Chilapa Residents Denounce Armed Group Kidnapped 30 People

Translated By Valor for Borderland Beat

Residents of Chilapa, Guerrero denounced the disappearances of at least 30 people during the arrival of the hundreds of armed civilians who called themselves “Community Police”.

Chilapa has been hit by several violent incidents attributed to organized crime in recent months, among them includes the finding of 10 human heads and other human remains in clandestine graves in January.

On May 1, Ulises Fabián Quiroz, the PRI mayor candidate, was shot to death.

A few days later, around 300 armed masked men entered the community, who identified themselves as “Community Police” and remained there for nearly a week to combat violence caused by the confrontation between organized crime groups.  The current mayor, Javier García, opted to leave Chilapa, but returned this weekend.

Today, in a meeting with Fernando Esteban Ramírez, Inspector General of the State Commission for Human Rights (CEDH) of Guerrero, the families claimed that the authorities did nothing against the “kidnappings, threats, and intimidations” by the armed civilians.

Relatives of 16 of the missing persons in recent days denounced their case to the CEDH and stated that the relatives of the other 14 missing have not wanted to complain because of fear, according to local media.

Also, last Friday, relatives of the missing youths also protested outside the Secretariat of Public Security Municipal Office in order to ask for the localization of the missing and to have the presence of the Secretary General of the State Government, David Cienfuegos Salgado.

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The New Era of Cartels

The capture and abatement of drug cartel leaders has led to the fragmentation of groups and the emergence of criminal cells throughout the country.  U.S. authorities and the PGR identify the current leadership

By: Doris Gómora, Dennis A. García y Marcos Muédano | Translated by Valor for Borderland Beat

With the capture and abatement of drug cartel leaders in recent years, the structures of the drug cartels in Mexico has fragmented, giving way to a new map of organized crime with the formation of criminal cells that operate in a territorial way; but with the influence that they had in the large organizations, new groups also rose up like the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) who managed to consolidate and expand their power to challenge the territories that are key to the business of the multinational drug trade.

This in-depth analysis of drug trafficking in the country is based on reports from the PGR, the United States Department of Justice and the U.S. Treasury, as well as interviews with experts.

With the arrests of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, leader of the Sinaloa Cartel; Servando Gómez “La Tuta”, leader of Los Caballeros Templarios; Vicente Carrillo Fuentes “El Viceroy”, leader of the Juárez Cartel; Miguel and Omar Treviño Morales, leaders of Los Zetas; and the abatement of Nazario Moreno “El Chayo”, who commanded La Familia Michoacana; as well as Ignacio Nacho Coronel and Arturo Beltrán Leyva “El Barbas”, a struggle for the territories worsened with the criminal cells who were operating as their armed wings.

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H&K Illegally Exported Weapons to Mexico

German weapon in action

Translated by Valor for Borderland Beat
 

An investigation by the Customs Criminal Office (ZKA) in the German city of Cologne determined that the German arms manufacturer, Heckler and Koch, sent thousands of weapons to Mexico illegally, local media reported.

Those responsible at the company “caused, promoted, or at least authorized” the illegal exports, according to a report from the customs research office as quoted by Süddeutsche Zeitung (German newspaper) in its Friday edition and by the radio broadcasters NDR and WDR.

A spokeswoman for the public prosecutor’s office responsible for the case in Stuttgart (German city) confirmed today that the report was submitted in September 2014 and said that the authorities will decide on the case in the coming months.

H&K G36

According to the report, Heckler & Koch sold 9,472 type G36 rifles to Mexico between 2003 and 2011, of which 4,767 were sent to the states of Jalisco, Guerrero, Chiapas, and Chihuahua, without official authorization.

The customs investigators suggest that a lawsuit will be brought against five former executives and employees of the company for the violation of the control of war arms and the violation of foreign trade law.  They also suggest that the arms manufacturer pay a fine of 3 million euros ($3,371,220 USD), the figure obtained by Heckler & Koch for the illegal sales.

Source: La Jornada

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Juárez Cartel Leader Captured

Photo by: Juan José García

By: Gregorio Prieto | Translated by Valor for Borderland Beat

After a huge operation in the municipality of Villa Ahumada in the state of Chihuahua, Jesús Salas Aguayo, "El Chuyín" was captured.  The operation consisted of 450 agents belonging to the federal police, the Attorney General's Office, and supported by the Mexican Army; as well as armored vehicles and six helicopters belonging to the Attorney General's Office. El Chuyin is identified as the successor of the former leader of the Juárez Cartel, Vicente Carrillo Fuentes, alias El Viceroy.

DEA profile of Jesus Salas Aguayo

The operation started around 7:00a.m. on Friday with the goal of locating several criminals engaged in organized crime in the region who maintain control of the sale of drugs and who have eluded the presence of the police force.

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Dr. Mireles Will Be Freed Thursday or Friday

Translated by Valor for Borderland Beat

Valor's note: 

Take whatever Ana Valencia says with a grain of salt.  She was the same wife that didn’t agree with what Mireles and the autodefensas were doing in the beginning when they first rose up in arms.  She also left Mireles to be with the Caballeros Templarios because of the wealth that they had even after some of her family members had been killed by the Templarios.  Mireles has previously stated that they hadn’t been together since December of 2014, I believe.  He also said that he was embarrassed to call her his wife.

Valencia is also currently in a feud with Priscilla/Grillonautas due to the releasing of audio of her talking about how she wanted Mireles dead and that she wanted Mireles’ house and truck after he dies, among other things.

The former spokesman of the autodefensas of Tepalcatepec, Dr. José Manuel Mireles Valverde, will be freed sometime between Thursday the 16 and Friday the 17 of April, according to the wife of Dr. Mireles, Ana Valencia, based on what the defense attorney said.

Interviewed via telephone by Quadratín, the wife of Mireles said that the litigant, Javier Livas, has transferred to the prison of Hermosillo, Sonora in order to wait for a response and to wait for the release of Dr. Mireles.

He revealed that even support groups are organizing a welcoming outside the federal prison for the former spokesman, who was detained on June 27 2014, and two days later, admitted to the maximum security prison.

Valencia said that Dr. Mireles will immediately board a plane that will move him to Guadalajara, Jalisco, and later to Michoacán, specifically to Tepalcatepec.

It should be noted that in recent days, the First Unitary Court granted an amparo to the former leader of the Michoacán autodefensas, José Manuel Mireles Valverde, and to three of his bodyguards accused of violating the Federal Law on Firearms and Explosives.

Source: Quadratin

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2015 Mexico Peace Index

“The Mexico Peace Index, produced by the Institute for Economics and Peace, provides a comprehensive measure of peacefulness in Mexico from 2003 to 2014. This report aims to deepen the understanding of the trends, patterns and drivers of peace in Mexico while highlighting the important economic benefits that will flow from a more peaceful society.”

Highlights

• Mexico has experienced a large decrease in violence since 2011, with the national level of peace improving by 16 percent.
• Progress in peace has plateaued in the last year; it is too early to determine if this is the start of a new trend.
• The level of peace as measured by the 2015 MPI is still 18 percent lower than in 2003.
• The most peaceful state in Mexico is Hidalgo, followed by Yucatán, Querétaro, Campeche, Tlaxcala, and Chiapas.
• Of the 76 largest metropolitan areas of Mexico, the most peaceful is Orizaba in Veracruz and the least peaceful is Culiacán in Sinaloa.
• The eastern region remains the most peaceful in Mexico, while the northern region is still the most violent, although the gap between the north and the other regions is now at its lowest point since 2004.

“The Mexico Peace Index (MPI) derives from the work of the Global Peace Index, a leading global measure of peacefulness that has been produced by IEP annually since 2007. The Index follows a similar methodology to the United Kingdom Peace Index and the United States Peace Index, also produced by IEP, and defines peace as ‘the absence of violence or fear of violence’.

The MPI measures peace at the state level in Mexico. A key reason for choosing this unit of analysis is that, similar to the United States, Mexico’s state governments have wide-ranging powers allowing them to have a significant impact on the level of violence, therefore the response to violence may differ significantly from state to state.”

The Index is composed of the following seven indicators:

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