Mexican DTO Update for the Week of April 10th
US soldiers join Mexican army for joint training exercise in Chihuahu
A team of 12 US soldiers has arrived in Mexico, not for cartel combat as some US lawmakers have suggested, but to participate in a joint training exercise with the Mexican army. At the request of the Ministry of National Defense (Sedena), the federal Senate authorized President López Obrador to permit the US army members to enter Mexico for a training exercise at the Mexican army's National Training Center in Saucillo, southeastern Chihuahua.
The training exercise began on Thursday, April 6, and is set to conclude on May 11. The Senate authorization, as published in the government's official gazette, granted López Obrador the power to allow the US soldiers to enter Mexico on April 5 and leave the country on May 12.
Joint training exercises between the Mexican and US armies have taken place in the past, such as an exercise in October at a military facility in Reynosa, Tamaulipas. The goal of that exercise, according to the US army, was to "enhance and strengthen the existing military-to-military partnership between the US and Mexican militaries while conducting disaster response operations along the US-Mexico border."
Sedena has not provided specific details about the current training exercise. It occurs amidst calls from some Republican Party lawmakers, like Senator Lindsey Graham, for the US military to combat cartels in Mexico that smuggle fentanyl and other narcotics into the US. López Obrador has firmly rejected this proposal but has expressed his willingness to continue cooperating with US authorities in the fight against drug trafficking.
Source: Mexico News Daily
Self Defense Group Emerges Against CDS
*make sure you are following me on twitter @DopeCop
A video has been making the rounds on twitter showing a “self defense group” united to fight against the Sinaloa Cartel (CDS) in Chiapas de San Cristobal.
https://twitter.com/Esmayli80931861/status/1644436354414047245?s=20
The group is called 'El Machete' and has taken up arms to fight organized crime gangs, mirroring the actions of the Zapatista rebels in the past. Over the weekend, dozens of armed, hooded members of El Machete marched in the streets of Pantelho in the mountains of Chiapas. According to an online manifesto allegedly written by the group, they see themselves as a 'David' battling the 'Goliath' of drug traffickers and hitmen. Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador expressed his opposition to groups taking "justice into their own hands." Between March and early July, twelve people were killed and another 3,000 displaced due to violence in the area, local human rights organizations report.
Mexican Cartel Sends Warning to Government with Gruesome Display at San Carlos Entrance
Two dismembered bodies were found in an ice cooler at the entrance to San Carlos, Sonora, with a message warning the government not to interfere. The message indicated that a purge was about to begin and warned government personnel against getting involved or choosing sides, as they would end up dying. The perpetrators likely selected the date, time of day, and location of the dump site to maximize visibility to foreign tourists. The Caborca Cartel's La Plaza and the Salazars crime family, associated with the Sinaloa Cartel's Chapitos faction, contest control of the Guaymas area. The message left with the remains was not signed, but the local cartel news Facebook group Sonora Informativo claims it was La Plaza. The author of the message likely belongs to the group with less influence over local government forces. There have been accusations that both groups bribe local Marines into acting as their allies.
Sources: State Police Official Statement, Nacion 321, Expreso, Tribuna, Calvarie Locus, El Sol de Hermosillo, Radar Sonora, Whats Up San Carlos, Sonora Informativo, Alejandro Mneta, Frontera RC