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| Caribbean-Latin America |
| Mayhem in Michoacan: Burning Vehicles Block Morelia, 9 Die |
| 2011-06-19 |
| For a map, click here Only hours before the commencement of an international youth soccer tournament, nine individuals were found murdered near the Pacific port city of Lazaro Cardenas, and 15 vehicles were set afire to block roads near Morelia, Michoacan Friday night. The nine dead were all tortured and shot to death, and left near the village of La Mira on the Lazaro Cardenas-Arteaga road. Reports say a new group called Los Caballeros Templarios or Knights Templars are responsible for the murders. Meanwhile in Morelia Friday night and Saturday morning, armed suspects hijacked 15 vehicles and set them afire blocking roads around Morelia, the capital of Michoacan. Roadblocks were reported in Patzcuaro and on the Morelia-Patzcuaro-Tzurumutaro road. Mexican security forces including Mexican Army and Mexican Marine units secured or helped clear the roadblocks working through the night. Los Caballeros Templarios was formed from remnants of La Familia Michoacana which announced its dissolution last December after a series of devastating security forces operations against the group. For an overview of security and counternarcotics operations which had a hand in disbanding La Familia Michoacana, click here. Morelia is one of seven Mexican venues hosting games for the FIFA Under 17 soccer tournament. Other Mexican cities with games include Monterrey, Nuevo Leon; Torreon, Coahuila; Guadalajara, Jalisco; Pachuca, Hidalgo; Queretaro, Queretaro and Mexico City. |
| Posted by:badanov |
| #9 What we do here at this time is randomly stop vehicles of all types for checks. Sometimes everything is examined. The "mules" then run back roads to avoid detection. The police know these tricks here and catch them. It's a numbers game. Some get caught and some don't. With the violence now in Mexico my 24-7 idea would work. Strangle the drug flow and violence. They all use highway travel to move this stuff. Yes other methods are used but not as easy. Then just be alert to it. Learn, adapt and apply. |
| Posted by: Dale 2011-06-19 21:42 |
| #8 It's not 40,000 a year. It is 40,000 cumulatively since December 2006 when President Calderon declared war on the cartels. Thanks. I read that as May 2010 to present. Pretty graphs showing where the murders take place and the massiveness of the statistics of dead are meaningless if you don't understand that Mexico has an organized crime problem. Indeed, that is the point - there is a war taking place just across our borders. The fact that it is being conducted by non-state actors does not make it less of one. And it seems to be ignored by our major media outlets who are more concerned with tweets about someone's junk. As for the pretty pictures, I plead guilty to a graphics fetish. Long live Edward Tufte! And having worked in the GIS industry, I find the spatial component of the data revealing beyond mere stats and tables. Example: this is not some isolated, single big-city gang fight; this is taking place freakin' everywhere in Mexico. We appreciate your work aggregating this info, badanov. Go, Mexican Marines! |
| Posted by: SteveS 2011-06-19 19:02 |
| #7 It's not 40,000 a year. It is 40,000 cumulatively since December 2006 when President Calderon declared war on the cartels. And recent exhumations in San Fernando, Tamaulipas and in Durango city in Durango suggest the dead could be much, much higher. Those two sites alone total 440 dead. That's just in two sites Mexican security forces have uncovered so far. And they are still digging in both places. It should be noted that the overwhelming number of dead in the Mexican war on drugs since 2006 are organized crime murders. I have been following Juarez since May 2010 and my estimate is that 90 percent of the dead were killed by Mexican organized crime members, either against their own members or those with some connection to organized crime; vendors, sellers and informants and the like, or against rival gangs. In the two mass graves mentioned above, nearly every person who was killed was killed my Mexican organized crime. In Tamaulipas it appears to be a massive terror campaign carried out between September 2010 and March 2011. In Durango the dead are from as far back as 2007. Pretty graphs showing where the murders take place and the massiveness of the statistics of dead are meaningless if you don't understand that Mexico has an organized crime problem. The war Calderon prosecutes using police and military resources takes a tiny subset of the dead the Mexican organized crime overall takes. |
| Posted by: badanov 2011-06-19 17:50 |
| #6 a nice map of the narco-killings. (via instapundit) And by 'nice', I mean in a 'graphic display of information' sort of way. The situation itself - 40,000 people in a year - is appalling. One would think it a newsworthy story, but what do I know? |
| Posted by: SteveS 2011-06-19 17:28 |
| #5 What's the difference? Attempt to be amusing, or honest ignorance? |
| Posted by: Pappy 2011-06-19 11:43 |
| #4 Badanov that is good to hear. There is the solution in my opinion. In your posts it is apparent they are indeed very active. Cut off the supply routes and the monstrous hydra will die. 24-7 road checks. Anything of value rico it to fund the effort. Except that whatever. Offer a strong tie-in with our people. This could show other countries what can work. They want a strong blood flow between our countries. Then this artery will bring good blood both ways. This has to happen because of the deep water port and big industry locating in Mexico. Look at what is happening here. Cities are merging. Something like a wall but checkpoints will always be a must. That is our world and our future unless we have a mass die off. |
| Posted by: Dale 2011-06-19 09:32 |
| #3 Judging from comments on news articles online, the Mexican Army and Marines are the two Mexican government institutions at any level seen to be absolutely beyond reproach. President Felipe Calderon Hinojosa may be ripped on, a local politician may be accused of skulduggery, but the army and marines are held in very high esteem. |
| Posted by: badanov 2011-06-19 09:08 |
| #2 What's the difference? |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2011-06-19 09:01 |
| #1 Do Mexicans trust the army, and therefore the government, over the drug gangs yet? |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2011-06-19 08:29 |
