Theres no cellular coverage and just two phone booths, isolation that adds to the uncertainty. In June, two men were shot to death on the beach in Tulum and a third was wounded. The four Arturo, Alfredo, Hctor and Carlos began their criminal career in northwest Mexico as hitmen for the Sinaloa cartel, then led by Joaqun El Chapo Guzmn. Photograph: Alleged drug dealers of the Sinaloa cartel are escorted by policemen in Mexico City following their arrests earlier this year. Click here to receive our twice-monthly newsletter. i guess it was less corruption back then i do not know, all i know is it is a shame to see Mexico in this situation, people just dont give a damn about anybody else, and they are leaving a trail of people who wont give a damn about others either..terribly sad. He used his power to amass enormous landholdings and expand his own personal ranching operations. The heavily indigenous highlands that were the backbone of 19th-century rebellion, are today one of Mexicos primary opium-growing zones, thanks to a combination of widespread and severe poverty, rugged, mountainous topography, and the limited, ineffective and often corrupt presence of state and federal authorities. Hctor was arrested in 2014. We can imagine that if Cienfuegos may well have backed Sandoval, making his pleas that much more persuasive. Some 200 armed men had just looted a gas station, according to a witness, and the shooting would continue for hours as an equal number from an opposing group confronted them. Last week, the assistant director of the local prison was gunned down -- along with his wife and his bodyguard -- as he dropped his kids off at a school. Although the drug trade in Nayarit operated with the direct involvement of government representatives at all levels, the army occasionally attacked traffickers and often arrested, tortured and/or imprisoned peasants caught cultivating poppies and marijuana. Use tab to navigate through the menu items. Residents said he had been helping them get electricity back after an armed group cut the power to some ranches. Several shootings have occurred near schools. And these practices were so profitable that officials at the heart of President Pea Nietos PRI federal governmentindeed, the commander-in-chief of the same army prosecuting Mexicos war on drug traffickingdecided to get in on the action themselves and take their own cut of the reward. Alleged drug dealers of the Sinaloa cartel are escorted by policemen in Mexico City following their arrests earlier this year. Indeed, it would appear that their collective successes were sufficient to attract the attention of Mexicos Secretary of Defense, General Cienfuegos Zepeda, who decided he wanted a share for himself. pic.twitter.com/sLXtMeUTHk. " he says. Obtendr un diploma con estadsticas de nivel, progresin y participacin. To order copies of The gun battle went on for at least 20 minutes. Videos posted to social media show multiple gunmen shooting down major thoroughfares. "With the goal of safeguarding the well-being and tranquility of Culiacn society, officials in the security Cabinet decided to suspend the actions," he said. In August 2019, just a month before Veytias final sentencing, an indictment was filed in the same Court of the Eastern District of New York accusing Cienfuegos of also collaborating with Nayarits H-2 cartel. According to journalist Laura Snchez Ley, Veytia had turned informant in order to secure a shorter jail sentence. horrible. But there is more to the story. The story of the Narco-Nayarit connection therefore illustrates both the deadly consequences of official corruption in the context of the modern Mexican drug war, and also the dangers of assuming that, in the same context, a pax mafiosa can ever be truly peaceful.. ", Mexico Seems To Favor Sinaloa Cartel In Drug War. Until, that is, a helicopter-load of marines dropped out of the skies, sparking a fierce battle with the Polica Nayarit, which gave Veytias most important guests enough time to escape. Guests at the nearby Azul Beach Resort also posted videos of people taking shelter or gathering in the lobby. He said he has not been directly threatened, but he has the same fear as everyone. ", Sington tweeted "I've never been so scared, literally shaking," before adding "I'm fine now, barricaded in my hotel room for the night, just trying to decompress.". The cartel is now splintered into small, competing gangs. Nor were skirmishes between rival traffickers, and the killing of state officials on the orders of organized crime, unheard of in the state. Country Summary: Violent crime such as homicide, kidnapping, carjacking, and robbery is widespread and common in Mexico. Valparasos mayor could not confirm or deny figures given by some residents that were double that. [46] Edgar Valdez Villarreal, the leader of Los Negros cartel enforcement, was arrested on August 30, 2010 outside Mexico City. That Cienfuegos has meanwhile escaped what looked to be an inevitable life sentence in the US, even as the Mexican authorities have moved against his political partner in crimehighlights the sheer power of the Mexican army. Nayarit rarely makes the headlines in Mexico, far less in the rest of the world. Burning vehicles littered the streets as the gunmen faced off against the National Guard, army and police. He used all of the forces at his command to give H-2 complete control of drug trafficking in the state: according to witnesses in, In October 2013, Veytia even provided security at a wedding at Santa Mara del Oro lake, where Juan Francisco Patrn Snchez and Hctor Beltrn Leyva, were entertained by famous, Both sides gained from this partnership: Sandoval grew extremely rich, as did Veytia, who earned money from embezzlement, kidnapping, murder-for-hire, extorsion, and the seizure of peasants lands. Further inland is Tepic, the states slightly gritty capital of 330,000, located in an altiplano zone of cane fields and coffee orchards towered over by huge volcanoes. Days after the June 24 shootout, authorities found two more corpses, raising the death count to 20. Calderon said this week that the bloody offensive against the drug cartels isn't just his war but is an effort to make Mexico safe for all law-abiding citizens. An employee who answered the phone at the hotel said the shooting occurred on the beach near the facility. Opium Crisis,' Journal of Illicit Economies and Development 1, No.3 (2019) WebIn Nayarit, he declared, there was no room for organized crime. Homicides fell 75 percent in four years. Public shoot-outs between rival cartel gunmen grew rarer, and by 2016, The story of how that corruption played out in Nayarit brings into focus the interplay between military operations, political maneuvering and drug trafficking. It is ironic, then, that it was precisely the Federal governments militarized crackdown on the cartelsand the extreme and generalized violence that accompanied itthat allowed the so-called H-2 cartel to extend its influence to the heart of the government itself; first by gaining unprecedented sway over state authorities in Nayarit, and from there suborning General Cienfuegos Zepeda, the very man supposedly leading Mexicos fight against organized crime. WebOn April 22, 2010, cartel lieutenant Gerardo Alvarez-Vazquez was captured on the outskirts of Mexico City; the U.S. had been offering a $2 million U.S. bounty for his arrest. For example, after Veytias police officers spoiled the attempt to capture Hctor Beltrn Leyva in Santa Mara del Oro in 2013, the Navy Secretary apparently demanded Veytias arrest, but Roberto Sandoval successfully interceded on his behalf with the Secretary of the Interior. With dozens of other people, Garcia took refuge in a low-end clothing store where people can buy $10 soccer jerseys on credit. The government, if it pays attention, can put a stop to everything.. The , While it is too early to know the full story, according to court documents Cienfuegos advised Patrn Snchez about US investigations into his activities; as alerted him to the presence of informants within his organization (which led Patrn Snchez to order at least one murder); and made sure his subordinates in the Mexican security forces refrained from interfering in the H-2 cartels, However mutually beneficial the relationships had been, in 2017 the alliance between Patrn Snchez, Veytia, Sandoval and Cienfuegos fell apart in truly spectacular fashion. There is anxiety and uncertainty not knowing where to find safety for your family, said Ramos, Valparasos mayor, who was just re-elected to a third term. The larger currents of the international drug trade engulfing these Zacatecan communities may not be clear to their residents, but the impact is inescapable. The shootout left eight presumed drug cartel members and one policeman dead. Motorists reported on social networks the closure of federal highway 200 in the town of rsula Galvn, where barriers were reported, forcing people to turnaround. El Chapo was tried this year in a U.S. court and sentenced to life in prison. [1] Benjamin Smith, The Rise and Fall of Narcopopulism: Drugs, Politics, and Society in Sinaloa, 19301980, Journal for the Study of Radicalism, ii (2013) By 2010, Tepic had a murder rate of 229 for every 100,000 inhabitants, and was ranked the thirteenth most dangerous city in the world. In November, a shootout on the beach of Puerto Morelos left two suspected drug dealers dead. We do not publish all comments, and we do not publish comments immediately. When Sandoval acceded to the state governorship he named Veytia the states assistant attorney general but never appointed anyone as head of the state justice department, leaving Veytia its de facto chief. The Jalisco New Generation Cartel (JNGC) are dominant in the Nayarit region. While some of the victims of Veytia and Sandovals reign of terror have recently been able to come forward with their stories of kidnappings, disappearances, and torture, such truth telling is cold comfort to those who have been affected by the even deadlier violence that has wracked Nayarit in the years since Veytias detention in the United States. Up until May 2019, 130 of the latter had been found buried in 29 mass graves. In August 2019, just a month before Veytias final sentencing, an indictment was filed in the same Court of the, Cienfuegos surprise detention, and even more unexpected release, is emblematic of the deeply. Cristbal Castaeda, the public safety director for Sinaloa state, told Milenio television that people had been wounded in the firing, but gave no figures. Since then, H-2 and his men had fought hard against El Chapos group to maintain control of Nayarit and found a vital ally in Veytia, who from 2011 helped them to locate and assassinate their rivals. Others just stayed inside. The next morning, a joint force of marines and Veytias officers killed the Beltrn Leyva organizations second-in-command, Daniel Isaac Silva Grate (codenamed H-9), in an ambush in another part of Tepic. But it now appears that Sandovals was not the only name Veytia shared with U.S. authorities. But this fall, the arrest of Mexicos former secretary of defense, General Salvador Cienfuegos Zepeda, dragged this small and unassuming state into the spotlight. On The Trail Of Mexico's Vicious Sinaloa Cartel. The minimum tariff for the release of a loved one abducted by Veytias forces was set at 300,000 pesos (approximately $15,000 USD), although sometimes Veytia also demanded property. hide caption. Now Zacatecans, including in the state capital of the same name, have awoken on several occasions to corpses dangling from overpasses. Really it is a nice blog, I would like to tell you that you have given me much knowledge about it. The Beltrn Leyva organization were Sinaloans who had once controlled trafficking in Nayarit and several other areas of western Mexico as part of the wider Sinaloa cartel, until a violent break with El Chapo Guzmn and his allies in 2008the same year that Sandoval and Veytia assumed positions in Tepics municipal government. He was the very image of a Mexican lawman, with a round, jowly face and thick mustache, a pistol shoved into his belt. In 2020 Mexico had the highest number of homicides in the countrys history, there were 17,439 murders, a 1.7% increase but most of the deaths in Mexico are due to fighting between cartels and if you are not part of the cartel then you are probably safe. Shortly after the confrontation, gunmen some wearing black masks took off on a rampage, driving through the city in trucks firing heavy caliber weapons. The strength of the PRI political machine in a small, provincial but strategic agricultural state enabled an openly corrupt political clique to cut lucrative deals with local drug traffickers. Subsequently, in early 2019, the, Then, in February 2020, and apparently on the basis of, But it now appears that Sandovals was not the only name Veytia shared with U.S. authorities. Lpez Obradors party just won the governorship in Zacatecas, but it remains to be seen if coordination with federal authorities will improve. WebA commando of drug gang gunmen on Thursday stormed ashore at a beach on Mexico's resort-studded Caribbean coast in front of luxury hotels and executed two drug dealers In the tourist town of Taxco, south of Mexico City, soldiers fought a 40-minute gun battle with alleged cartel hitmen that left 15 people dead. It is inevitable to end this without some kind of force, but importantly, an intelligent and unified manner.Thanks for reporting Gerardo. Karim Torres/AP "About 15 people arrived on the beach to assassinate two men who had showed up saying they were the new dealers in the area," the head prosecutor of Quintana Roo state, Oscar Montes de Oca, told the Radio Formula station. The CJNG imposed its control over Tepics local, small-time drug dealers by shooting up any bar or nightclub in which they were rumored to work, killing and injuring scores of innocent civilians in the process. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. His book Soldiers, Saints, and Shamans: Indigenous Communities and the Revolutionary State in Mexico's Gran Nayar, 1910-1940 was published in 2020. But there is more to the story. In October 2013, Veytia even provided security at a wedding at Santa Mara del Oro lake, where Juan Francisco Patrn Snchez and Hctor Beltrn Leyva, were entertained by famous norteo singer Remmy Valenzuela. Guanajuato has Mexicos highest number of homicides, and has been the scene of turf battles between the Jalisco drug cartel and local gangs backed by the Sinaloa cartel. See state summaries and advisory levels below for information on your specific travel destination. The state now appears firmly in the hands of the CJNG. Although explicit drug war violence such as inter-cartel warfare and gunfights between soldiers and traffickersdeclined during Veytias time as Nayarits security chief, crime and violence did not in themselves disappear. Residents abandoning cars and burning vehicles are seen on multiple roads. "The governor is making sure that none of the bullets hit any of the students," Perez says, by basically sending children on summer vacation three weeks early. Comments are moderated, refer to policy for more information.Enva fotos, vdeos, notas, enlaces o informacin Todo 100% Annimo;[email protected]. I imagine the situation at wash center at that time. Last month, a priest was killed in crossfire on the highway. Drug-related violence is happening all across Mexico. One might also conjecture that Cienfuegos protection extended to Patrn Snchezs political partners in crime, too. hide caption. Resuelve los ltimos Crucigramas de Mambrino, Juega a nuestros Sudoku para Expertos y mejora da a da tu nivel, Juega a las nuevas Sopas de letras clsicas y temticas de EL PAS. Similar violence is occurring in other states like Michoacn and Guerrero, where residents caught between competing gangs suffer extortion, abductions and killings. There were children," Ramirez says. It split with its enforcers, Los Zetas, by 2010, and the fallout between the two groups had been called the most violent in the history of organized crime in Mexico, according to a 2019 CRS report. Staff hustled us into hidden rooms behind the kitchens. In these times, These kind of filth will will only end when EL PUEBLO (THE PEOPLE) stand up. His sons have reportedly taken over the Sinaloa drug cartel, considered Mexico's most powerful organized crime syndicate. They're shooting!' With the death of H2, 107 have now been arrested or killed. Instead, they changed form, as murders, disappearances, abduction, extorsion and land thefts were carried out, may be investigated and, if appropriate, charged, https://www.noria-research.com/the-youngsters-are-masters-of-opium/. 06/26/2021. Zacatecas sits between the drugs production and its consumers. A young hepless male sits inside a vehicle su "Sol Prendido" for Borderland Beat Ex-con and comedian Johnny Mitchell explains what it's really like to sell weed for the Mex "HEARST" for Borderland Beat In a confusing early morning event, Army soldiers shot five men dead in the border city of Nuevo Lare "Sol Prendido" for Borderland Beat In the municipality of Matamoros, the Grupo Escorpin, a faction of the Gulf Cartel, shows off "HEARST" for Borderland Beat The Attorney General announced that El Mayos Tijuana lieutenant, El Aquiles, organized the street e Blog dedicated to reporting on Mexican drug cartels, Federal Operation Raid To Capture "Guano" Guzman, Convicted Dealer Exposes What It's Like to Work With Mexican Cartels, Five Killed in Nuevo Laredo, CDN Hitman Among the Dead, Human Rights Violation Allegations, Matamoros, Tamaulipas: Grupo Escorpin, Armed Wing of the Gulf Cartel Interrogates Several Captives, Mayo's Aquiles Had El Lobo's Lawyer Killed, says Attorney General. Armed attackers killed 10 people in a pool hall in an industrial region of central Mexico plagued by drug cartel-related violence, authorities said Thursday. The Puerto Morelos shooting comes two weeks after a California travel blogger and a German tourist were killed in a similar shootout in the beach town of Tulum. Government forces guard the entrance of hotel after an armed confrontation on Thursday near Puerto Morelos, Mexico. There were 15 days that we didnt go out for anything, said Claudina Betancourt, a nurse born in San Juan Capistrano. If this had been a lone shootout in this city of 300,000 people, residents might have written it off as a fluke and moved on. After 30 people were gunned down last weekend, the governor seized control of the local police, called on Calderon to send in more federal police and shut public schools statewide. Some 200 armed men had Star Newspapers Limited and/or its licensors. The brothers accused El Chapo of betrayal, and this triggered a bloody vendetta. Nor were skirmishes between rival traffickers, and the killing of state officials on the orders of organized crime, unheard of in the state. Durazo did not initially specify whether authorities arrested Guzmn or let him go. Several cartels are fighting for the area's lucrative retail drug trade, including the Jalisco cartel and the a gang allied with the Gulf cartel. Mexican drug kingpin gunned down by military helicopter, Capturing drugs cartel leaders has been a priority of President Enrique Pea, Sign up to EL PAS in English Edition bulletin, If you want to follow all the latest news without any limits, subscribe to EL PAS for just 1 the first month, Abatido el lder del crtel de los Beltrn Leyva en Nayarit, In Cuba with no sugar, spotty internet, and frustrated Kardashians, Christina Applegate attends probably last award show after multiple sclerosis diagnosis, Released audio suggests Greek train driver told to ignore red light, Ukraine outgunned 10 to 1 in massive artillery battle with Russia, Maestra en Big Data y Analytics 100% en lnea, MBA Administracin y Direccin de Empresas en lnea, Programa en lnea en 'Project Finance' Internacional, Maestra en lnea en Direccin de Recursos Humanos y Gestin del Talento, Maestra en Comercio Internacional presencial en Madrid, Espaa, Maestra en Marketing Digital & E-Commerce. The Fight For Juarez: When Will The Killing End? On Tuesday, he gave a passionate televised address to the nation calling on Mexicans to join in the fight against organized crime. Crime "has gone up a little with extortion, with drug sales to foreigners and Mexicans," the prosecutors office said about the raid. WebThe killings in Zacatecas came one day after prosecutors in Mexicos most violent state, Guanajuato, reported seven men were shot to death at a mechanics shop. Semipresencial en Madrid, Espaa, Maestra en 'Data Management' e Innovacin Tecnolgica 100% en lnea. WebJuly 25, 2021 VALPARASO, Mexico (AP) When they heard gunfire in the valley, residents locked their doors and cowered inside their homes. Zacatecas had it then too as cartels battled for control, but it was overshadowed. The following years were even bloodier, and not just for civilians: numerous police officers were also murdered, including a municipal police chief in the Sierra, and two active members of Nayarits Preventative Police Force and one-time close associates of Edgar Veytia. It borders eight other states. 7. Far from a law enforcement hero, however, Edgar Veytia was in fact the very picture of a miscreant. This allowed them, together, to institutionalize corruption, embezzlement, land-grabs and violence, as well as drug production and trafficking, in the area under their joint control. All Toronto Star articles, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com, Conversations are opinions of our readers and are subject to the, The Toronto Star and thestar.com, each property of Toronto Star Outbursts of gunfire are common. The authorities didnt arrive until the next day. And he said to give up in the drug war would be to abandon Mexico and leave it in the hands of organized criminals. Disfruta con nuestros Crucigramas para expertos! The shooting that lasted for more than half an hour in Rincn de Guayabitos was caused by a criminal group in an attack against agents of the Mexican Army, said the governor of the State, Antonio Echevarra, through his Twitter account. Accounts on social networks by witnesses said Patrn offered resistance when he realized he was surrounded and troops called in an Apache helicopter. To order One man and a woman were found wounded at the scene of the attack, along with five children who had not been wounded. Indeed, it is in some ways unsurprising that Cienfuegos would be connected with an organization based in Nayarit, where the unique dynamics of local politics, combined with the states low profile as a hub for trafficking, have long permitted a particular brand of what Benjamin Smith has termed narco-populism to flourish. Mexicos two strongest cartels Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation are locked in a battle for control. The dramatic shooting attack sent tourists scrambling for cover at the resort Nayarit rarely makes the headlines in Mexico, far less in the rest of the world. Yet the fact of General Cienfuegos recent release is testament to the difficulties of obtaining real justice for the people of Nayarit. The German Foreign Office issued a travel advisory about the violence, advising its citizens "if you are currently in the Tulum or Playa del Carmen area, do not leave your secured hotel facilities.". Three other foreign tourists were wounded in the shooting at a street-side eatery that has some outdoor tables, right off Tulum's main strip. Cienfuegos surprise detention, and even more unexpected release, is emblematic of the deeply intertwined nature of military power, political influence and economic opportunity both licit and illicitin Mexico. VALPARASO, Mexico (AP) When they heard gunfire in the valley, residents locked their doors and cowered inside their homes. Rather, it was an organization that not only controlled drug trafficking in Nayarit between 2011 and 2017, but also established close ties with much of the states political elite. And the killing continued the next day. Goods to stock store shelves and medical care frequently dont arrive for fear of cartel roadblocks. Their activity focused on shipping cocaine from Central and South America to the United States and Europe. Attacks on police have become routine in Mexico as the countrys travails with drug cartels and organised crime drag on and the murder rate remains stubbornly high. Disfrute de nuestras lecciones personalizadas, breves y divertidas. 2011 was even bloodier, with 456 murders recorded across the state. Smoke from burning cars rises in Culiacn, Mexico, on Thursday, after an intense gunfight between security forces and gunmen linked to the Sinaloa drug cartel. Prosecutors said Friday they have arrested a suspect in that killing. Most of them hail more specifically from the town of Xalisco, just outside the state capital of Tepic, where opium gum from Nayarits mountains was processed into black tar heroin and then sent off north for distribution and sale. Goodness me, why people killed each other in world. Some people were locked in the supermarket for more than a hour. It sits halfway up Mexicos Pacific coast, sandwiched between Sinaloa to the north and Jalisco to the south, while its mountainous interior also borders Durango and Zacatecas. Some areas of Mexico have increased risk of crime and kidnapping. The Yucatan Times' content is protected by intellectual property rights, its re-publication, distribution, or retransmission is prohibited without the company's prior authorization. #Ms: El enfrentamiento inici en el Sector Tres Ros, pero se ha extendido a otros puntos de #Culiacn. A detective who apparently was investigating the shootout and was pulled out of Valparaso for his safety was later killed. [1] With any case against Cienfuegos now reliant on the information available to the Mexican prosecutors officewhich, just days before Cienfuegos release, issued an arrest warrant for a former governor of Nayarit also accused of cooperation with the H-2 Cartelit would seem that the Narco-Nayarit connection has never been more worthy of serious analysis. Since 1970, eighty percent of Mexican tobacco has been grown in the vast plantations of the Nayarit coast, pulling in migrant workers from across central and western Mexico. WebMexico: The candidate for mayor of Morolen is killed. Ten people have been killed by drug cartel gunmen in a Mexican pool hall. More than halfway through his term and with violence reaching new peaks, Calderon said the drug war won't be easy or quick, but he said it's a war that "we will win. The battle for Zacatecas is part of the larger war to dominate the fentanyl market, which is the largest source of money for the cartels in the United States, said Mike Vigil, former head of international operations for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Str/AFP/Getty Images By FABIOLA SNCHEZ November 4, 2021. A 2014 photo of Joaqun "El Chapo" Guzmn being escorted to a helicopter in Mexico City following his capture. Armed kids shine light on Mexico's drug cartel violence 06:40. Among other things, the cartels are battling to control the most lucrative drug: fentanyl. WebMexican narcos' fascination with exotic animals was on display this week after a spider monkey dressed up as a drug gang mascot was killed in a shootout, a 450-pound tiger