Invasion of Los Templarios and the Violent War With CJNG

Borderland Beat

Neither the federal authorities nor the state authorities dare to report  what international  intelligence agencies, such as Stratfor,  have reported;   of exactly what the inhabitants of of Jalisco and Michoacan are suffering; that the killings of the last days of 2012 and the beginning of the present year is caused by the conflict  over  expanding  territories between  the Knights Templar and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, after  emerging as the main groups in their native entities.

 

Inhabitants of the region, who feel at mercy of the criminals, report  the dispute between Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) and the Knights Templar that erupted before  Christmas and continued during the first weeks of January, is due to the conflict over  control of  the ‘Jalmich’ territory  (the border of Jalisco and Michoacan).

The clash between the groups in conflict has caused an increase in extortions of civilians and the imposition of a parallel government, since the criminal groups control the movement of the people and charge fees to merchants and agricultural producers.

The cities of Jalisco most  affected by this war are;  Jilotlán de los Dolores, Pihuamo, Tecalitlán, Quitupan, Mazamitla, San José de Gracia, Santa María del Oro, La Barca, Atotonilco, Ayotlán, Tizapán El Alto y Degollado, Tuxcueca, Jocotepec and Chapala.

 

In Michoacán, the conflict has erupted in;  Briseñas, Yurécuaro, Sahuayo, Marcos Castellanos, La Piedad, Zamora, Cotija de La Paz, Tepalcatepec, Los Reyes, Peribán and even Apatzingán, Tierra Caliente and hundreds of kilometers of mountain zones.

The residents of both states point out that the clashes  and the massacres in the zone was due to the advance of the Knight Templar into Jalisco territory, the bloody reaction of the CJNG and the incompetence of the authorities of both states to provide security.

“We are fearful that sooner or later this region will explode  into something more because of the conflict over the territory  is because of drug trafficking, also the location of production zones of marijuana or illegal substances".

"We don’t really know what is going on but we suppose that all these factors that are mentioned erupted in the wave of violence that ended  the peace in dozens of towns”, says a 65 year old farmer, who asked to maintain anonymous.

Government employees know they can’t travel into several municipalities to conduct work, even though their vehicles display state government license plates,  consequently road infrastructure and assistance for schools have gone incomplete or unaided due to lack of security and supervision.

The inhabitants of several municipalities are forced to pay  a  "war tax" to conduct their employment, either milkman, butcher or baker. Also those that utilize sand and gravel banks are charged.

“Sicarios demand even small business owners (in this case a milk man) pay the equivalent of three liters of milk for every ten liters they sell; farmers using the threshing  machines are charged 500 pesos for every thresh or 100 pesos for each  hectare”, says a witness.

“Employees of state  that give health services or support to communities of Jilotlan de los Dolores, Jilotlán de los Dolores, Tecalitlán, Quitupan and adjacent villages, have to enter from the south, travelling the perimeter of Michoacán territory to evade the criminals.

Citizens  have known for years, that the region is out of the control of the Jalisco government.. Explaining they came to the realization   when the attack occurred  on rural police in October of 2010.  In Jilotlan, at least 15 officers were killed, although the authorities only reported nine.

October 2010 deadly  attack on police; official tally was 9 officers killed, in reality it was 15

During the recent wave of violence, Erika Esparza Mora, of 22 years old, was killed. She was traveling Saturday  January 5th in a Frontier truck with her husband and her two year old daughter through the  Guadalajara – Morelia road, in the municipality of Tuxcueca, when they were attacked by  members of the CJNG, who apparently confused them with rivals of the Michoacán cartel (Knights Templar).                                                                               

[Below:Maria Santos former Mayor of Tiquicheo-Templarios took responsibility  for her killing]

The aggressors were in  a black Avalanche truck and in a white Mitsubishi. According to witnesses, Erika’s husband stopped after seeing they were pursuing them, but when he noticed that the aggressors were armed, he tried to escape. Then the hit men started shooting.

Later, the criminals realized their mistake and when they saw Esparza was seriously injured, they told her husband to go. It was known later that  the hit men’s Mitsubishi  had  overturned and  they escaped aboard a stolen red Tahoe truck.

However, municipal police of Jocotepec managed to capture them and confiscated two .45 caliber guns, a .9 mm gun and three AR-15. At the scene of the crime 37  shell casings were found.

The commando was formed of 10 individuals who said they were members of the CJNG, among them five minors. They declared that that Saturday, they were patrolling the road to Morelia and that in Tuxcueca, at the  junction to La Manzanilla, the gray recent model Nissan Frontier  and  no license plates caught their attention.

The detainees that were indicted to a criminal court by the Attorney General of Justice of Jalisco and later sent to the penitentiary of Puente Grande are: Manuel González Alonso, El Güero, 24 years old; Javier Ochoa Bautista, El Jaiba, of 30; Manuel Mercado Cruz, of 34; Francisco Ismael Grimaldo Mendoza, of 18; Pedro Magallón Orozco, also of 18, and five teenagers between 15 and 17 years old.

CJNG Thugs that Killed 22 year old mother Erika Esparza Mora;
 the 5 turned away are juveniles, Mexico 'protects' their privacy. 

Sunday 6th, at 8:45 am, the Rural Police was notified by Secretary of Public Safety of the State about the discovery of seven corpses in Jilotlan de los Dolores, at the height of Kilometer 17, over the road that takes to Tepalcatepec, Michoacán and near the ranch El Terrero.

 

The victims exhibited bullet wounds and were blindfolded, and gagged. The state and federal authorities reinforced the surveillance in the limits of the two states and the Public Ministry started the corresponding investigations.

At dawn of the same Sunday, four men were riddled with bullets in a house in Ciudad Del Sol, in Zapopan. One of the deceased was identified as David Alvarez Ayala, El R-4, brother of two leaders of the CJNG: Ramon and Rafael, who was captured September 9th of last year by the military  in Napoles Street of Terranova Development.

In Quitupan, the state authorities picked up the corpses of three men executed in the square of Montoso delegation. One of them was about 70 years old; another one was 50 and another one about 25. The three men were taken to Medical Forensic Service for the autopsy and to try to identify them.

Monday 7th, the director of Public Safety of San Miguel El Alto, Sara del Refugio Chavez Rangel, was gunned down by sicarios using   AK47s as she was exiting her home with her two bodyguards.

The body guards had no time to repel the attack.  Despite the immediate mobilization of the police, the aggressors managed to escape. 

The director sustained 7 bullet rounds resulting in her transfer to a Guadalajara hospital. One of her body guards was also transferred having sustained serious injuries.

Chávez Rangel  also had lead police corporations in Guanajuato and in Ojuelos, Jalisco....continues on net page

Stratfor Reports:

A recent report of the American Agency Stratfor warns that Jalisco and other Mexican entities keep increasing offenses such as kidnapping and extortions as major cartels move to diversifications to increase income.  

In the digital edition of Thursday 17th of their site, , the specialized  security and intelligence agency predicts  this year the violence in the country will keep increasing.

Stratfor also warns that the Zetas have expanded in the entity in the beginning of 2013,  and that CJNG expanded their operations. It also warns that the Knight Templar continue to advance  in the  territory of Jalisco that for decades was considered to be controlled by the Sinaloa Cartel led by Joaquin Guzman Loera, aka “el Chapo”.

It also reports  that the kidnapping, extortions and attacks on  authorities by criminal groups  might intensify in the main urban zones of the country such as Chihuahua, Nuevo León, Tamaulipas, Sinaloa, Guerrero, Jalisco, Coahuila and Michoacán.

               -click on any image to enlarge-

Further reporting ,  that last year  CJNG made mobilizations in states such as Morelos, Colima, Michoacán, Guerrero and Quintana Roo, with the purpose of controlling the traffic routes, but also continuing extortion and selling drugs in retail in Veracruz and Colima.

According to the same analysis, in April of 2012, the conflict between the Knights Templar and the CJNG was clear, but it is not clear if in this confrontation the Sinaloa Federation has any involvement , since the two  groups have been its allies.

Several factors suggest that the CJNG separated from the Sinaloa organization last year after consolidating and beginning to expand. As an example, the intelligence firm cites several banners placed in Jalisco with threats against the organization of Michoacán and messages of La Resistencia against CJNG.

However, Stratfor specified, nothing suggests that the operation zones or the capacity of drug trafficking of the CJNG has decreased, since besides maintaining their presence in the country, this organization continues to deliver their illicit merchandise to the  United States and  has the same capacity as other dominant cartels. (indicating no decrease)

Notable is  that last year, the Knights Templar undeniably positioned themselves as successors of the La Familia Michoacana, from which they separated in 2011: they now dominate in their state and are fighting for Morelos, Guanajuato, Queretaro, Guerrero and southeast of Jalisco.

 

The Stratfor report cautions  about the power of the Zetas, that is considered  the second most dangerous cartel of the country and the most active “criminal organization that  operates in Mexico since 2012.

Even though the group did not extend their zone of operations in 2012, it managed to consolidate its operations in states where they already had an important presence.

Additionally, it demonstrated noticeable acts of violence in new territory, like Sinaloa”

The agency indicates that despite the relative decrease of the wave of violence in 2011, the war of cartels for the control of the territories caused an impact in 2012.

Despite the proposal to restructure the Federal Police in a “national gendarmerie”, with 10 thousand agents trained by the Army, many changes are not expected in the strategy to combat crime in the next 11 months.

The report was published in the middle of a violence increase in the limits of Jalisco and Michoacán, chiefly from the confrontations between the Knights Templar and the CJNG.

On Tuesday 22nd, some unknowns placed in Tizapan El Alto, a banner where they reproach the Secretary of Government, Miguel Ángel Osorio Chong, charging he is giving more support against organized crime in Zacatecas, rather than Jalisco  and Michoacán

 

The New Way of "Going to work" in Jalmich

Other citizens don't have the luxury of the federal police convoy guarding transport
and work sites as the prison construction employees have in Tomatlán

 

New federal prison being constructed at Tomatlán

For safety employees must board at the construction site, meals, recreation facilities are at the site

Ramon explains the dangers of commuting on the Templarios controlled highway: Quotas and death

 

Proceso