How the Mexican Drug Cartel’s Violence along the Border Threatens America’s Safety
By Hammerhead
Very often crime statistics about America’s Southern Border Security can be confusing or misleading. Most main stream media only release articles and summaries about what is happening in Mexico proper but not what is actually taking place ON THE BORDER, ie, the Border Towns that connect U.S. and Mexico.
So to show how precarious the situation really is, I took a small sampling of events that happened over the span of roughly a few months down on the border (October thru December 2015) that were not widely reported by mainstream news outlets:
- Two Home Invasions in two different border towns (both on the American side) by heavily armed groups of men, both looking for large amounts of cash or drugs. Two assaults and a carjacking were reported.
- Two shootouts in border towns (both on Mexican side) between drug cartels and Mexican Federal Police and Military, with the capture of one cartel leader and the attempted capture of another. No fatalities reported, but civilians were told to shelter in place and not leave their homes.
- A major shootout in Hidalgo County on a Texas Interstate between A” Rip Crew” (a crew that hijacks drug shipments and money) and a Gulf Cartel Drug Shipment of 540 lbs of marijuana. An innocent bystanders vehicle was shot up but the occupants were unharmed.
- A Group of Cartel members fired a RPG rocket at a Police Station on the Mexican side. The rocket missed and landed as a dud in a nearby field where Bomb disposal crews were called to disarm it.
- Seven Bodies of Suspected Drug Smugglers were found 160 yards from the Arizona Border. The people had been tortured before being executed and one had been decapitated. The bodies were found in a popular staging area for human trafficking.
- A Cartel Assassin named “El Mano Negro” (The Black Hand) was arrested in California for 9 murders and suspected in 34 other murders across 12 States.
It is easy to see from this short summary, that the often repeated mantra of “random acts of violence” by main stream news media does not hold water. What we are seeing along our Southern Borders is nothing short of a dedicated CRIMINAL INSURGENCY between not only multiple well armed and well-trained criminal cartels who are fighting for control of the lucrative drug transport corridors and plazas along the U.S./Mexican Border but also the Local and Federal Mexican Police, The Mexican Military (including the Army and Navy) and various Auto-Defensas (Civilian Vigilante Defense Groups) that take it upon themselves to defend certain towns and villages. These groups when they first started out were fairly successful in driving the cartels out of certain areas in Mexico, but it did not take long for the cartels to infiltrate and corrupt the groups and now currently, most of the larger groups are under the control of either the Government or the Cartels themselves as a proxy guerilla force.
To help you understand how this criminal insurgency was birthed, I want to quote from an article entitled “Los Zetas: Massacres, Assassinations and Infantry Tactics” written by John P. Sullivan and Samuel Logan.
PRAETORIAN REVOLT: GAINING INDEPENDENCE
“By early spring of 2010, the Zetas split from the Gulf cartel’s control, triggering a tectonic shift in Mexican cartel alliances. The Gulf-Zeta split broke the duopoly known as the Company, which had been maintained by both factions to pursue drug trafficking and distribution, human trafficking, product piracy, kidnapping, and petroleum theft. This shift—announced by posting banners known as narcomantas in several Mexican states—is currently fueling the high levels of violence throughout much of Mexico, especially those areas (plazas and corridors) being contested by the Zetas.6 The result was a war of “all against all”—cartels vs. Zetas vs. the police, military, and increasingly, the state itself. “The result of the Gulf-Zeta split is a new battle for primacy among Mexico’s criminal enterprises. The Zetas, formerly enforcers, muscle or a ‘praetorian guard,’ turned on their masters.”
It has been estimated that the number of civilian dead from cartel violence in Mexico surpasses the number of civilians killed in the worst years of fighting in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan combined.
So now that we understand how serious of a threat this insurgency poses to our security, what are some distinct characteristics and tactics these cartels use that make them so dangerous to America’s safety and security?
- Willingness to Cross the Border to Achieve their Goals
For quite a long time, the mainstream media has pushed the ideal that cartel violence only happens “across the border” in Mexico and very “rarely” does the violence come north. One only has to look at the short list of crimes I posted above that to see that is not true. Two Home Invasions, a Shootout on a Texas Freeway and a Cartel Assassin who has murdered 9 people for sure and suspected of killing 12 more running loose on American Soil? Newsflash: The Violence is HERE now guys. Sooner or later, more innocent people are going to be injured or killed.
2. Well-Trained and Well-Armed
It has been thoroughly documented over the years that a large part of the Los Zetas Cartel is made up of former Mexican Army Soldiers, some of which, received their training right here in the United States, some at Ft. Benning, home of the US Army’s Airborne and Ranger Training. They are one of the only cartels to utilize military style tactics, including ambushes, defensive positions, and small unit tactics. They are also one of the only cartels to willingly engage military and police check points in firefights. During several raids by Mexican military on Los Zetas hideouts, besides the usual fare of automatic weapons, several grenade launchers, .50 Caliber Machine Guns, Rocket Launchers (RPG’s and LAWS) Claymore Mines, Fragmentation Grenades and crates of Body Armor were discovered. It has also been discovered recently by military aerial reconnaissance that cartels have been turning standard trucks and jeeps into armored “technicals” similar to what the Taliban use in Afghanistan. This is where a Grenade launcher or light or heavy machine gun is mounted on top of the vehicle turning it into a rolling ambush weapon with the ability to hit police stations or military checkpoints with ease, a favorite tactic as of late.
3. Cross-Border Sniping
There have been four separate incidents since 1997 to support the claim that drug cartels have targeted United States Law Enforcement and Civilian personnel with sniper rifles from the Mexican side of the border.
- 1997, Imperial Beach, California. Seven separate incidents occurred where US Border Patrol were fired at from positions in Mexico. In one incident, a US Border Patrol agents was “grazed” across the forehead.
- 2005, Douglas, Arizona. Six separate incidents occurred where again, US Border Patrol agents were fired at from positions in Mexico. No casualties occurred but a surveillance camera was destroyed by a sniper bullet.
- 2006, US Congressional Investigations uncovered the high-probability that US Law Enforcement, Border Patrol and Civilian populace along the border were at “extreme risk” of being threatened by .50 Caliber Sniper Fire from Mexico.
- 2010, Nogales, Arizona. US Border Patrol officials were threatened with sniper fire if they interfered with drug shipments.
Since the latest incident in 2010, there has not been any outright threats by the cartels with snipers on Law Enforcement or civilians, but here has been some incidents involving either weapon mounted or stand alone lasers from Mexico “tracking” border patrol agents as they move. The Border Patrol has since set up “Counter-Sniper”/”Observer”positions to actively search for and if needed, counter, any perceived sniper threat from Mexico.
4. U.S. Gang’s Associated with Cartels Operating in your AO
This is undoubtedly the most serious threat to the civilian not just near the border, but anywhere in the United States, because it involves Cartel Like activity (Drug Running, Extortion, Kidnapping, Murder) by a dedicated cartel proxy group that operates in all 50 States. The cartels work with a variety of gangs, from street gangs like Tango Blast and Texas Syndicate to Prison Gangs like Barrio Azteca to Trans-National gangs like MS-13 (Mara Salvatrucha). The gangs operate in various capacities from couriers to enforcers to collectors. All of the gangs have structured narcotic distribution networks in the mid to larger cities. In the most recent US National Gang Report, 23% (almost a quarter) of all Police surveyed said gangs with ties to Mexican drug cartels had some type of influence in their jurisdiction. If you are a Texan and have not already, take a look at the 2015 DPS Texas Gang Threat Assessment, this will give you a realistic look at the state of the Gang Problem in Texas. I will warn you ahead of time, it is not pretty and like everything else related to crime under BHO, is being downplayed in the media.
Conclusion
I am not an optimist when it comes to the situation on our Southern border. Regardless of the political promises or moves made in 2016, just like everything else in this world, it is only going to get worse. These cartels are not going to stop. The American Demand for Drugs is too strong and the Money to be made off of that is too good. It’s that simple folks. Yeah we can banter all day about trying to change the demand for drugs in this country, but how old is that argument? 40+ years old? Yeah that “Just Say No” ship has sailed.
For the civilian, the evidence is overwhelming and the choice is clear and simple. You must take steps now to prepare to defend yourself and your family from these barbarians. These Home Invasions are real. These shootings on Interstates are real. It could happen anytime, anywhere. The only thing you can do is to be prepared when it does. Stay up on your training,
Have a Plan, Stay Alert and Stay Armed.
References:
http://www.insightcrime.org/news-briefs/us-links-mexico-cartels-corruption
http://www.propublica.org/article/sicarios-dirty-war-on-mexican-cartels-is-not-yet-reality
https://www.academia.edu/1113543/Criminal_Insurgency_in_the_Americas
http://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/terrorism-and-organized-crime-exploring-the-mexican-situation
Reblogged this on Starvin Larry.