U.S. Sees Mexico Drug Gang Violence Getting Worse
From a few days ago….
The Drug Jihad South Of Our Border
And now from today…
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A powerful coalition of drug gangs led by Mexico’s most-wanted man is collapsing, meaning the surge in bloodshed and police killings will get worse, a senior U.S. counternarcotics official said.
Internal conflicts, greed and pressure by Mexico’s military are causing a split among gangs from the Pacific state of Sinaloa, with each group seeking new alliances to smuggle illegal drugs into the United States.
“The Sinaloa cartel is weakened, divided … . There are internal disputes, rivalries, betrayals,” the official, who declined to be identified, told Reuters in an interview. “You’re going to see more violence.”
“It is getting worse because police are engaging, because cartels want to create fear and because of attacks between rivals. It’s going to get worse before it gets better.”
More than 1,400 people have been killed in drug violence this year across Mexico as cartels vie for control of lucrative smuggling routes into the United States. It is a faster rate than in 2007, when about 2,500 died during the year.
Unlike gangs that work alone, members of the Sinaloan coalition had shared trafficking routes, transport, cocaine sources and hit men, making them a formidable force that controls much of the state.
The U.S. official said the coalition’s leader and Mexico’s most-wanted man, Joaquin “Shorty” Guzman, also has split with outside allies like the boss of the Juarez cartel in the border city of Ciudad Juarez, where some 400 people have been killed in drug violence this year.
“There’s friction between Guzman and Vicente Carrillo (in Juarez). Vicente is being backed by the Gulf cartel,” he said, referring to a drug gang based in northeastern Mexico.
Carrillo, boss of the Juarez cartel, is one of Mexico’s top drug barons and listed as one of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s top 12 international fugitives.
POLICE COMPLICITY
Weakening the Sinaloans has been a central aim of the military-backed assault that conservative President Felipe Calderon launched on drug gangs after taking office in December 2006.
Last month Calderon sent thousands of extra troops to marijuana-producing Sinaloa following a wave of police murders including Edgar Millan, one of Mexico’s top federal policemen.
As the military squeezes the Sinaloans in their home state, violence is escalating in the northern state of Chihuahua, home to Ciudad Juarez.
Some 50 police officers have been killed in Chihuahua this year, highlighting police involvement in trafficking and cartel attempts to scare honest police out of doing their jobs, anti-drug officials and drug trade experts say.
“There are a lot of cops on the payroll of the Vicente Carrillo organization and Guzman wants a stake in that smuggling corridor,” said Tony Payan, a drug trade expert at the University of Texas at El Paso. “Given that their pact has broken down, the gangs are setting out to kill all the people who work for the other side.”
Some 500 police officers and military personnel have been killed in drug violence in the 18 months since Calderon sent out the first of some 25,000 soldiers to fight drug gangs.
The official urged the U.S. Congress to pass a $1.4 billion aid package to help Mexico buy equipment like helicopters and encrypted communication devices to hunt down drug cartels.
Lawmakers have held up the so-called Merida Initiative with calls to attach conditions on how and where the aid is used.
“The Merida Initiative is vital,” the official said. “The hold-ups in Congress are not good. It could be seen we’re letting Mexico down.”
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I dont think its going to get better anytime soon. we have had first hand accounts from people saying the Mexican military has been driving across our border into the US doing guard duty for the drug smugglers.
I dont believe many reports coming out of Mexico these days. I think their government in alot of ways knows about the drug smuggling that goes on and even encourages it, it is a large revenue for them.
June 8th, 2008 at 9:55 amTheir version of the A-stan opium/heroin biz …
June 8th, 2008 at 10:02 amyou got that right.
what is the estimate, 90% of all drugs in this country come in through the Mexican border? im pretty sure thats what it is.
That amazes me with all the absolute negatives that are in place that our government cant pick ONE good enough reason to close that damn border. i could pick more than one but they are all equally worthy reasons
June 8th, 2008 at 10:17 amDon’t give them a fucking dollar. In a government that corrupt, what is the point? Does it just make our politicians feel good? I don’t support any monetary aid for Mexico, but if it has to happen there better be harsh stipulations on its use. I say spend the green to place a sniper on every mile of the border with orders to tap the smugglers twice in the chest and once in the head.
June 8th, 2008 at 2:07 pmDoes anyone want to Bomb Mexico?
June 8th, 2008 at 2:44 pmDrug gang violence getting worse.
June 8th, 2008 at 7:01 pmGood maybe they’ll all kill each freaking other.