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Brian Terry's journal shows he was tracking AK-47s weeks before Fast and Furious murder

2026-09-09

[Just the News] Slain Border Patrol agent Brian Terry kept a diary showing he was tracking AK-47s at the border weeks before his 2010 murder exposed the Obama administration’s disastrous Fast and Furious gun-running scheme, according to excerpts from the journal obtained by Just the News.

Terry's journal shows he stopped a shipment of AK-47s from entering the country just a month before he was murdered, according to his brother, Kent Terry. But his supervisors told him to allow the weapons to cross the border, the brother said.

"AK-47 in crate," Brian Terry wrote on one page about a silver SUV he was tracking, adding that he had informed the FBI of his finding. The page is dated Nov. 2, Kent Terry believes it was written in 2010, just one month before the murder.

On another page, dated Nov. 16, Brian Terrywrote that he was performing surveillance at night and wanted to "confirm or deny wpns smuggling."

The final page shared with Just the News is not dated, but appears to show Brian Terry was looking for weapons that had traveled from Honduras through Guatemala and into Mexico, writing an incomplete sentence: "Determine how wpns are..." He also wrote that he needed to seek an interdict "to reduce arms/criminal org" for the Sinaloa cartel.

Operation Fast and Furious began in September 2009 by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) under the direction of the Obama administration. The idea was to allow illegal weapons to flow into the hands of those suspected of selling to Mexican cartels to track where the guns would end up. It wasn't until Terry's murder, where weapons from the same operation were used, that the scandal was exposed.

President Barack Obama and his Attorney General Eric Holder both denied knowing about Fast and Furious, even though memos sent to him in July 2010 showed otherwise. Holder denied seeing the memos and refused to turn over additional documents requested by House investigators. He was held in contempt of Congress but never faced consequences. No one in the Obama administration faced consequences for the botched operation, though the acting director of ATF and an assistant U.S. attorney were reassigned.

Kent Terry told Just the News that he didn’t know if his slain brother was on to something when he wrote those notes in his journal, or was just making daily notes.

"We don’t know exactly why Brian wrote those things. We don’t know if he was onto something or knew about something," Kent Terry said. "That’s the question we’re trying to figure out — or if he knew about it and he didn’t know the depth of it."

Following his death, Brian Terry's father tried to enter his son’s house, according to his brother, but Border Patrol wouldn’t let him in. Looking through the windows, the father could see that the house seemed to be in order.

Once they were allowed in, the Terry family cleaned out his house and removed his possessions, with Kent getting Brian’s clothes, since they were the same size. About a year after Brian Terry's death, Kent Terry said he finally decided to try on a pair of brand new tactical boots he had found in Brian’s home. When trying on the boots, Kent found the journal taped inside the toe of one of the boots.

"We just thought it was kind of odd that we found it in a pair of tactical boots, a brand new box of tactical boots," Kent said.
He picked a good hiding place for his journal. He must have been afraid of who might find it.
He said that his father told Dennis Burke, the U.S. Attorney for Arizona at the time, and not long after, Brian Terry's house was "ransacked," Kent Terry said.

"Like somebody was looking for something," Kent Terry said.

Brian Terry's personal laptop had been wiped clean, the brother added.

"Not even the Hewlett Packard icon would show up," he said. "And you can see where someone’s tampered with it in the back because some of the screws are missing."

Burke did not respond to a Just the News inquiry.

Before the Terry family found the journal, they said they had a strange encounter with Border Patrol union representatives in a hotel room after a memorial for Brian Terry, according to his sister and brother.

His sister, Michelle, explained that she, her brother, their father, and other family members were asked to meet with the representatives in a hotel room and were told that Brian Terry had been concerned for his safety in the months prior to his death, sending them three emails about his concerns.

Kent Terry told Just the News that the reps also told the family that Brian didn’t die the way they were being told but they wouldn’t elaborate.

"He goes, ’but what they’re telling you what happened to your son really didn’t happen to your son the way they’re telling you,’" Kent said, adding that the reps told them: "We’re here to throw you a bone, but that’s all we can tell you."

The representatives later denied ever having this meeting, Kent and Michelle said, but they and their family members — at least 10 people — were all in the room and heard what was said.

"Ten people can’t be lying," Michelle said.

Brian Terry's siblings say they just want answers, and know there is more to the story of their brother's murder than what has been reported.

"Brian had 15 more minutes to go on a shift with a two-week furlough and then this happened," Kent Terry said. "I’m not speculating on a conspiracy, but it just seems the timing seems all wrong to us."

"It’s not even answers for us," Michelle added. "We want them for Brian. He deserves the truth and deserves people to be put in prison."

Seven men were sentenced for the murder of Brian Terry, but his family said it isn’t sure they are the real culprits or if even more people were involved.

In 2022, Jesus Rosario Favela-Astorga became the seventh man sentenced in Brian Terry's murder, pleading guilty and getting 50 years in prison.

The Department of Justice said in a press release that Favela-Astorga admitted to being one of several armed bandits who illegally entered the U.S. from Mexico to rob marijuana smugglers.

When Brian Terry’s team attempted to apprehend Favela-Astorga’s crew, one member opened fire, striking Terry. Terry died from his injuries shortly after.

Border Patrol, DOJ, and the Bureau of Alcohol and Tobacco (ATF) did not respond to a Just the News inquiry seeking comment.

Nearly 16 years after his murder, Brian’s sister Michelle still remembers his love for his country.

"He was a true, dedicated, American patriot. Brian loved this country, he spent his whole adult life protecting this country. From being a marine to a police officer to a federal agent. He does not deserve what happened to him."
Among the classified documents that Trump wants to declassify, I would be most interested in seeing the documents that Holder refused to turn over to Congress. This whole episode has been festering and stinking to high heaven for 16 years now. A deep and thorough cleaning needs to be done.

Link

Caribbean-Latin America

'They even executed a child.' The governor worked with a drug cartel for years

2026-05-12

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited
by Ol'ga Kuznetsova

[Regnum] Selling drugs in Mexico without political connections is not just a dead end, it's stillborn from the start, especially when it comes to the industrial-scale quantities of substances supplied by cartels.

For these purposes, criminals elect regional officials—governors, senators, law enforcement officers, and mayors of large cities. Federal authorities are often marginalized and treated with respectful silence. At least for the time being.

Therefore, fighting the cartel without working with officials is also practically impossible—hence the skepticism towards most of the measures taken by the Mexican establishment in recent years.

However, the situation has now changed dramatically, and the most influential people in the state of Sinaloa face arrest and life imprisonment—precisely for collaborating with the cartels. However, it wasn't Mexico City that pulled the trigger—Washington is once again behind these scandalous measures.
"scandalous"

Darn those wascally Washingtonians!

"CONFIDENTIAL CONVERSATIONS"
The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) unsealed an indictment against Sinaloa Governor Rubén Rocha Moya and nine other current and former government officials who served under him. The primary charge is cooperation with the Sinaloa Cartel and facilitating drug trafficking in the United States.

According to American law enforcement, Rocha began working with the cartel back in 2021, on the eve of his election. And not just with the cartel, but with a specific faction—Los Chapitos, the heirs of the notorious El Chapo, Joaquín Guzmán Loera, who is currently incarcerated in one of the most secure prisons in the United States. Guzmán's sons, Iván and Ovidio (the latter has also already been arrested), met with the politician at a secure ranch and promised to "help" him win the election.

Naturally, not for free. In exchange, Rocha was supposed to ensure the maximum number of people loyal to the organized crime group in the state government. An agreement was reached, and the Guzman brothers dispatched their own operatives to Rocha's rivals to conduct "confidential conversations" and persuade them to withdraw their candidacies.

On election day, voters were also subjected to abuse, being beaten at the polling stations—including with baseball bats—and forced to check off the required boxes. In some places, ballot boxes were even stolen. Los Chapitos workers also had their voting rights violated during those days: they were ordered to come to the polling stations with their families and vote for Rocha.

After his victory, the new governor fulfilled all agreements with the organized crime groups, including ensuring their loyalty from the police.

THE HATEFUL NINE
Who are the other nine defendants? Apparently, they are the very same officials who favored the Sinaloa Cartel.

For example, former municipal police commander Juan Valenzuela Millán, nicknamed "El Juanito, " provided the Guzmáns with intelligence, reported on law enforcement raids, and dispatched officers to transport drugs to the U.S. border. Furthermore, back in 2023, he handed over a Drug Enforcement Administration informant and his family to the cartel, and turned a blind eye to their torture and murder (including that of a child).

The current mayor of Culiacán, Juan de Dios Gámez Mendivil, was also involved. He received a monthly payment for not interfering with cartel activities in the city, especially when the militants were "restoring order."

The state's deputy attorney general, a senator, two former heads of the state attorney general's investigations department, a former deputy director of the state police, and other people from law enforcement agencies also cooperated with the organized crime group.

Their range of services turned out to be quite broad: issuing arrest warrants for cartel competitors—both officials and militants serving the enemy faction; releasing arrested cartel members; warning about joint operations with US security forces; and protecting drug shipments with the help of police officers and laboratories where the "synthetics" were manufactured.

All this wasn't exactly cheap for the cartel. El Juanito's team alone cost the organized crime group $40,000 a month. And raid alerts from the Secretary of Public Security cost over $100,000 a month.

ROCHA - ON THE WAY OUT
Almost immediately after the conclusion was released, US officials sent requests for the extradition of officials from Sinaloa.

Governor Rocha, along with Culiacán Mayor Mendivil, categorically denied all accusations, calling them slander and an attempt to attack Mexico's national sovereignty.

President Claudia Sheinbaum was forced to intervene in the case. She stated that she had spoken with Rocha, and until evidence of his guilt was presented, no criminal prosecution could take place.

The US requests contained no evidence, but the Mexican Attorney General's Office had already been tasked with reviewing everything the Americans sent for compliance with the Mexican criminal system. In principle, these actions seemed entirely logical given Sheinbaum's usual strategy—she never publicly granted her neighbors' demands. At least not immediately.

However, it turned out that Sheinbaum had held an urgent meeting with her predecessor, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, under whom Rocha had just become governor. Interestingly, the Mexican opposition likes to link Obrador himself to the Sinaloa Cartel, but the issue has not yet reached the necessary urgency on the international agenda. Shortly after the meeting, Governor Rocha temporarily resigned from his post and went on vacation. The mayor of Culiacán pulled a similar stunt.

At first, everyone assumed the position would go to Berdegue Sancristian, a classmate of Sheinbaum's husband who had left his post as Minister of Agriculture. However, Yeraldine Bonilla, the first woman to hold the post, was appointed acting governor. She began her career as a waitress in a diner. Most recently, she served as Secretary General of the Government of Sinaloa.

The issue with Governor Rocha is still being resolved, and regional editorials are not feeding the public with unnecessary details. Nevertheless, the status quo in the state should not be disrupted, as Ms. Bonilla is part of the same Governor Rocha's team. And one of her predecessors in the position she is leaving was also included in the extradition request.

IS IT OVER YET?
It is still unknown how the story of the confrontation between the bureaucratic class and the United States will end, but it has already had a significant impact on the balance of power between the warring factions of the Sinaloa cartel - Los Chapitos and the people of drug lord Ismael Zambada Garcia (El Mayo).

Governor Rocha is believed to be involved in the US operation that kidnapped and arrested El Mayo, the head of the faction of the same name now ruled by his son, in the summer of 2024. Ismael had arrived for secret negotiations with Los Chapitos when he was seized, put on a plane, and flown to the US without any formalities.

The nuance is that Zambada's safety was guaranteed by Governor Rocha, who turned out to be an ally of Los Chapitos and, through his actions, unleashed a civil war in the state.

Now Los Chapitos is at risk of losing its main political base in the state, and this will not be the first defeat this year – for example, El Mencho of the Jalisco New Generation cartel, who was eliminated in January, and his recently arrested capo El Jardinero supported Los Chapitos in this conflict.

At the same time, neither representatives of official Mexico City nor their colleagues from Washington are taking any similar measures against the people of El Mayo, which gives rise to certain thoughts.

It appears we're being subjected to yet another drug-fighting charade, one that will inevitably lead to the rise of a new cartel. This happened in the 2000s, when the Sinaloa Cartel rose to power; in the 2010s, when the Jalisco New Generation suddenly crushed the sadistic Los Zetas; and in the early 2020s, when Los Chapitos itself flourished, actively selling fentanyl into the United States during Donald Trump's first presidential term.

And now times are changing again. Will the arrest of Governor Rocha solve anything, given that most of Sinaloa's municipalities, even at the beginning of the 20th century, were built with funds from local officials who made their fortunes from the opium trade? The question is rhetorical.

Link

Caribbean-Latin America

U.S. Treasury Identifies Two Cartel-Connected Casinos in Mexican Border State

2026-04-15

[Breitbart] The U.S. Department of the Treasury has identified two cartel-connected groups in the border state of Tamaulipas, as well as three of their main operators. As part of the move, the U.S. government is freezing any related accounts and prohibiting U.S. citizens from doing business with the sanctioned individuals.

Information released by the Treasury Department revealed that Casino Centenario, located less than two miles south of the Texas border in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, is owned and operated by the Cartel Del Noreste faction of Los Zetas through shell companies. In the backrooms of the casino, cartel gunmen would hold and torture some of their victims. In addition to being used to launder money, the Zetas also use the casino as a stash house to store fentanyl and cocaine, federal authorities revealed.

The shell company behind the casino is Comercializadora y Arrendadora de Mexico SA de CV (CAMSA). The casino is known to draw U.S. tourists. Following the issuance of the sanctions, U.S. citizens are prohibited from doing business there, the Treasury Department stated. CAMSA also operates a second casino in Tamaulipas, Casino Diamante, in the port city of Tampico, located in the southern part of the state. That casino is also a known cartel operation, and U.S. citizens are also prohibited from doing business there.

In their actions, the U.S. Department of the Treasury also identified Eduardo Javier “El Crosty” Islas Valdez, the CDN-Los Zetas leader for human smugglers or Pateros in Nuevo Laredo. In the same action, authorities also identified Juan Pablo Penilla Rodriguez, a defense attorney in Mexico. Authorities claimed that Penilla worked illegally for the CDN-Los Zetas, going beyond his role as attorney and establishing a communications channel between the criminal organization and their then jailed leader, Miguel Angel (Z-40) Trevino Morales. For several years, Morales led his organization from behind bars. As Breitbart Texas reported, soon after the start of the Trump administration, Mexico sent Morales along with several other cartel figures as a way to appease the pressure after the White House claimed that Mexico’s government was protecting drug cartels.

As Breitbart Texas reported, the U.S. Department of the Treasury also singled out Raymundo Ramos, the leader of the Nuevo Laredo Human Rights Commission, who they claim in reality is a cartel operator that handles the criminal organization’s propaganda wing.

Link

Caribbean-Latin America

The cartels battling for Mexico

2026-02-27

[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] Ruthless gangs that melt rivals in acid and run Nazi-style 'extermination camps' poised to turn streets into war zones after drug lord killed

On Sunday, Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) boss Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, 59, was killed in Tapalpa in a joint Mexican military and US-backed operation.

At least 20 states were plunged into cartel-fuelled chaos as a result, with violence surging as authorities tightened security across the region.

Oseguera, known as 'El Mencho', ruled his drug empire with extreme brutality, using terrifying torture and violence to instill fear into rivals.

Over the last decade, the kingpin turned CJNG into the strongest crime ring in the country, partly by extending his power through 'franchise' agreements with smaller gangs around Mexico.

Following his death, authorities have said they are actively working on containing the cartel's reactions and reinforcing security after the highest-profile blow against cartels since the recapture of former Sinaloa cartel boss Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzmán a decade ago.

With the leader now gone, fears of extreme violence and war are rising as several brutal rival cartels compete for control of the territories he left behind.

JALISCO NEW GENERATION CARTEL
The CJNG is considered one of Mexico's most powerful drug cartels that plays a key role in trafficking methamphetamine and fentanyl to the US.

El Mencho's brutal control of the drug-trafficking routes from Latin America to the US, using speedboats and submersibles to ship cocaine and methamphetamine from Colombia and Ecuador via the Pacific, is thought to have made him billions.

The Jalisco cartel has a presence in at least 21 of Mexico's 32 states and is active in almost all of the US, according to the US Drug Enforcement Administration.

During his merciless rule, kingpin El Mencho displayed a savagery many deemed extreme even by narco standards.

In 2011, CJNG was implicated in a series of massacres, including the torture and murder of 35 people whose bodies were found dumped in the streets of Veracruz during an evening rush hour.

Horrors snipped.

And last March, forensic teams made a discovery that chilled even hardened investigators - a secret compound near Teuchitlán, Jalisco, where the CJNG allegedly ran a full-scale 'extermination site'.

Buried beneath the Izaguirre ranch, authorities found three massive Nazi-style crematory ovens.

They contained piles of charred human bones, and a haunting mountain of belongings - over 200 pairs of shoes, purses, belts, and even children's toys.

Experts believe victims were kidnapped, tortured, and burned alive, or after being executed, to destroy evidence of mass killings.

Just a few weeks prior, authorities in Zapopan, a suburb of Guadalajara, unearthed 169 black bags at a construction site, all filled with dismembered human remains.

The bags were hidden near the CJNG territory, where disappearances are widespread.

In October 2024, the town of Ojuelos, Jalisco, woke up to yet another horror - the decapitated bodies of five men dumped by a dirt road.

Their heads were found in a separate sack, left beside a cardboard sign with a blood-soaked warning from CJNG.

A useful map of cartel territories in Mexico can be seen at the link. The other cartels in this story:

Sinaloa Cartel

Cártel del Noreste - Los Zetas

Cartel Tijuana Nueva Generacion

La Nueva Familia Michoacána Cartel

Cartel de Golfo

Link

Caribbean-Latin America

Three Guatemalans and one Mexican were arrested after a crackdown on marijuana farms in Guatemala

2026-02-02

🇲🇽 #Mexico / #Guatamela: Three Guatemalans and one Mexican were arrested after a crackdown on marijuana farms in Guatemala, Las Cruces, Petén.

Besides the large quantity of plants seized (reportedly 430,016 marijuana plants), an entire arsenal was confiscated from the farm.… pic.twitter.com/RK9aMVigGT
— POPULAR FRONT (@PopularFront_) January 31, 2026

Text:

Three Guatemalans and one Mexican were arrested after a crackdown on marijuana farms in Guatemala, Las Cruces, Petén.

Besides the large quantity of plants seized (reportedly 430,016 marijuana plants), an entire arsenal was confiscated from the farm.

Footage shows several assault rifles and handguns with magazines and drum mags, burner phones, bulletproof vests, as well as an RPG launcher with six anti-tank rockets.

Link

Home Front: WoT

The US is capturing Maduro while simultaneously strengthening the world's largest drug cartel

2026-01-06

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
by Olga Kuznetsova

[REGNUM] Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was dragged out of his bed and brought to the United States in the best traditions of the TV series "Narcos" – in order to, according to the American leadership, carry out "fair justice" on him.

Along the way, without encountering much resistance, they cleared out his entire personal security detail—apparently Cuban—bombed Venezuela's main military installations, and delivered the now former Bolivarian leader to New York.

And even together with his wife, Celia Flores, who doesn’t appear in videos nearly as often as her husband.

The front pages of newspapers immediately picked up the story, discussing the overthrow of yet another "dictatorship" and the hunt for the energy resources of the Bolivarian Republic, but for the general public, from the podium of the White House, they decided to play a completely different card.

WITH DELIVERY FROM DEA
A few hours after the thunderous statements by Donald Trump and Pentagon officials, who spoke in the best traditions of the colonialists of past centuries, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a descendant of Cuban immigrants, took the stage.

Rubio immediately dismissed any talk that Trump had launched a war without the authorization of U.S. lawmakers. According to the Secretary of State, congressional authorization was not required for the operation in Venezuela, as it was not an invasion or occupation, but merely a "law enforcement operation" to detain Maduro.

As if to confirm these words, the first photographs and videos appeared showing the handcuffed president of the Bolivarian Republic.

The photographs featured agents from the American Drug Enforcement Administration, or simply DEA, everywhere.

Even though the capture of Maduro and his wife was carried out by the elite Delta Force special forces unit, the public needed to be shown that the operation was primarily about counter-narcotics.

It is the DEA agents who are at the forefront during the next triumphant delivery of one or another drug lord to the States.

In the case of Nicolás Maduro, a nuance stands out: before New York, he was taken to the US military base in Guantánamo Bay, thereby drawing an important parallel for the American public with Middle Eastern terrorists.

WHAT IS MADURO ACCUSED OF?
The indictment against Maduro, Flores and several others was released in advance by US Attorney General Pam Bondi.

Naturally, the focus is on the charge of conspiracy to commit "narcoterrorism." However, the ruling couple is also accused of importing cocaine and acquiring and illegally possessing automatic weapons and destructive devices intended to be used against the United States and its people.

The couple is also accused of collaborating with Colombian groups—ELN and FARK. However, no one seems concerned that these groups represent a collection of armed groups that don't always cooperate (and often compete).

According to American law enforcement, Maduro did not limit himself to collaborating with Colombian drug traffickers, but also had dealings with the Mexican Sinaloa Cartel, the Northeast Cartel, and the organized crime group from which he emerged—the Los Zetas Cartel.

The indictment also included a mention of the Tre de Aragua gang, which has dominated Western news over the past six months.

Interestingly, the president's wife, who was often cited in "independent investigators" as the true leader of the "Cartel of the Suns," is accused more of handing out bribes and participating in corruption, depriving her of any leadership role in the cartel's management.

Of the other Venezuelan officials, only Minister Diosdado Cabello, the son of Nicolás Maduro, and a couple of characters associated with Cilia Flores, but who had not previously appeared much on the agenda, are mentioned.

THE "PRODUCT" WILL BECOME MORE EXPENSIVE
To understand the strained nature of the accusations against Maduro, it's worth recalling the long-standing conclusions of the UN's relevant agency, which stated that Venezuela is not a cocaine-producing country, since all coca plantations are concentrated in Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia.

A certain amount of drugs is indeed being transported through Venezuela, but the declared amount of cocaine (several hundred tons) is too small to suggest the work of some legendary organized crime group.

At the same time, the Americans claim that the drug is supplied on an almost industrial scale using military and civilian equipment.

However, Colombia, where cocaine production has been growing since 2020, has not yet been touched, although current President Petro has received certain threats from Trump.

The main North American customers are unlikely to experience any shortages, other than a price adjustment due to changes in logistics. As for the traditional decline in cocaine demand in the United States, there's no reason to talk about it.

ROOM FOR MANEUVER
Neither the current Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez, nor Vice President Delcy Rodriguez, nor the judges of the Supreme Court of the Bolivarian Republic are mentioned in the American document.

But from the US government's point of view, the entire ruling elite of Venezuela is part of a drug cartel and must be held accountable.

In essence, current officials in Caracas have retained room for maneuver.

Trump also launched into accusations against other neighbors. While answering journalists' questions, he couldn't resist flexing his muscles. Threats weren't limited to regional countries—Colombia, Cuba, and Mexico—but Greenland, part of the Danish kingdom, also came under fire.

In terms of drug trafficking accusations, Mexico deserves special mention. The American leader has repeatedly stated that the Mexican president doesn't govern the country—in his view, it's the cartels, which are "too powerful" and will have to be "dealt with."

Since the fall, Mexican security forces have been vigorously clearing out the state of Sinaloa, the birthplace and sphere of influence of the eponymous organized crime group. Several major drug operators in the region, who facilitated drug trafficking to the United States, have been killed or arrested.

It is doubtful that anything like this could have happened without the cooperation of the CIA and the Drug Enforcement Administration.

What is the point of these threats then?

It's possible this is a kind of "greeting" from Mexico's ruling leftist party, which has traditionally been loyal to the socialist governments of Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Cuba. The Mexicans even send tankers of fuel to the latter—something they apparently shouldn't do now.

INVINCIBLE DRUG TRAFFICKING
Interestingly, the document makes no mention of the Jalisco New Generation cartel, the rivals of the Sinaloa gangsters who were mentioned.

Mexican law enforcement has taken a break from cracking down on the region's largest cartel, fearing retaliation from drug traffickers.

Local police are concerned about possible kidnappings of tourists during the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which will be held in Mexico, among other places.

However, by suspending the fight against the group, Mexican security forces are essentially helping it clear the field of competitors. And at the same time, the Americans are no longer connecting it to this year's top drug lord, even though the Americans weren't known for such reverence for this organized crime group in their investigations five years ago. A stunning coup for the cartel.

Thus, the steady flow of drugs into North America is not only unstoppable, but will be concentrated in the hands of a smaller number of individuals who will be able to make even more money.

Link

Caribbean-Latin America

U.S. Consulate: Avoid Travel on Mexican Border Highways due to Kidnappings

2025-06-23

[Breitbart] The border state of Tamaulipas is listed as a level 4 Do Not Travel region, the highest designation, which is also used for active war zones.

The U.S. Consulate in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, issued an alert over a series of kidnappings along certain Mexican border highways. The warning follows the actions by teams of gunmen who abducted at least ten people in at least three separate cases in recent days. It remains unclear if other similar cases have not been reported.

The warnings come after gunmen kidnapped five musicians and their driver on June 16 as they traveled to a city called General Teran, where suspected cartel members held them at gunpoint and kept them for over 24 hours. The gunmen had set up a makeshift roadblock.

Just days later, gunmen kidnapped three women who were driving from Monterrey to Reynosa. Almost at the same time, gunmen also kidnapped a doctor who was traveling the same route. Authorities in Nuevo Leon raided three separate locations near Los Ramones, where they were able to rescue the victims.

The gunmen are believed to be from the Cartel Del Noreste faction of Los Zetas, who have been pushing into areas previously controlled by the Gulf Cartel.

Link

Caribbean-Latin America

Militarization of criminal organizations as a factor in criminal rebellion

2025-06-08

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.

Summary written by Konstantin Strigunov.

For all their equipment and uniforms I would classify Mexican cartel armed group as militia/mercenaries. Low quality, poorly trained and poorly led, with their regulars defending a fat paycheck.
[ColonelCassad] Over the past decades, economically motivated criminal organizations have undergone a long evolutionary path, achieving the potential to pose a threat to the territorial integrity of the state, thereby acquiring the characteristics of entities with de facto political goals. As V.N. Lunin notes in his work, "the drug business as an organic component of modern united criminal groups constantly gravitates toward politicization of its activities and structures, striving in the long term to create a kind of narco-terrorist quasi-state."

At the same time, D.V. Morozov is skeptical about this possibility, since, in his opinion, "practice shows that drug structures prefer to exercise territorial control indirectly ‒ through legally operating government structures. This allows drug cartels to rule while remaining in the shadows."

On the other hand, as the author showed using the example of Mexico and Brazil, upon reaching a sufficiently high level of development, drug trafficking is capable of exercising forceful control over territories, without which they are unable to achieve economic goals, including sufficient provision of themselves with resources. Since territorial control means a threat to national security, territorial integrity and sovereignty of the state, then in this case the economic and de facto political goals of the PO are indistinguishable and inseparable from each other. Therefore, a criminal group, for example, a gang or a cartel, acts as a criminal insurgent, which is a participant in a criminal rebellion, which differs from conventional terrorism and rebellion.

This difference is that the only political motive of criminal insurgents is to obtain autonomy and economic control over the territory. As A. Bustamante notes in his work, criminal insurgent movements are non-state actors with a high level of hierarchical organization based on networks or nodes, whose combat capabilities allow them to make abrupt changes within the structures of the state.

The goal of this is to parasitize on ungoverned territories and maintain territorial control over a settlement of strategic importance for the continuation of their illegal operations. It should be noted that criminal rebellion is sometimes considered a type of commercial rebellion. Supporters of the approach according to which highly developed criminal organizations should be considered as criminal rebels include, in particular, J. Sullivan, R. Bunker and M. Manwaring. Thus, R. Bunker considered developed Mexican cartels such as Los Zetas and Los Caballeros Templarios as new military formations that use “criminal soldiers”, becoming a direct threat to the integrity of the Mexican state where they operate.

The researcher notes that while the original basis of criminal rebellion is
rebellion has an economic origin, the cartels themselves, which have created hundreds of "zones of impunity" (that is, free from state influence), are considered as effectively politicized subjects. This approach is also shared by M. Manwaring and J. Sullivan. Another researcher, J. Mendizabal, notes that criminal rebellion is not aimed at overthrowing governments or imposing any ideology. On the contrary, its goal is to provoke an extremely violent struggle against the state to obtain autonomy and economic benefits from its criminal activities in conditions of complete impunity, freeing itself from all types of state control.

Thus, a criminal rebellion is an organized violent action of criminal organizations with a selfish motivation, which in the process of their evolution achieve such an organizational, personnel and resource potential, at which they are able to de facto achieve political goals through forceful territorial control and infiltration into the state apparatus, demonopolizing the state's right to socially sanctioned use of force, thereby creating a threat to its sovereignty and territorial integrity.

There are a number of factors that contribute to the emergence of a criminal rebellion, ranging from control over drug production and drug trafficking, which provides colossal resources for the criminal organization, to the fragmentation of criminal groups, sometimes leading to their organizational complication. This happened in Colombia after the liquidation of the Medellin and Cali Cartels, as shown in the work of M. Kenny, and in Mexico, where, as researchers from the Institute of Latin American Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences note in a collective monograph, the fragmentation process was accompanied by a redistribution of territory and property between cartels. This process was influenced by the militarization of the criminal organization.

The main idea of this study is that the militarization of criminal organizations contributes to a radical organizational complication and growth of their integral potential, as a result of which these actors can already take part in a criminal rebellion, having escaped state control and replacing the state in its individual territories.

The work shows that, although the militarization of crime in itself is not a new phenomenon and is quite widespread, since the leaders of many criminal organizations want to take advantage of the skills and knowledge of people with military and police experience or experience in the special services, such co-optation does not always lead to organizational transformations of groups that allow them to challenge the power of the state in certain territories and act as a subject of criminal rebellion.

For example, in traditional criminal communities, the involvement of individuals with military and operational experience allows for more sophisticated operations in drug trafficking, smuggling, financial crimes, etc. Thus, in the USA, Europe, and in the countries of the former Soviet Union, there are known examples of former military personnel and former law enforcement officers being involved in criminal activities by OCG leaders. However, these groups do not pose a threat to the territorial integrity of states.

The situation changes dramatically when the militarization of criminal organizations becomes widespread, as is the case in some countries in Latin America and the Caribbean in the context of weakening state institutions. In such cases, criminal organizations are not only trained in more complex operations and schemes, but are also able to challenge state power in a certain territory, forcing governments to respond not only with police forces, but also with troops. Consequently, all the prerequisites are created for an internal armed conflict (IAC) in the form of a criminal rebellion, when the militarization of the PI acts as part of a complex of factors of organizational transformations of groups, due to which these violent actors are able to undermine state sovereignty and violate its territorial integrity. PR in such an IAC act as de facto political subjects.

The key features of an IAC are:

1) ) achieving the necessary level of intensity of violence
2) the presence of organization of the parties to the conflict.

We determine the level of intensity of violence on the basis of the classification of the Uppsala Conflict Data Program, according to which a conflict is considered insignificant if the number of deaths is from 25 to 1,000 people per year, and over 1,000 - corresponds to a war.

The threshold of organization is a set of a number of indicators, while the party to the IAC can correspond to only some of them, including the presence of a command structure and disciplinary rules, control of territory, access to weapons or military equipment, recruitment of recruits.

The purpose of this paper is to show, using the example of a number of Latin American gangs and cartels, the militarization of these POs as a factor in their transformation into de facto political subjects of criminal rebellion and participants in the VVK.

CO-OPTATION OF FIGHTERS OF SECURITY AGENCIES AND EX-COMBATANTS OF REBEL FORMATIONS INTO CRIMINAL GROUPS
One of the most important reasons leading to the militarization of POs is the inclusion in their organization of current or former employees of security agencies, as well as ex-combatants of paramilitary formations with experience in irregular warfare. These individuals, who have military knowledge and skills, increase the military potential of the POs that receive double benefit from their involvement. Firstly, former employees of the security agencies and former members of rebel/terrorist organizations act as instructors for ordinary members of the PO. Secondly, they themselves are involved in the group's operations, which increases the likelihood of their success.

Examples of such symbiosis include the participation of former military personnel in training gang fighters in Brazilian favelas. As a result of such interaction, gang members acquired skills by learning small-group tactics in urban conditions, overcoming obstacles, using camouflage, coordination, etc.

Consequently, PO members trained in this way increase their chances of survival in clashes with Brazilian security forces. For example, the largest Brazilian gang, Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC), hires dissidents from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, FARC). The goal is to obtain heavy weapons and military training, which are necessary for the PCC to fight the security forces of Brazil, as well as to expand its activities in neighboring countries, including Colombia.

Another example of militarization is the inclusion of militants from rebel/terrorist organizations in its structure, up to command positions. In particular, the guerrilla of Chilean origin Mauricio Hernandez Norambuena, a former member of the left-wing radical organization "Patriotic Front of Manuel Rodríguez" (Frente Patriótico Manuel Rodríguez), previously established contact with the PCC.

Researchers M. Cristina and K. Tognolli note in their work the complication of the PCC structure during the time when M. Norambuena interacted with it. Such co-optation contributed to the increase in the integral potential of this PO, the improvement of its ability to plan its actions, including countering the security forces and carrying out large-scale robberies.

A striking example of the militarization of the PO are the Mexican cartels. One of the first and most iconic cases of professional soldiers defecting to join major cartels was the defection of fighters from the elite Special Airmobile Group (Grupo Aeromóvil de Fuerzas Especiales, GAFES) to the Cártel del Golfo. They later broke away to form the Los Zetas cartel, known for its extreme violence. As a criminal group made up of former soldiers, Los Zetas demonstrated an advantage over other cartels due to its professional training, established hierarchy, identity, knowledge and capacity for territorial control, recognition among civilians, and, finally, being autonomous in its activities and flexible in its structure.

Another Mexican organization that has co-opted the military is the Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG). This cartel’s innovative approach, which included recruiting military personnel, has allowed it to expand its operations to 40 countries in just 15 years (the cartel is believed to have formed in 2009). For example, Otto Fernando Godoy Cordón, a colonel in the Guatemalan armed forces, provided logistical support to the CJNG in the cocaine trade. The cartel is reported to have recruited dozens of former Colombian soldiers and US Marines with combat experience to improve the tactical capabilities of its armed forces.

The criminal insurgency is particularly pronounced in Haiti, where the state has essentially collapsed, as explored in detail in the work of O. James. The crisis in Haiti escalated critically in 2023, when the murder rate was 40.9 deaths per 100,000 people, more than double the 2022 level. After the US occupation in 1994, the armed forces in Haiti were disbanded and only much later, in 2017, were they partially restored (the number is estimated at 2,000 people). The country also has a National Police.

An analysis of the structure of Haitian PO indicates that the security agencies act as “donors” to local gangs that are waging an all-out war between themselves and what remains of the state. Thus, on October 13, 2023, in the La Saline area in the center of the capital Port-au-Prince (90% controlled by the PO), clashes resumed between gangs belonging to the G-9 famille et alliés coalition (hereinafter referred to as G-9), associated with the ruling Haitian Tet Kale party (French: Parti Haïtien Tèt Kale), which began in September due to the distribution of "income" from truck thefts.

The leader of the G-9 is former police officer Jimmy Cherizier (known by the nickname "Barbecue"), which means that representatives of the security forces in Haiti are not just used by the PO, but also occupy key "posts" in the hierarchy of local gangs. This alliance of gangs, led by the ex-policeman, attempted to eliminate the leader of the allied "Tokyo" gang, who challenged his power. The coalition was divided into two camps: on the one hand, the gangs of Carrefour Drouillard, Chen Mechan, Tokyo and Wharf Jérémie; on the other, the gangs of Belekou, Boston, Fort Dimanche, La Saline and the gang of D. Cherizier Delm.

The fighting, which lasted four days, weakened the G-9, as gangs from the first camp abandoned the coalition. The internal conflict within the G-9 is compounded by an armed confrontation with the criminal alliance G-pèp, which is supported by political opponents of Tete Kale and led by Jean-Pierre Gabriel (nickname Ti Gabriel). At the same time, in response to the formation of the Bwa Kale civilian militia, gang conglomerates were able to unite for a coordinated attack. In February 2024, the G9 and G-pèp, together (known as Viv Ansanm), attacked critical civilian infrastructure in Port-au-Prince.

Another example of the participation of security forces in the PO is Dimitri Herard, the former head of security for the President of Haiti, Jovenel Moïse, who was assassinated in 2021.

According to media reports citing intelligence and diplomatic sources, D. Gerard works with Johnson Andre, known as Izo, the leader of the powerful gang 5 Segonn, which is part of the criminal alliance G-pèp. It should be noted that it was after the murder of Jovenel Moïse that the PO, used by local political and business elites to suppress voter turnout, anti-government protests and seize land, actually got out of control, becoming a largely autonomous force and participants in a criminal rebellion.

Recruitment of military personnel by gangs is also recorded in Ecuador. In particular, the PO Los Chone Killers recruited sailors from the Ecuadorian Navy, who not only acted as sicarios (hired killers) for the group, but were also involved in the theft of ammunition and weapons from various units of the Navy, according to intelligence data.

The process of militarization of the PO is especially facilitated by the proximity of a state on whose territory there is a long-term internal armed conflict. For example, this kind of situation is observed in Venezuela, where local groups, growing in number over 100 people (the so-called mega-gangs), adopt the organizational structures, logistical systems and even strategies of rebel (guerrilla) organizations that are active in Colombia, as well as in Venezuela itself. As researchers note, guerrillas of Colombian origin have become a “school” for some Venezuelan gangs.

One of the largest Venezuelan POs, Tren de Aragua, adopted the organizational structure and practices of FARC and the National Liberation Army (Ejército de Liberación Nacional, ELN) during the period of intensified migration from Venezuela since 2014. Such mimicry of insurgents is an important stage in the evolutionary transformation of this group. Moreover, the very imitation of guerrilla groups with extensive combat experience is a very dangerous phenomenon.

In fact, the software adopts the model, tactics, methods and procedures of organizations that are most adapted to asymmetric warfare against government forces, which contributes to the establishment of territorial control by these POs.

The examples provided confirm the hypothesis put forward at the beginning of the paper about the militarization of POs in the LAC countries through the co-optation of individuals with military and operational experience, which in the conditions of this region contributes to the emergence of VVC in the form of a criminal rebellion. In such conditions, gangs and cartels act as criminal insurgents, which distinguishes them from traditional organized crime, since in this case these violent actors act as de facto political subjects. It should be noted that the situation
in Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela and Haiti is characterized by extreme levels of violence.

Thus, in 2023, the number of violent deaths in these countries was 46,328, 31,062, 13,432, 7,878, 6,973 and 4,789 cases, respectively. Such
intensity of violence in the presence of organized, stable, resourced and well-armed PO gives grounds to conclude that there are signs of VVK in these countries.

You can download the article in full for free in FDF format here https://dropmefiles.com/NF5fR (link available for a week)

(c) Konstantin Strigunov

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Caribbean-Latin America

Ovens, Bones and an Altar: Who Tortured 1,500 People in the 'Mexican Auschwitz'

2025-04-03

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
by Olga Kuznetsova

[REGNUM] The already turbulent crime chronicle of Mexico has been supplemented by the chilling story of the Izaguirre ranch in the state of Jalisco.

A group of activists searching for missing persons received several anonymous calls telling them that a ranch in a village outside Guadalajara was hiding some dark secrets.

The estate's territory has been under the protection of regional authorities since autumn and, according to their statement, has been thoroughly explored. Nothing interesting was found there - just another hideout for drug traffickers from the Jalisco New Generation cartel.

The searchers, however, were lucky. If that's what they found, of course.

Once at the ranch, they found evidence that it was not just a shelter, but a real base where they recruited and trained new fighters, as well as eliminated those who were undesirable.

HOLY DEATH
Several weeks ago, activists began excavations and quickly discovered charred human bones, as well as several underground ovens (three according to some sources, and even more according to others), in which, apparently, the bodies of the murdered were burned.

Personal belongings were also found near the remains: shoes, clothes, backpacks, notebooks, letters and much more. In the first days, forensic experts concluded that the items found could belong to at least five hundred different people.

After some time, they started talking about more monstrous numbers - almost one and a half thousand people. Moreover, most of them, judging by their clothes, were minors or a little over twenty years old.

Various parts of firearms and bladed weapons were also found, cartridges were lying almost everywhere, and near the wall there was an altar of Saint Death (Santa Muerte) with figurines, remains of candles and glasses into which alcohol could be poured during rituals.

Based on what they saw, the experts concluded that combat training was taking place at the ranch. Keeping in mind the usual practice of the major cartels - both the Jalisco New Generation and the long-disbanded Los Zetas - it was concluded that some hostages were brought there by force, forced to carry out tasks, and then, having failed to see any success or having met with a determined refusal to participate in the cartel's activities, were killed.

As for the altar of Saint Death, whose cult originates in the “regional version” of Catholicism, its presence here is quite logical: cartel fighters consider it good form to turn to the deity for support before going on a mission or to prison.

Interestingly, the training base also held hostages: many women's elegant dresses, relatively clean, were found among the personal belongings. Their owners, apparently, were kidnapped during public celebrations or parties.

News of the sinister discoveries quickly spread through regional and federal media, and the Izaguirre ranch was immediately dubbed the “Mexican Auschwitz.”

And quite quickly the commentators came up with the question: how “professionally” did regional officials search the ranch from September to October that they didn’t find a whole mountain of clothing and not very well hidden human bones?

THE JALISCO CARTEL'S RESPONSE
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has called for a thorough investigation into the findings in Jalisco state, including a review of the legality of the actions of state authorities who have been in charge of the ranch in recent months.

Soon after, a video from the Jalisco New Generation cartel appeared on social media, in which the militants decided to “clarify some facts.”

And their first question: how did it happen that unknown activists got into the territory protected by the authorities, who, having found the remains of corpses, did not immediately contact the federal authorities, but organized a "promotion" on social networks? And why does no one care that in the fall there were no bodies, no clothes, no stoves on the ranch?

Yes, the Jalisco New Generation cartel are criminals, but they operate according to their own "code" and are not idiots, because only idiots would give a gun to a person they kidnapped. And that is exactly what the mysterious volunteers found.

The members of the criminal cartel also stated that such incitement and denigration provoke a conflict situation in the region and threaten to turn the state into a “second Sinaloa.” The presence of thousands of corpses and the very fact of creating a “death camp” in the cartel are categorically denied.

To be fair, there is some logic to what the criminals are saying. What is especially alarming is that many of the ranch captives' belongings are clean, not even slightly soiled.

In addition, love letters were found here, the authors of which are still very much alive and have long been found.

And here other versions of what happened began to emerge.

Several years ago, secret burial sites were already discovered in the state of Jalisco. And immediately after that, federal troops arrived in the region with a series of operations against the Jalisco New Generation cartel.

Then the leader of the organized crime group, Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes , nicknamed "El Mencho", through his people stated that the burials were created by the state governor, who plans to clear the territory with the help of the feds and thus get rid of competitors.

In an effort to take away a certain “business,” local officials are not too scrupulous in their means—they can even organize the shelling of a peaceful neighborhood in order to “draw attention to the problem.”

Almost the same thing is happening now: several special operations have been carried out in the region to capture members of the New Generation of Jalisco. However, the federal troops could not boast of any particular success, having lost three people during one of the shootouts.

The reported scale of the killings at the Izaguirre ranch also raises big questions.

People familiar with the process of identifying bodies claim that it is impossible to count, compare and conduct laboratory tests so quickly, and equating the number of dead to the number of all items of clothing found is at the very least strange.

And the people working in the cartel are not idiots who arrange burials of thousands of people in one place, and even within the boundaries of a populated area.

It cannot be ruled out that some of the bodies and clothing could have been delivered there by representatives of the federal authorities, who are in full swing fighting crime against the backdrop of Washington’s threats to impose higher tariffs on exported goods against the country.

And besides, Mexico's top security official, Omar Garcia Harfuch, considers hunting the Jalisco New Generation his personal matter of honor, since they have tried to kill him more than once. And in such cases, for certain people, as we know, all means are good.

Apparently, the cartel understands the situation perfectly well, but they can’t resist mocking their enemies: against the backdrop of a series of police operations, just an hour’s drive from Guadalajara, a grand concert was held in honor of the cartel leader, El Mencho.

The crowd chanted verses addressed to the drug lord, and the court mariachi minstrels made it clear who was the master of this land.

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Caribbean-Latin America

Cartels of Mexico

2025-03-19

[PUBLISH.TWITTER]

Cartels of Mexico

Some cartel groups, like Los Zetas & CJNG, have ex-military personnel with elite training.

Cartels use military-style strategies, roadblocks, and drones to counter security forces.

Top players: Sinaloa Cartel (~12,000 fighters), CJNG (~10,000 fighters), and… pic.twitter.com/SKOKrql9K7
— Clash Report (@clashreport) March 18, 2025

…and Los Zetas (~5,000 fighters).

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Caribbean-Latin America

Veterans of White Powder: Why Mexico Gave Retired Drug Lords to the States

2025-03-03

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
by Olga Kuznetsova

[REGNUM] The crime chronicles of Mexico, and along with it the American borderland, sometimes resemble an action movie - and the figures of the Western film industry, not being fools, take advantage of this, dissecting local plots in every possible way.

It turns out so-so. Sure, there are hits like "Queen of the South," "El Chapo," or "Narcos" plus "Narcos: Mexico," but they all focus more on the biography of some legendary person (usually a criminal one) and explain with varying degrees of obsession that drug trafficking does not lead to anything good.

Sometimes the authors have an attempt to tell a story about how a criminal path is not chosen without reason and that there are many more people in the chain of drug trafficking interests than it seems from the outside. But nothing more.

There are exceptions, such as Steven Soderbergh's Traffic, which showcases a whole series of very human stories, as well as connections to big politics, social problems and eternal philosophical questions.

It is "Traffic" that can be considered one of the first attempts to seriously talk about the problem of drug crime, to analyze the fight against it and not slide into the framework of a cheap action movie.

And thanks to this attempt, fifteen years later, the film Sicario was born, directed by Denis Villeneuve and written by Taylor Sheridan - a film that does not impress the viewer with its knowledge of technical details or facts about the cartels, but rather reliably reflects the picture of the balance of power and the eternal violence in this sphere.

TEN YEARS LATER
Now we have to rewatch Sicario in a new reality: US President Donald Trump has opened a “new era” in the fight against cartels. At least in words.

The number of special operations in the border area has increased. The hum of patrol helicopters over the Mexican state of Sinaloa is heard more often, drones buzz like flies over a corpse. Machine gun fire still often enlivens the outskirts of southern cities. And mass graves in the walls of houses or in the desert are replenished with new plastic bags with sinister contents.

Open threats are being made: Trump's team is promising economic sanctions against neighboring countries, demanding that they stop the flow of drugs and stop "poisoning Americans."

The Mexican president has responded by loudly demanding that American weapons be stopped from being sold to the cartels, and by recommending that the US public be curbed from consuming the same weapons that created demand for the cartels in Sicario.

Several major cartels and a couple of gangs have been declared terrorist organizations by the US government (and Canada and Argentina). The National Intelligence Service, the CIA and the FBI are predicting purges of both those who once ruined the lives of members of Trump's team and those who were involved in some unpleasant machinations. To demonstrate, so to speak, the healing of the ranks.

And it seems that the world that Sheridan and Villeneuve portray is no longer relevant – that is, the world where the American government and the cartels work together to prevent a hypothetical “greater evil.” The bright side, represented by Emily Blunt’s heroine, an honest FBI agent, has in reality won.

But is this really true?

NOT JUST A 'CARTEL STORY'
In one of his interviews, Taylor Sheridan admitted that he wanted to create not just a “story about cartels.” The goal was to show the American frontier and all its nightmares, and at the same time to show that “cartel” is just a name behind which stands an ineradicable and beneficial phenomenon.

As the Sinaloa cartel drug lord Ismail Zambada, who is in American custody, said : My arrest will not change anything. The cartel is a many-headed hydra that exists only because it benefits those in power.

They chop off the heads of some, and others take their place. The flow of drugs continues to reach the consumers, and the money for this activity continues to fall into the right pockets.

And so it is now: while verbally threatening Mexico, Trump’s team is simultaneously holding regular meetings dedicated to joint operations between the American and Mexican authorities.

At the latter, Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with members of the security cabinet sent by President Claudia Sheinbaum to improve "cross-border coordination."

They plan to share intelligence and conduct joint investigations, allowing the United States to quickly apprehend criminals on its territory and Mexico to do the same on its own.

Mexico, meanwhile, while promising to amend its constitution to prevent the United States from arresting Mexican citizens on their home soil and conducting secret investigations, has allowed a delegation of military advisers into its territory to train individual units of the local army for a month.

Along the way, literally “without declaring war,” on February 27, despite the requests of all lawyers, almost all the prototypes of the main characters of “Narcos: Mexico” were extradited to the United States.

Among them are one of the leaders of the long-defunct Guadalajara cartel, Rafael Caro Quintero ; the Treviño brothers from Los Zetas, leaders famous for their brutality ; the middle ranks of the now-defunct Juarez cartel; members of the Golfo, Northeast, La Familia Michoacana and other cartels captured several years ago. In total, they say, 29 people.

They have been left in detention centers in different parts of the United States and have already given regional authorities reason to discuss the possibility of applying the death penalty to them.

Some call this extradition the loudest in modern history, others shout about a sensitive blow to drug trafficking. And somehow they overlook the fact that the transferred persons are only second-tier leaders or drug world pensioners who have long since retired from real affairs. Their heirs are left free.

GOALS AND MOTIVES
One of the main characters of "Sicario", the mysterious Alejandro with a tragic past played by Benicio del Toro, works for the American government mostly with one goal: to get the opportunity to take revenge on the one who killed his family. And, naturally, to avoid punishment. In exchange, he is ready to provide all his "skills and abilities", which were clearly not acquired during his work in the prosecutor's office.

As it turns out, in Sheridan's original version of the script, the story began with Alejandro giving a heartfelt speech about the nature of violence. The hero then proceeded to explain his motives to Blunt's character, and in the end, having found the hated drug lord, he does not kill his children, but allows his enemy to make a sinister choice (the outcome of which turns out to be unimportant).

Later, director Villeneuve and Benicio del Toro himself made changes to the script, making Alejandro mysterious, silent and brutally dealing with the entire family of his enemy in the finale. In essence, having passed his point of no return and accepted the laws of the harsh world of drug dealers and fighters against them.

It is Alejandro who gently, almost mercifully, breaks Blunt's heroine, forcing her to accept a new paradigm and stop fighting. Or maybe he doesn't break her? He compares her to his little daughter, drowned in acid by a drug lord, and explains to her - albeit at gunpoint - the rules of the game.

In fact, the first person for the film who explains something to her about what is happening. And the special services employee, like a little girl, swallows her tears and refuses to continue the suicidal struggle.

She, an FBI agent from the kidnapping unit, is not needed here, because in this story no one is going to save anyone. She herself was invited to legalize some operations and, in fact, was used for "state" purposes, including sometimes as bait.

Interestingly, the actress was invited to the project after Denis Villeneuve saw her in the role of Queen Victoria, an example of the conservative values of the 19th century and the “moral standard of the era.”

As for the reality and extradition of 29 people, at least one of them already gives an idea of the approximate benefit to the American government.

Rafael Caro Quintero is set to handcuff DEA agent Enrique "Kiki" Camarena, who he tortured and killed in 1985, during a new trial. The move is cinematic, but it also hints at other aspects of the story.

Trump's potential purges of the FBI and CIA need at least a few triggers. The extradition of Agent Camarena's killer has revived the conversation that the cartel was merely the perpetrator in this case, and that the CIA was the main beneficiary of the murder. Camarena learned something - something about the drug world and the US government. Something that doesn't last long.

And Rafael Caro Quintero's testimony could be extremely inconvenient for a number of representatives of American law enforcement agencies. Who, if we are to be honest, in 1985 lived by the same laws as those shown in the film "Sicario". And now, for the sake of the cause, they may well pay for it, as Camarena did.

THE CAUSE OF THE TROUBLES HAS NOT BEEN ELIMINATED
When Villeneuve's film hit the big screen, the then mayor of Ciudad Juarez criticized how creepy it made the Mexican border town look. And he invited everyone to visit to prove that things had changed.

Much has changed since 2015, of course. But before former US President Joe Biden's visit last year, US troops were sent to the border to conduct a clean-up. Well, just to be on the safe side.

In addition, international organizations are loudly trumpeting the growth in the amount of psychoactive drugs consumed due to high demand among the planet's population, which, in the series of wars and cataclysms of recent years, is ready to accept a lot in attempts at escapism.

That is, the demand for drugs - the main cause of troubles in "Sicario" - has not gone away. And that means that those who control the saturation of American citizens with drug poison have not gone away and are unlikely to go away in the near future.

In this regard, anything can be said on either side of the border now - threats, tariffs, announcements about sending troops. The frontier as a grey zone, where official restrictions have always been very conditional, will continue to live by its own laws.

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Caribbean-Latin America

Mexico Abruptly Extradites 28 Cartel Bosses to U.S. -- Including DEA Agent's Killer

2025-02-28

It turns out leverage works. Who knew!

[Breitbart] In an apparent attempt to appease U.S. officials who have been pushing for tariffs and punitive measures against Mexico for their alleged role in protecting drug cartels, that country’s authorities confirmed the extradition of 29 criminals wanted by the U.S. Department of Justice. These include a top drug boss behind the 1985 murder of DEA Agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena, the two supreme leaders of Los Zetas Cartel, and the brother of the supreme leader of Cartel Jalisco New Generation.

On Thursday afternoon, Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office confirmed the extradition of 29 wanted criminals who were all in custody in various prisons across Mexico. The confirmation of the extradition came at the same time that Mexico’s security cabinet was meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his staff over that country’s response to drug cartels.

The extradited fugitives include Rafael Caro Quintero — one of the leaders of the Guadalajara Cartel. This criminal organization is considered to be the root of where most of Mexico’s western cartels, including the Sinaloa Cartel, the Juarez Cartel, and the Tijuana Cartel, spawned. As Breitbart Texas reported, Caro Quintero is wanted in the United States for his role as one of the masterminds behind the kidnapping and gruesome murder of DEA Agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena in 1985.

Breitbart Texas reported that the extradited criminals also included Miguel Angel “Z-40” and Omar “Z-42” Trevino Morales, the two supreme leaders of Los Zetas.

A fourth wanted crime boss who was also extradited is Antonio “Tony Montana” Oseguera Cervantes, the brother of the supreme leader of Cartel Jalisco New Generation (CJNG), one of the most powerful and sadistic drug cartels in Mexico.

Breitbart Texas reported that the extradited criminals also included Miguel Angel “Z-40” and Omar “Z-42” Trevino Morales, the two supreme leaders of Los Zetas.

A fourth wanted crime boss who was also extradited is Antonio “Tony Montana” Oseguera Cervantes, the brother of the supreme leader of Cartel Jalisco New Generation (CJNG), one of the most powerful and sadistic drug cartels in Mexico.

The extradition comes as part of several other moves by Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum, who, along with her cabinet, has been trying to avoid the imposition of tariffs by the Trump Administration over claims by the White House that Mexico has colluded and protected drug cartels.

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