For a map, click here. For a map of Coahuila state, click here Updating with new information
By Chris Covert
Mexican Army troops from at least two units totalling 600 personnel and Naval Infantry (Marines) entered Saltillo, Coahuila Tuesday as part of an enhanced security effort, according to Mexican news accounts.
One of the units are detached from the Mexican 15th Motorized Cavalry Regiment, and had been deployed to Chiapas until this week. A convoy of 90 vehicles including US made Humvees and armored vehicles were seen travelling en convoy into the city. The convoy left Chiapas state in far southern Mexico early Monday morning.
El Diario de Coahuila reported Thursday morning that 150 Mexican Marines entered Ciudad Acuña near Piedra Negras on the US border to presumably establish a base. The report also quoted a military source saying the new deployments were to backstop operations in Tamaulipas, Nuevo Leon and Zacatecas, as armed criminal groups attempt to escape counternarcotics operations
News reports also say that an unidentified special forces unit also accompanied the army troops reinforcing Saltillo.
Saltillo is the capital of Coahuila state. It is also the headquarters for the Mexican 6th Military Zone, an army ground command which covers part of Chihuahua state as well as Coahuila state.
Saltillo has been an intense battle area in recent weeks with last December 15th being the bloodiest with 10 armed suspects killed by Mexican Army troops in the area.
To read the Rantburg reports on the fighting in Saltillo click here, here and here
El Diario de Coahuila news daily in Saltillo has been keeping a running count of the death toll on the facing page of its website. As of this date, 64 individuals have been killed since December 3rd, although it is unclear why that date had been selected.
The uptick in violence is likely due in part to reinforced security efforts in the La Laguna region of southern Coauula state, 50 kilometers to the west. Operation Laguna Seguro was launched last October as a comprehensive effort at locking down security in the face of several criminal gangs operating in the area, including Los Zetas and their bitterest rival, the Sinaloa Cartel.
It was recently reported that crime including intentional homicide such as shootings have been reduced. As with criminal gangs in Tamaulipas being forced south in the face of additional pressure from reinforced army deployments near the border, it is possible gangs have attempted to shift their activities east to Saltillo. Until last October Saltillo was a backwater with regard to gang violence.
Another factor in the uptick in violence may be due to coming austerity measures forced on Coahuila state government after a massive social spending spree hit a full stop. Much of the money for those programs came from illegally acquired debt, not from normal government revenues. Those measures are sure to include job killing tax increases as well as program cuts.
Lastly, earlier in the week a bodyguard of newly inaugurated governor of Coahuila Ruben Moreira Valdes, was shot to death. Although Governor Moreira himself disclaimed the attack was against him, it is possible a federal response was initiated notwithstanding.
The new army troop deployment is reportedly part of the Operacion Noreste counternarcotics operation with has been ongoing since early summer. The main effort for Operacion Noreste has been in northern Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas.
The Mexican 15th Motorized Cavalry Regiment was previously deployed to Tamaulipas last May at the start of Operacion Noreste.
In related news, Mexican Army units seized a number of weapons and drugs in Coahuila state.
- In Piedras Negras, a town on Coahuila's northern border with the US, Mexican Army soldiers seized seven AK-47 rifle and one AR-15 rifle after observing a man with a rifle outside a residence. The search also found 152 weapons magazines and 3,110 rounds of ammunition. Two vehicles were also seized
- In Torreon, soldiers on patrol found an 2.1 kilograms of marijuana divided for retail sale, personal quantities of cocaine, 17 rounds of ammunition, a knife and a radio battery.
- In an area between Guerrero, Coahuila and Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas Mexican soldiers on patrol found an abandoned vehicle with two .22 caliber rifles, one .22 caliber weapons magazine, 12 rounds of .38 Special ammunition, 20.12 kilograms of marijuana.