Small War in Mexico: 2002-2015 (closed)

[AnalyticType]

I thought this portion was especially interesting:

Tunnels the cartels have built that cross from Mexico into the U.S. have grown increasingly sophisticated. It is a learned skill, the agent said points to Hezbollah's involvement.

"Where are the knowledgeable tunnel builders? Certainly in the Middle East," he said.

The agent making connections between cartel tunnels and Middle Eastern orgs such as Hizballah, whether by intent or (post 9/11) knee-jerk reaction, ignores six centuries of mining history and know-how in Mexico. The modern mining industry in Mexico is huge, and a substantial portion of the population in Sonora, Coahuila, Chihuahua, Durango, Sinaloa, Nuevo Leon, and about seven other central states have been employed in it. The cartels have no need to seek outside expertise and, as far as I can tell, have not done so.

[Bill Moore]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44166524...news-americas/

They prove themselves with escalating acts of violence and earn extra cash by branching into parallel criminal enterprises like kidnapping and extortion.

"It seems like every day we hear of a new group. There are more than I can count," said a U.S. official in Mexico.

Nothing new here, but still interesting to me for the following reasons.

It addresses that the fact that killing and capturing the cartel leaders isn't having a positive effect (an old story, but one we fail to learn).

It points out that gangs are competing with each other by upping the level of mindless violence. There is no attempt by some (perhaps most) gangs to win the support of the locals, but simply to impliment more and more violence, to what end who knows?

The expansion of Mexico's drug trade -- which rakes in an estimated $40 billion per year -- can also fan internal rivalries and divisions. Poppy cultivation in Mexico jumped 500 percent between 2003 and 2009 while marijuana growing tripled, the U.S. government says.

The opportunity to rake in profits, to achieve status, etc. is simply too great for many Mexicans to ignore. Killing off the cartel heads simply makes the problem more complex, and doesn't touch the real issue which is the huge market (demand) for the drugs.

While there have always been violent gangs/outlaws in Mexico, the level of violence now is bound to have long term and serious cultural impacts that will pose security risks for years to come.

[davidbfpo]

A long FP commentary on:

A deadly gun-running gamble just cost America's ATF chief his job. But the gun lobby gave him little choice but to try.

Link:http://www.foreignpolicy.com/article...lette?page=0,0

The author has his perspective, which is quite clear.

What is missing is why the ATF and partners thought, having persuaded others above them, that this would work:

The aim of Fast and Furious was to investigate, and not, as the ATF had grown accustomed to, interdict. Instead of arresting the so-called "straw purchasers" who buy the guns and pass them on (again, legally, provided they pass a background check), Fast and Furious called for agents to surveil them and try to follow the flow of guns, to move beyond the pawns to the larger players. Of course, this is what investigators and detectives who don't work at agencies hobbled by their elected overseers do every day: allow things to be bought and sold and moved so that they can map out criminal organizations and get to their highest levels.

[Ken White]

A long FP commentary on:

Link:http://www.foreignpolicy.com/article...lette?page=0,0

The author has his perspective, which is quite clear.

What is missing is why the ATF and partners thought, having persuaded others above them, that this would work:

Good catch David. Looks as though the author is attempting to cast blame on the 'Gun Lobby' in an attempt to deflect attention from overzealous Supervisory ATF Agents and US Attorneys and a badly flawed plan, if one can even call it that...

ATFE is not hamstrung by the so called gun lobby, most ATFE Agents are sensible and have no problem with legal use of firearms -- that is not true of the managers and senior folks who hew to the attitude of the Administration which hires them much as most street cops do not object to private firearms but their Chiefs tend to support their Mayors who often do object to weapons for political or personal reasons.

The reported effort is, IMO, an textbook illustration of why Law Enforcement agencies should generally not engage in intelligence operations other than purely local and absolutely domestic efforts with clearly defined parameters.

A Law Enforcement officer is trained and sworn to preclude or deter crime and catch malefactors. Asking one to suppress that dedication and allow criminal activity -- or participate in it -- is virtually guaranteed to have a bad outcome.

Far better for dedicated intelligence or counterintelligence agencies to perform such operations, particularly if the breaking of laws is likely to be involved. Here in the US, we have allowed politics and turf battles to intrude on that desirable separation of function. We also are rather hypocritical on the subject of breaking laws to gather intelligence or to contain criminal activity -- essentially, if an effort succeeds, all is sweetness and light, if it fails, the masterminds skate and the minions are punished...

In the case of this particular effort, the question is indeed why anyone thought this would work at all -- and apparently that the likelihood of blowback was slim. Mind boggling.

There were other ways to obtain the information desired -- but that would have entailed a competent intelligence operation focused on Mexico and not in the US...

[Balcacer]

MD Geriatric's is my field.
Scare to death with this "Zetas " gang of nuts.

[Ken White]

MD Geriatric's is my field.
Scare to death with this "Zetas " gang of nuts.

You have a right to be scared -- those are some hombres muy malo...

Glad you're here -- and I'm about as geriatric as it gets around here -- I'm at that nearly 80 stage where every morning wake up is an adventure and likely to bring new discoveries about what won't work correctly that day. Good thing is that I often can't remember what was wrong yesterday...

[AdamG]

A small but growing proxy war is underway in Mexico pitting US-assisted assassin teams composed of elite Mexican special operations soldiers against the leadership of an emerging cadre of independent drug organizations that are far more ruthless than the old-guard Mexican “cartels” that gave birth to them.
These Mexican assassin teams now in the field for at least half a year, sources tell Narco News, are supported by a sophisticated US intelligence network composed of CIA and civilian US military operatives as well as covert special-forces soldiers under Pentagon command — which are helping to identify targets for the Mexican hit teams.

http://narcosphere.narconews.com/not...loyed-drug-war

[SWJ Blog]

Criminal Insurgencies in Mexico and the Americas

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[SWJ Blog]

Connie Mack: “State Department Not Closely Tracking Threat Of Mexican Drug Cartels.”

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[AdamG]

While “President [Barack] Obama and others in his administration – particularly Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano – have repeatedly said the US/Mexico border is ‘as secure now as it has ever been,’” Texas Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples told members of the House Committee on the Judiciary’s Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security at a field hearing a week ago that "the bottom line is our border is not secure."

Instead, he told the panel, "what we have are transnational criminal organizations basing their operations in a foreign country and deploying military-type incursions on American soil."

On Monday, Staples backed up his claims with the release of a comprehensive 182-page report that asserted it's the first report “to conclude that [Mexican crime] cartels are following a twofold strategic plan” that is the equivalent of strategic-level war against the US.

http://www.hstoday.us/single-article...388032eb8.html

[AdamG]

MEXICO CITY — A paramilitary group is vowing to "eliminate" the Zetas, reputedly Mexico's most violent drug gang, in a video posted on the Internet several days after 49 bodies were found on the streets of Veracruz.

The video, posted on Saturday according to its creators, shows a group of five masked men, dressed in black and seated at a white table, calling themselves the "Mata Zetas," or "Zeta Killers."

"Our intention is to let the people of Veracruz know that these dregs of society are not invincible," one of them says after offering "apologies" to the public and the authorities.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/09/2...eta-drug-gang/

[AdamG]

Texas Governor Rick Perry - who is seeking the Republican nomination for US president - has said he would consider sending American troops into Mexico to combat drug-related violence.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-15140560

[SWJ Blog]

Mexico's "Narco-Refugees": The Looming Challenge for U.S. National Security

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[Misifus]

http://www.borderlandbeat.com/

The above is a link I use to keep aware of border events and the narco wars. Some of the articles/videos require Spanish language skills, but most don't. This is probably the best website to keep track of recent border events and is used by many of us who are active around the border area. It includes events on the US side.

I will be along the US side later this month, and be on the Mexico side early next year. One should keep in mind the media does tend to sensationalize the narco wars. IMO, Mexico remains a relatively safe and enjoyable place to visit, especially in the more prominent tourist destinations. However, I would not wander around the country without the appropriate language and cultural skills.

Reread my post #93 upthread written last year and muse on how now Veracruz has become a recent narco battleground - a point of ingress. It is is nowhere near the border.

The attached image shows my tracks to/from Saltillo. Big fish recently nabbed there. The city is very tranquil except for those who are in 'da bizniz.' On this particular trip I crossed at Del Rio and rode MEX 57 straight down.

[SWJ Blog]

Mexico’s Drug War

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[AnalyticType]

What your experience has been in your travels in MX...

I spend all of my work hours focused upon Mexico's cartel wars, and likely too much of my personal time as well. Hence my curiosity.

[Misifus]

What your experience has been in your travels in MX...

I spend all of my work hours focused upon Mexico's cartel wars, and likely too much of my personal time as well. Hence my curiosity.

What specifically are you asking me? I don't quite get the gist of your message. Are you asking me if I am a LEO? The answer is no.

[AnalyticType]

What specifically are you asking me? I don't quite get the gist of your message. Are you asking me if I am a LEO? The answer is no.

My apologies for being less than clear. Judging from your included map in your post earlier this week, you travelled through the Los Zetas territory which they've been using as a supply depot for several years -- and which the GOM has raided several times over the past six months, resulting in substantial losses for Los Zetas. So, I'm curious about the conditions you saw/experienced, on the ground, while traveling through the region. MX Mil patrols, roadblocks of any flavor, hostility toward gringos, etc. -- these are things I'm wondering about. I know well what's been happening across Mexico for the most part, but Coahuila state has been quietly utilized by Los Z (quiet predominantly because neither Sinaloa nor CDG have been trying to take control of that state, with the exceptions of the cities of Saltillo and Torreon). Hence my curiosity about what you've perceived in your perambulations about the region.

Thanks!

AT

[Misifus]

My apologies for being less than clear. Judging from your included map in your post earlier this week, you travelled through the Los Zetas territory which they've been using as a supply depot for several years -- and which the GOM has raided several times over the past six months, resulting in substantial losses for Los Zetas. So, I'm curious about the conditions you saw/experienced, on the ground, while traveling through the region. MX Mil patrols, roadblocks of any flavor, hostility toward gringos, etc. -- these are things I'm wondering about. I know well what's been happening across Mexico for the most part, but Coahuila state has been quietly utilized by Los Z (quiet predominantly because neither Sinaloa nor CDG have been trying to take control of that state, with the exceptions of the cities of Saltillo and Torreon). Hence my curiosity about what you've perceived in your perambulations about the region.

Thanks!

AT

I'm not sure Coahuila should be considered the exclusive territory of Los Zetas. Seems to me I hear more about Chapo Guzman than the others when in Coahuila, but I just listen, I don't ask questions. Now Tamaulipas is a different story, but I have never had trouble there either.

My travels through Mexico have been fine. I've yet to have any questionable incidents or encounters. At the army checkpoints I have not had any problems either. Usually it's just a young soldier who is curious about the motorcycle. I have never been searched, nor have the bags on my motorcycle. I have struck up conversations with some of the NCOs at these checkpoints. They have always been friendly. As for the police, no problems. Police have never pulled me over for a shake-down. However, I have flagged them down before for directions they have always been friendly and cooperative.

Saltillo is quiet. There's an old aristocracy that runs the city and quite frankly most of Coahuila. They are a tough "still-on-horseback" type of aristocracy in the old Latin American style. They have not gone soft due to modernity where they will quiver to criminals (like we do). This means they will not put up with standard cartel nonsense. This is why Saltillo is quiet. This does not mean however that they would care if cartel shipment activities happen in their area. After all, those drugs are just being sold to Gringos.

Torreon is another matter, different type of history. There the bullets fly freely.

[SWJ Blog]

Open Veins of Mexico

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