Mexican authorities are apparently helping move drug loads from clandestine beach landings to distribution points in Michoacán. The alleged escorts are National Guardsmen and Marines intended to keep rival cartels at bay.

For several weeks, Breitbart Texas spoke with locals and documented military patrols in Michoacán. The illegal escorts come as the newly formed National Guard, a campaign promise delivered by President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, is plagued with allegations of corruption and inefficacy. Despite Lopez Obrador’s previous reassurances, the National Guard managed to be implicated in numerous acts of corruption and extortion.

Breitbart Texas and locals witnessed members of Mexico’s Navy and National Guard escorting cocaine shipments in full uniform duty vehicles. Breitbart Texas managed to identify three vehicles, #610170, #610231, and 610228, as they apparently provided security to the cartel shipments.

The landing area for the cocaine shipments is controlled by factions of the Los Viagras-Familia Michoacana Cartel–rivals of Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG).

In the rural coastal areas, cartel operators actively work with counterparts in Central America to move large shipments of cocaine via speedboats. The boats move west of the Port of Lazaro Cardenas and land on the beaches of Pichilinguillo, Colola, and as far west as Faro de Bucerias.

Local cartel operators do not know in advance where boats will land and are only told which beach to move to at the last minute to minimize leaks to rival. Cartel operators then unload the drug bundles into trucks that move on to stash houses.

Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com. 

Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.     

Jose Luis Lara from Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project contributed to this report