The enmeshment of the Mexican Armed Forces in Mexico’s daily violence was also highlighted by the State Department, especially considering the growing number of military human rights abuse reports across the last several years
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Though the testimony presented by Zambada was not backed up by physical or documented evidence, the prosecution’s final question to Zambada posed if the cartel-member-turned-U.S.-witness had any doubts about paying bribes to García Luna, to which he replied: “Of course not, I’m sure”
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García Luna’s legal defense team was unable to finish cross examining Zambada before the end of the court day, pushing the continuation of the former Sinaloa cartel member’s testimony
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Tensions between the cartels and authorities had reached the point that the Culiacán government on Jan. 4 ordered public schools closed and asked residents to remain in their houses
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By KELIN DILLON A series of violent attacks purportedly perpetrated by local criminal groups in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, during the early morning of Monday, Nov. 28, caused numerous disruptions to the daily lives of the Mexican border city’s population – including the closure of Nuevo Laredo’s U.S. embassy, a strike by public transportation workers and the partial suspension of its
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By KELIN DILLON According to a new report from U.S. intelligence, Mexican cartels have begun sponsoring chemistry degrees for some of their members in an effort to expand fentanyl production, attempting to keep up with the high demand for the drug – which has now supposedly passed both heroin and cocaine in recreational use. The intel likewise revealed that these
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By KELIN DILLON On Thursday, Aug. 18, the daily American newspaper Dallas Morning News released an in-depth editorial critiquing the controversial “hugs, not bullets” policy against violence that Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) has adopted throughout his administration. AMLO’s approach toward Mexico’s enduring violence crisis was only further thrust into the spotlight on Thursday, Aug. 11, when a
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By KELIN DILLON Throughout a 48-hour period at the beginning of the week of Feb. 14, organized crime groups and cartels operating out of Mexico’s Sierra Madre del Sur mountain range in the Michoacán region executed 27 murders in typically violent narco-style, demonstrating the clear weaponry strength of the region’s criminal organizations and affecting the area’s important international avocado trade.
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By KELIN DILLON On Wednesday, Dec. 1, a group of cartel hitmen used a gas delivery truck to ram into the front gates of Mexico’s Tula prison in the central state of Hidalgo, ultimately freeing nine people, including the leaders of criminal organization “Pueblos Unidos,” though three escapees were later recaptured. Armed with AR-15 rifles, grenade launchers and other weaponry,
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By KELIN DILLON As the administration of Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) continues its policy of “hugs, not bullets” against Mexico’s widespread narco trafficking cartels, arrests and seizures by the Secretariat of National Defense (Sedena) against the groups have gone down in tandem. Between 2020 and 2021, a total of nine anti-cartel practices have been reduced by Sedena,
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