent people are going to be injured or killed.

   2.   Well-Trained and Well-Armed

It has been thoroughly documented over the years that a large part of the Los Zetas Cartel is made up of former Mexican Army Soldiers, some of which, received their training right here in the United States, some at Ft. Benning, home of the US Army’s Airborne and Ranger Training. They are one of the only cartels to utilize military style tactics, including ambushes, defensive positions, and small unit tactics. They are also one of the only cartels to willingly engage military and police check points in firefights. During several raids by Mexican military on Los Zetas hideouts, besides the usual fare of automatic weapons, several grenade launchers, .50 Caliber Machine Guns, Rocket Launchers (RPG’s and LAWS) Claymore Mines, Fragmentation Grenades and crates of Body Armor were discovered. It has also been discovered recently by military aerial reconnaissance that cartels have been turning standard trucks and jeeps into armored “technicals” similar to what the Taliban use in Afghanistan. This is where a Grenade launcher or light or heavy machine gun is mounted on top of the vehicle turning it into a rolling ambush weapon with the ability to hit police stations or military checkpoints with ease, a favorite tactic as of late.

3. Cross-Border Sniping

There have been four separate incidents since 1997 to support the claim that drug cartels have targeted United States Law Enforcement and Civilian personnel with sniper rifles from the Mexican side of the border.

•  1997, Imperial Beach, California. Seven separate incidents occurred where US Border Patrol were fired at from positions in Mexico. In one incident, a US Border Patrol agents was “grazed” across the forehead.
• 2005, Douglas, Arizona. Six separate incidents occurred where again, US Border Patrol agents were fired at from positions in Mexico. No casualties occurred but a surveillance camera was destroyed by a sniper bullet.
• 2006, US Congressional Investigations uncovered the high-probability that US Law Enforcement, Border Patrol and Civilian populace along the border were at “extreme risk” of being threatened by .50 Caliber Sniper Fire from Mexico.
• 2010, Nogales, Arizona. US Border Patrol officials were threatened with sniper fire if they interfered with drug shipments.

Since the latest incident in 2010, there has not been any outright threats by the cartels with snipers on Law Enforcement or civilians, but here has been some incidents involving either weapon mounted or stand alone lasers from Mexico “tracking” border patrol agents as they move. The Border Patrol has since set up “Counter-Sniper”/”Observer”positions to actively search for and if needed, counter, any perceived sniper threat from Mexico.

4. U.S. Gang’s Associated with Cartels Operating in your AO

This is undoubtedly the most serious threat to the civilian not just near the border, but anywhere in the United States, because it involves Cartel Like activity (Drug Running, Extortion, Kidnapping, Murder) by a dedicated cartel proxy group that operates in all 50 States. The cartels work with a variety of gangs, from street gangs like Tango Blast and Texas Syndicate to Prison Gangs like Barrio Azteca to Trans-National gangs like MS-13 (Mara Salvatrucha). The gangs operate in various capacities from couriers to enforcers to collectors. All of the gangs have structured narcotic distribution networks in the mid to larger cities. In the most recent US National Gang Report, 23% (almost a quarter) of all Police surveyed said gangs with ties to Mexican drug cartels had some type of influence in their jurisdiction. If you are a Texan and have not already, take a look at the 2015 DPS Texas Gang Threat Assessment, this will give you a realistic look at the state of the Gang Problem in Texas. I will warn you ahead of time, it is not pretty and like everything else related to crime under BHO, is being downplayed in the media.

Conclusion

I am not an optimist when it comes to the situation on our Southern border. Regardless of the political promises or moves made in 2016, just like everything else in this world, it is only going to get worse. These cartels are not going to stop. The American Demand for Drugs is too strong and the Money to be made off of that is too good. It’s that simple folks. Yeah we can banter all day about trying to change the demand for drugs in this country, but how old is that argument? 40+ years old? Yeah that “Just Say No”  ship has sailed.

For the civilian, the evidence is overwhelming and the choice is clear and simple. You must take steps now to prepare to defend yourself and your family from these barbarians. These Home Invasions are real. These shootings on Interstates are real. It could happen anytime, anywhere. The only thing you can do is to be prepared when it does. Stay up on your training,

Have a Plan, Stay Alert and Stay Armed.

 

References:

http://www.insightcrime.org/news-briefs/us-links-mexico-cartels-corruption

http://www.homeland1.com/domestic-international-terrorism/articles/913612-Los-Zetas-Massacres-Assassinations-and-Infantry-Tactics/

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/13/world/americas/as-mexico-arrests-kingpins-cartels-splinter-and-violence-spikes.html?_r=0

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/foreign-affairs-defense/drug-lord/the-staggering-death-toll-of-mexicos-drug-war/

http://www.propublica.org/article/sicarios-dirty-war-on-mexican-cartels-is-not-yet-reality

http://www.homeland1.com/domestic-international-terrorism/articles/1931012-Sniping-in-the-Mexican-Criminal-Insurgency/

https://www.academia.edu/1113543/Criminal_Insurgency_in_the_Americas

http://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/terrorism-and-organized-crime-exploring-the-mexican-situation

http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/index.cfm/articles/Not-Your-Grandfathers-Insurgency-Criminal-Spiritual-and-Plutocratic/2014/02/20

Cartel Corner #45: How the Sinaloa Cartel Dominates The Cocaine Trade

 

Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán, the powerful leader of Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel, was recaptured on January 8 in a town not far from where he was born in Sinaloa state.

While its leader appears to be out of commission yet again, the Sinaloa cartel is still arguably the largest drug-trafficking organization in the world, and the deep ties to Colombia it uses to influence the global cocaine trade have become more apparent over the last year.

According to a summer 2015 report from from Colombian newspaper El Tiempo, the Sinaloa cartel controls 35% of the cocaine exported from Colombia — the largest producer of the drug in the world, which saw a 30% increase in potential-pure-cocaine production from 2013 to 2014, according to the DEA. DEA analysis also found that 90% of the cocaine consumed in the US was of Colombian origin.

Born in the mountains of Sinaloa state on Mexico’s west coast, Guzmán’s cartel has expanded throughout the country and around the world over the last several decades.

According to Spanish newspaper El País, the cartel’s marijuana and poppy fields in Mexico cover more than 23,000 miles of land, an area larger than Costa Rica. It has operatives in at least 17 Mexican states and operations in up to 50 countries, Insight Crime reports.

Read the Remainder of this Excellent Article at Business Insider

Cartel Corner #42: The Search for “El Chapo” Intensifies… (Yeah Right)

Mexican security forces descended on a region in the country’s northwest in October as part of a new phase in the search for fugitive Sinaloa cartel chief Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán.

And now there are disturbing new details about that intensifying manhunt.

Guzmán remains free, but a recent report from Vice News details allegations that, in their fierce pursuit of the drug lord, Mexican marines attacked the homes of ranchers in a mountainous and rugged region of Durango state.

“It all happened on October 6,” Gonzalo Peña, a farmer in Tamazula in Durango state, told Vice News. “A little before 8 a.m., we heard the choppers … They arrived shooting, I heard the shots from the choppers.”

“And suddenly they disappeared, and then a plane showed up before me,”Peña told Vice News. “I thought it was going to land, or just circle around. But no. It arrived shooting.”

“I worried about getting killed right there,” he said.

By now, the details of the effort to recapture Guzmán are almost as lurid as the drug kingpin’s actual prison breakout.

After escaping on July 11, he flew northwest to a ranch in the remote, mountainous area of southwestern Durango state, near the border with Sinaloa.

Many, including a top official with the US Drug Enforcement Administration, suspected that Guzmán returned to Sinaloa after his escape. After Mexican authorities detected efforts to return the drug lord’s daughters’ pet monkey, Boots, to Durango, the manhunt was shifted to the region — a stronghold for the Sinaloa cartel nicknamed the Golden Triangle for its drug production.

Read the Remainder at Business Insider