In the past week, a video emerged on social media purportedly from the Cartel Jalisco New Generation (CJNG). In the footage, three attorneys who represent Miguel Angel Trevino Morales aka “Z-40,” the former leader of Los Zetas, are accused of planning his release via bribes and other corrupt means.
This week, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) published a decree ordering the armed forces to perform public security tasks for the next four years in opposition to cartels. The decree, ending in March 2024, requires the military to cooperate with the National Guard and police.
In a span of 24 hours, Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol agents seized separate loads of ammunition and drugs belonging to the Gulf Cartel.
The Rio Grande City Border Patrol Station is known for being ground zero for cartel violence and human smuggling. It is now the focus for drug trafficking as ports of entry partially shut down due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
The Sinaloa Cartel’s fentanyl production continues despite the global pandemic’s limits to Chinese trade, thanks to rogue university chemists.
Despite President Trump’s announcement that the U.S.-Mexico Border will close Saturday to all non-essential crossings to help stem the spread of the coronavirus like recently seen with Canada, major cartel smuggling operations risk few disruptions. Some recent adjustments have made these organizations practically immune to the broader impacts of the pandemic.
On February 20, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) announced Operation Chrystal Shield, a nationwide initiative targeting what are referred to as “transportation hubs” where methamphetamine is trafficked in bulk after crossing the U.S. border. The goal is to stop wider distribution before reaching neighborhoods across the country.
A bilateral extradition treaty between the United States and Mexico has been in effect since 1978. Protocols introduced by President Clinton in 1997 allowed for the temporary surrender of a suspect to be used as a tool to fight crime. Criminal cases involving serious crimes were allowed to be expeditiously brought to justice, and that drastically changed the process between the nations. This concept was ratified in 1998 and became the U.S.-Mexico bi-national strategy.
The term “child soldiers” usually conjures thoughts and images of children in North Africa, the Middle East, and southeast Asia. Over the past decade, the southwestern U.S.-Mexico Border region has made alarming steps to join the club.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data provide insight into cartels’ most recent shift in narcotics smuggling and their impacts on American citizens in 2020. The data show an increase in seizures of methamphetamine and fentanyl along the U.S.-Mexico Border.
If you ever heard the horrific stories of torture and violence in Mexico against innocents, it is likely that Miguel and Omar Trevino were involved. Until the DEA can extradite the brothers to the U.S., they will continue to lead Los Zetas Cartel from inside the Mexican prison system.
Cartel violence at the Texas-Mexico border is at the point where people are dying on both sides. Despite a longstanding tradition of violence between cartels, events in the past few months are transforming the battlefield at the expense of all area residents—Mexican and American.
Authorities along the U.S. border are on alert after receiving a law enforcement intelligence warning about a possible suicide bomber heading north toward the U.S.-Mexico Border. Breitbart obtained an exclusive copy of the leaked official document from a source operating under the umbrella of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
As Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) completes his first year in office, he has no national security strategy and the failures now reach beyond his nation’s borders.
In May 2011, discussions began secretly in Mexico between a known Los Zetas associate and Quds Force operative Manssor Arbabsiar. The discussion would lead to planning a C-4 detonation at a Washington, D.C. restaurant frequented by Saudi Ambassador Adel al-Jubeir. The Quds Force operative did not know that he was being recorded in a DEA operation.
The U.S. counterterrorism apparatus is striking back against designating some Mexican cartels as foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs) with the help of Republican senators. A congressional proposal sidelines U.S. military assets and still allows cartel kingpins to fly commercial as they seek turf on other continents. The bill is a juiced version of the status quo—not a overdue shift in strategy and tactics.
Border Patrol agents in the Rio Grande Valley Sector say they are becoming more concerned for their safety after several incidents with the Gulf Cartel dating back to August of this year. Several agents recently explained their concerns on the condition of anonymity.
Mexico is dealing with a level of cartel violence that directly threatens its national sovereignty and the domestic tranquility of its neighbors. Cartels are known for using tactics equal to some of the worst terrorist organizations in the world–making them far more advanced than traditional organized crime. A primary identifier of a terrorist organization under U.S. law is a discernible ideology. Some experts do not believe the Mexican organizations of interest meet the criteria like seen elsewhere in the world.
President Donald J. Trump recently announced the United States is on its way to formally designating some of Mexico’s cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs). The move will have a global impact on the day-to-day capabilities of a designee to operate with impunity. If this designation process comes into effect, it is vital the pubic understands what a potential designation means and how it becomes a reality.
In recent days, violence in the state of Guanajuato between Cartel Jalisco New Generation (CJNG) and Cartel Santa Rosa de Lima (CDRL) left at least 25 dead, including five police officers.
Cartels repeatedly demonstrate their capabilities as effective propagandists against the general public, rivals, and even layers of Mexican or international governing bodies. Their practices try to blur the lines between criminality, terrorism, and even righteous insurgency — raising red flags for national security.
Do you drive a vehicle coveted by Mexican cartels south of the Texas border? One-ton diesel trucks were the preferred choice for gunmen before the next rolling shootout. Today, cartels are opting for speed and maneuverability with smaller pickups and family SUVs.
A Mexican cartel smuggler does not change professions when a border wall is built in the middle of his route. While some criminal elements turn to tunnels in California and Arizona, narcotics traffickers along the Texas border have demonstrated an increasing adoption of commercial drones with slight modifications to move product or observe surroundings.
Over the past few months, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) executed a policy of choosing not to target cartel leaders with the hope of lowering overall violence. A shift began, however, on October 8 when Mexico City announced its military would actively target key figures in the state of Tamaulipas, abutting the southern Texas border region. The change could ratchet pressure on cartel chiefs to return to their use of car bombs.
