![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/insightcrime.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Barrio-18-El-Salvador.jpg?fit=450%2C350&quality=100&ssl=1\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nThe\u00a0Barrio 18\u00a0first emerged as a small-time street gang in Los Angeles. While some accounts trace its origins to the late 1950s, the gang began to take its current form in the 1980s after splitting from the Clanton 14 gang. It earned particular notoriety for its role in riots in that city following the acquittal of the police who brutally beat Rodney King, an African-American motorist.<\/h3>\nOriginally, the group\u2019s many cells, known as \u201ccliques,\u201d were the exclusive province of Mexican immigrants in Southern California, and dominated neighborhoods such as MacArthur Park in the Koreatown part of central Los Angeles.<\/h3>\nHowever, as other Latino nationalities joined the immigrant population, the Barrio 18 began to recruit members from a variety of backgrounds, a development that would facilitate the group\u2019s spread into other nations, particularly in Central America.<\/h3>\nEfforts by US law enforcement to slow the gang\u2019s growth have not proved effective. In the late 1990s, a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) task force, along with local law enforcement, took down some of the Barrio 18\u2019s foremost leaders. However, this did not so much handicap the gang as give them another base from which to operate and recruit new members: federal prisons.<\/h3>\nDespite efforts to isolate gang leaders from their contacts on the outside and from their fellow prisoners, Barrio 18 bosses like Francisco Martinez, alias \u201cPuppet,\u201d devised ways to continue running criminal activities from the inside. Some Barrio 18 also become members of the Mexican Mafia, the feared prison gang that grouped street gangs in Southern California in a single, powerful collective known as the Sure\u00f1os. Outside of prison, the street gangs fight one another; inside, they form a single unit under the leadership of the Mafia.<\/h3>\nBarrio 18 spread south into Central America and Mexico largely as a function of a change to US immigration policies in the mid-1990s, which increased the number of criminal charges for which a foreign-born resident could be deported to their country of origin.<\/h3>\nThe new policy was applied aggressively to gangs in California, where many of Barrio 18\u2019s members were not US citizens. The deportations led to a sudden influx of Barrio 18 members in Central America and Mexico. As a result, some argue that US policy helped Barrio 18 spread internationally.<\/h3>\nThe response of Central American governments to the rise in gang activity has also proven to be largely counterproductive. In the late 90s, beginning in El Salvador, the governments began passing more stringent laws that criminalized mere \u201cassociation\u201d with gangs. These so-called\u00a0\u201cmano dura,\u201d or \u201ciron fist,\u201d<\/a>\u00a0policies only encouraged the gangs\u2019 growth by concentrating many members in prison, pushing them to reorganize and regroup. In Central America, the space created for extortion rackets and kidnapping gangs by weak police forces and a relatively open criminal landscape was filled in part by the Barrio 18 and the MS13 in the 2000s.<\/h3>\nWhat\u2019s more, following a series of violent incidents in prisons\u00a0between the Barrio 18 and the MS13, Salvadoran officials separated inmates from the two gangs from each other. The leaders increased their control over criminal acts, such as extortion, from inside the prisons.<\/h3>\nOn the outside, they branched into petty drug trafficking. They also began to operate in a more sophisticated manner, laundering money through small businesses such as car washes, and trying to control community and local non-governmental organizations in order to influence policy at the local levels and, later, national levels.<\/h3>\nAround 2005, the Barrio 18 in El Salvador suffered a rupture between some on the inside of prison and some on the outside. The result of the in-fighting was a split into two factions,\u00a0the Revolutionaries and Sure\u00f1os. These factions remain, fighting each other with the same fervor as they do the MS13.<\/h3>\nThe gang poses the greatest threat in Central American nations like El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, where weaker governments and larger gangs (relative to the population) have turned the gang phenomenon into a significant threat to national security \u2014 the gangs\u00a0systematically extort public transport systems<\/a>, displace entire communities, and have forced their way into the political system.<\/h3>\nThis was most evident in March 2012, Barrio 18 leaders and their rivals in the MS13 agreed to a nationwide \u201ctruce,\u201d which was mediated by a government envoy and the Catholic Church and facilitated by the government. As a result of this ceasefire, the homicide rate in the country plummeted.<\/h3>\nWhereas El Salvador saw about 13 or 14 murders a day in the beginning of that year, this fell to around six a day, on average, in the following months. Following the initial success of the truce, an unsuccessful attempt to emulate it was made in Honduras.<\/h3>\nThe leaders of both the MS13 and Barrio 18 proved alarmingly adept at using their now heightened political profile to their advantage, fueling concerns that the initiative could provide a means of increasing their criminal sophistication and overall influence in the country. To add to these concerns, extortion and disappearances have reportedly continued to rise in El Salvador over the course of the truce, and homicides began rising again in mid-2013 topping out in 2015, before dropping back again.<\/h3>\nA radical drop-off in El Salvador\u2019s murder rate starting in 2019 has again thrust the country\u2019s gangs into the spotlight. Though state officials\u00a0attribute<\/a>\u00a0the fall to its national security plan, there have been multiple media reports of an\u00a0informal pact<\/a>\u00a0between parts of the El Salvador government and imprisoned gang leaders, with the latter reportedly cooling killings in exchange for better prison conditions.<\/h3>\nThough the bulk of the alleged negotiations appear to have gone through the MS13, El Salvador media initially detected\u00a0at least one meeting<\/a>\u00a0between government officials and imprisoned Barrio 18 leaders.\u00a0Additional materials<\/a>\u00a0sourced from an unfinished government investigation later provided further evidence of encounters between top officials and imprisoned members of the Barrio 18.<\/h3>\nThe onset of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 presented both opportunities and economic challenges for the gang. In some parts of Central America, the gang shored up local support by reportedly\u00a0giving<\/a>\u00a0shopkeepers and other extortion victims a\u202ftemporary\u202freprieve from payments as the initial lockdowns began to bite. But that decision took its toll on rank-and-file gang members in Guatemala, where some strapped-for-cash members purportedly\u00a0broke off into splinter groups<\/a>\u00a0to keep up with extortion rackets, exacerbating the structural weaknesses that have long affected the group.<\/h3>\nLeadership<\/strong><\/h3>\nAt the top are \u201cpalabreros,\u201d or \u201cleaders,\u201d most of whom are in the prison system. They coordinate all criminal activities. One palabrero keeps a notebook that keeps track of all finances, homicides, drugs, and weapons. There are also palabreros outside the prison system, aka, \u201cen la libre.\u201d<\/h3>\nOutside, the gang organizes itself in \u201ccanchas.\u201d A cancha is a territorial division that isn\u2019t necessarily based on municipal delineations. Each cancha has several \u201ctribus,\u201d or tribes, the smallest units of the Barrio 18 organization.<\/h3>\nFinally, there are collaborators: those who are not quite or never will be gang members. They help the gang with small jobs, like gathering intelligence, and moving or holding illicit goods.<\/h3>\nGeography<\/strong><\/h3>\nIn Central America, the gang operates mostly in\u00a0El Salvador<\/a>,\u00a0Guatemala<\/a>, and\u00a0Honduras<\/a>, where it is estimated to have over 16,000 members. But it is in the United States where it has its most defined presence:\u00a0an estimated 30,000 to 50,000 members.<\/a>\u00a0The group operates in dozens of cities across an estimated 20 states.<\/h3>\nMany of its members are located in California, but the Barrio 18 also has a presence in other western cities like Denver. Barrio 18 has also had a presence in Italy since the mid-2000s, and in September 2016 the arrest of an alleged Barrio 18 leader hinted at the gangs\u2019 desires to expand their presence in Europe.<\/h3>\nAllies and Enemies<\/strong><\/h3>\nThe Barrio 18 are fierce enemies with the MS13, and internal divisions among the group periodically flare into violence. The Barrio 18 in El Salvador is divided into rival factions, the Revolutionaries and the Sure\u00f1os.<\/h3>\nThe gang also has a close relationship with the Mexican Mafia.\u00a0It is also known to have networks of lawyers, taxi drivers and mechanics as collaborators.\u00a0The gang\u2019s reliance on extortion and penchant for violence, however, puts it at odds with the local community.<\/h3>\nProspects<\/strong><\/h3>\nThe Barrio 18 has been operational for over 70 years. There is no reason to believe it won\u2019t be around for 70 more.<\/h3>\n
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\n![\"El](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/insightcrime.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Bagdad-Panama.jpg?fit=350%2C250&quality=100&ssl=1\")
<\/figure>\nBagdad<\/a><\/h2>\n <\/p>\n
Bagdad, along with its rival Calor Calor, is one of Panama\u2019s two main gang federations, consisting of 30-40 smaller gangs that work together to fulfill drug transportation across Panama for larger transnational crime groups.<\/h3>\nHowever, the gangs that make up Bagdad do not have deep internal loyalty and often feud over microtrafficking in Panama City and other areas of the country.<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\nHistory<\/h3>\nBagdad\u2019s origins go back to the Uni\u00f3n Sovi\u00e9tica gang, itself a combination of smaller gangs named Bagdad, El Pent\u00e1gono and Matar o Morir (MOM). Led by Jorge Rub\u00e9n Camargo Clarke, alias \u201cCholo Chorrillo\u201d or \u201cEl Cholo,\u201d Bagdad became notorious \u201ctumbadores\u201d \u2014 gangs specialized in stealing drug shipments from trafficking groups. Bagdad was original based in El Chorrillo, while El Pent\u00e1gono operated in Santa Ana and MOM in Curund\u00fa, all neighborhoods of Panama City.<\/h3>\nUni\u00f3n Sovi\u00e9tica also extorted other criminal groups and fought to eliminate other gangs and tumbadores. Its enemies eventually rallied together to form \u201cCalor Calor,\u201d starting a rivalry that continues to this day.<\/h3>\nAfter the leaders of El Pent\u00e1gono and MOM were killed, Bagdad took over the federation and its name stuck.<\/h3>\nBagdad still engages in drug theft but the gang\u2019s main activities now consist of controlling territory for the movement and sale of drugs. According to the Panama Attorney General\u2019s Office, in 2021, Bagdad\u00a0charged<\/a>\u00a0between 5 to 10 percent of the price of cocaine shipments that they transported through the country. In 2014, InSight Crime research estimated the federation controlled over 50 percent of drug sales in Panama. Bagdad also provides services such as guarding shipments and contract killings, and engages in kidnapping and extortion. The gang recruits young people from about 14 years of age.<\/h3>\nBagdad and Calor Calor together were estimated to have more than 2,000 members in 2014.<\/h3>\nLeadership<\/h3>\nJorge Rub\u00e9n Camargo Clarke, alias \u201cCholo Chorrillo,\u201d was the notorious leader of the Uni\u00f3n Sovi\u00e9tica group and once ruled over Bagdad.<\/h3>\nThe current leader of Bagdad is Jaime Powell Rodriguez, alias \u201cYunya,\u201d who took over around 2016.<\/h3>\nAccording to InSight Crime field research, Yunya fancies himself a drug kingpin. He is known for being well-dressed and maintaining a public businessman persona, while actually using his\u00a0network of businesses<\/a>\u00a0in Spain to ship drugs to Europe and launder money, which he hides in Swiss bank accounts.<\/h3>\nIn 2018, Powell Rodriguez was\u00a0arrested in Dubai<\/a>\u00a0and extradited to Panama on charges of transnational drug trafficking but was\u00a0released<\/a>\u00a0in March 2019. In May 2020, Panamanian police were\u00a0searching<\/a>\u00a0for him once again.<\/h3>\nIn 2021, Camargo Clarke was out of jail once more and was one of the main\u00a0targets<\/a>\u00a0of Operation Neptune, a joint investigation into Bagdad by Panamanian authorities and the US Drug Enforcement Administration. He appeared to flee the country with other senior Bagdad commanders to avoid arrest.<\/h3>\nCamargo Clarke was\u00a0finally arrested<\/a>\u00a0in February 2022 in Costa Rica. He is awaiting extradition to the United States.<\/h3>\nGeography<\/h3>\nOriginally based in Panama City, Bagdad is now strongest across the canal in West Panama province, which borders with Panama City, Col\u00f3n and the Pacific Ocean. The violent territorial conflict between Bagdad and Calor Calor has expanded from Panama City into West Panama, where drug shipments enter and leave from La Chorrera coastal area.<\/h3>\nBagdad and Calor Calor members often live in close proximity.<\/h3>\nAllies and Enemies<\/h3>\nBagdad is made up of numerous youth gangs. Groups that have been described as allies of Bagdad include \u201cEl Pent\u00e1gono,\u201d \u201cVietnam 23,\u201d and \u201cNadie ta\u2019 Bien.\u201d Its main rival is Calor Calor, itself an agglomeration of groups.<\/h3>\nThe two organizations are the biggest criminal blocs in Panama and their rivalry centers around control of\u00a0strategically located ports<\/a>, shares of the international drug trade, especially the European market and over the personal rivalry between Yunya and the leader of Calor Calor, Eduardo Macea, alias Marshall.<\/h3>\nYunya and Marshall started out working together under Juan Vicente Blandford, alias El P\u00e1tron Juancito, but began fighting in 2014, when members of Calor Calor\u2019s structure moved to Bagdad. Yunya has the reputation of being the less violent of the two criminals, while Marshall has a reputation for ruthlessness. \u00a0El P\u00e1tron Juancito\u00a0was captured<\/a>\u00a0in 2019, but is, reportedly, still trying to unite the two from within prison.<\/h3>\nSince 2019, Bagdad has also had to deal with an\u00a0internal rift<\/a>, as one of its member-gangs, Matar o Morir (Kill or Be Killed \u2013 MOM) kept a shipment of drugs for themselves as a declaration of independence.<\/h3>\nIn December of 2019 Bagdad retaliated by orchestrating a\u00a0shootout in La Joyita<\/a>, one of Panama\u2019s largest high-security prisons. One group of prisoners opened fire on another, using high-caliber assault weapons and leaving 15 dead and 11 more injured.<\/h3>\nThe incident became known as the \u201cLa Joyita Massacre,\u201d and has set off a wave violence that both continues to\u00a0flare up<\/a>\u00a0in the La Joya prison complex, but which has also spilled into the\u00a0streets of Panama Oeste<\/a>\u00a0and caused homicides rates to skyrocket.<\/h3>\nSince then, Bagdad has drawn the\u00a0wrong kind of attention<\/a>\u00a0from the DEA, which has a long track record of dismantling drug gangs in Central America once they reach a certain size.<\/h3>\nProspects<\/h3>\nBagdad\u2019s operations in transnational drug trafficking have become more sophisticated and its role has changed from a subordinate to a subcontractor that brokers shipment of drugs for Colombian and Mexican groups through Panama and beyond, according to InSight Crime field research. Though Bagdad is likely to remain a middleman in the transnational drug trade, the business is lucrative, and the stakes are getting higher.<\/h3>\nBecause\u00a0there is more money<\/a>\u00a0to be made than when they were first formed Bagdad, as well as its rival Calor Calor, has\u00a0responded by consolidating<\/a>\u00a0power and upping the violence.<\/h3>\nHowever, the scale of violence involved in the La Joyita massacre may have marked a turning point. In April 2021, US and Panamanian authorities\u00a0carried<\/a>\u00a0out large-scale raids, targeting Bagdad leadership, after a year-long investigation, which involved tapping phones, identifying front businesses and money laundering techniques. It is uncertain how Bagdad will be able to stand up to such pressure.<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n
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According to my contacts these groups\/gangs are operating in some capacity here in the U.S. either as drug couriers, enforcers or in human trafficking. Most all of them are felons with violent records for murder, rape and assault. Stay Sharp and Know Your Enemy. Barrio 18 The 18th Street Gang, also known as…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[5150,2636,6896,2351,2717,13,74,3688,4892,7372,3986],"tags":[9740,16732,8490,7177,7984,7190,6949,5803,4090,3781],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70632"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70642,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632\/revisions\/70642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
However, as other Latino nationalities joined the immigrant population, the Barrio 18 began to recruit members from a variety of backgrounds, a development that would facilitate the group\u2019s spread into other nations, particularly in Central America.<\/h3>\nEfforts by US law enforcement to slow the gang\u2019s growth have not proved effective. In the late 1990s, a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) task force, along with local law enforcement, took down some of the Barrio 18\u2019s foremost leaders. However, this did not so much handicap the gang as give them another base from which to operate and recruit new members: federal prisons.<\/h3>\nDespite efforts to isolate gang leaders from their contacts on the outside and from their fellow prisoners, Barrio 18 bosses like Francisco Martinez, alias \u201cPuppet,\u201d devised ways to continue running criminal activities from the inside. Some Barrio 18 also become members of the Mexican Mafia, the feared prison gang that grouped street gangs in Southern California in a single, powerful collective known as the Sure\u00f1os. Outside of prison, the street gangs fight one another; inside, they form a single unit under the leadership of the Mafia.<\/h3>\nBarrio 18 spread south into Central America and Mexico largely as a function of a change to US immigration policies in the mid-1990s, which increased the number of criminal charges for which a foreign-born resident could be deported to their country of origin.<\/h3>\nThe new policy was applied aggressively to gangs in California, where many of Barrio 18\u2019s members were not US citizens. The deportations led to a sudden influx of Barrio 18 members in Central America and Mexico. As a result, some argue that US policy helped Barrio 18 spread internationally.<\/h3>\nThe response of Central American governments to the rise in gang activity has also proven to be largely counterproductive. In the late 90s, beginning in El Salvador, the governments began passing more stringent laws that criminalized mere \u201cassociation\u201d with gangs. These so-called\u00a0\u201cmano dura,\u201d or \u201ciron fist,\u201d<\/a>\u00a0policies only encouraged the gangs\u2019 growth by concentrating many members in prison, pushing them to reorganize and regroup. In Central America, the space created for extortion rackets and kidnapping gangs by weak police forces and a relatively open criminal landscape was filled in part by the Barrio 18 and the MS13 in the 2000s.<\/h3>\nWhat\u2019s more, following a series of violent incidents in prisons\u00a0between the Barrio 18 and the MS13, Salvadoran officials separated inmates from the two gangs from each other. The leaders increased their control over criminal acts, such as extortion, from inside the prisons.<\/h3>\nOn the outside, they branched into petty drug trafficking. They also began to operate in a more sophisticated manner, laundering money through small businesses such as car washes, and trying to control community and local non-governmental organizations in order to influence policy at the local levels and, later, national levels.<\/h3>\nAround 2005, the Barrio 18 in El Salvador suffered a rupture between some on the inside of prison and some on the outside. The result of the in-fighting was a split into two factions,\u00a0the Revolutionaries and Sure\u00f1os. These factions remain, fighting each other with the same fervor as they do the MS13.<\/h3>\nThe gang poses the greatest threat in Central American nations like El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, where weaker governments and larger gangs (relative to the population) have turned the gang phenomenon into a significant threat to national security \u2014 the gangs\u00a0systematically extort public transport systems<\/a>, displace entire communities, and have forced their way into the political system.<\/h3>\nThis was most evident in March 2012, Barrio 18 leaders and their rivals in the MS13 agreed to a nationwide \u201ctruce,\u201d which was mediated by a government envoy and the Catholic Church and facilitated by the government. As a result of this ceasefire, the homicide rate in the country plummeted.<\/h3>\nWhereas El Salvador saw about 13 or 14 murders a day in the beginning of that year, this fell to around six a day, on average, in the following months. Following the initial success of the truce, an unsuccessful attempt to emulate it was made in Honduras.<\/h3>\nThe leaders of both the MS13 and Barrio 18 proved alarmingly adept at using their now heightened political profile to their advantage, fueling concerns that the initiative could provide a means of increasing their criminal sophistication and overall influence in the country. To add to these concerns, extortion and disappearances have reportedly continued to rise in El Salvador over the course of the truce, and homicides began rising again in mid-2013 topping out in 2015, before dropping back again.<\/h3>\nA radical drop-off in El Salvador\u2019s murder rate starting in 2019 has again thrust the country\u2019s gangs into the spotlight. Though state officials\u00a0attribute<\/a>\u00a0the fall to its national security plan, there have been multiple media reports of an\u00a0informal pact<\/a>\u00a0between parts of the El Salvador government and imprisoned gang leaders, with the latter reportedly cooling killings in exchange for better prison conditions.<\/h3>\nThough the bulk of the alleged negotiations appear to have gone through the MS13, El Salvador media initially detected\u00a0at least one meeting<\/a>\u00a0between government officials and imprisoned Barrio 18 leaders.\u00a0Additional materials<\/a>\u00a0sourced from an unfinished government investigation later provided further evidence of encounters between top officials and imprisoned members of the Barrio 18.<\/h3>\nThe onset of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 presented both opportunities and economic challenges for the gang. In some parts of Central America, the gang shored up local support by reportedly\u00a0giving<\/a>\u00a0shopkeepers and other extortion victims a\u202ftemporary\u202freprieve from payments as the initial lockdowns began to bite. But that decision took its toll on rank-and-file gang members in Guatemala, where some strapped-for-cash members purportedly\u00a0broke off into splinter groups<\/a>\u00a0to keep up with extortion rackets, exacerbating the structural weaknesses that have long affected the group.<\/h3>\nLeadership<\/strong><\/h3>\nAt the top are \u201cpalabreros,\u201d or \u201cleaders,\u201d most of whom are in the prison system. They coordinate all criminal activities. One palabrero keeps a notebook that keeps track of all finances, homicides, drugs, and weapons. There are also palabreros outside the prison system, aka, \u201cen la libre.\u201d<\/h3>\nOutside, the gang organizes itself in \u201ccanchas.\u201d A cancha is a territorial division that isn\u2019t necessarily based on municipal delineations. Each cancha has several \u201ctribus,\u201d or tribes, the smallest units of the Barrio 18 organization.<\/h3>\nFinally, there are collaborators: those who are not quite or never will be gang members. They help the gang with small jobs, like gathering intelligence, and moving or holding illicit goods.<\/h3>\nGeography<\/strong><\/h3>\nIn Central America, the gang operates mostly in\u00a0El Salvador<\/a>,\u00a0Guatemala<\/a>, and\u00a0Honduras<\/a>, where it is estimated to have over 16,000 members. But it is in the United States where it has its most defined presence:\u00a0an estimated 30,000 to 50,000 members.<\/a>\u00a0The group operates in dozens of cities across an estimated 20 states.<\/h3>\nMany of its members are located in California, but the Barrio 18 also has a presence in other western cities like Denver. Barrio 18 has also had a presence in Italy since the mid-2000s, and in September 2016 the arrest of an alleged Barrio 18 leader hinted at the gangs\u2019 desires to expand their presence in Europe.<\/h3>\nAllies and Enemies<\/strong><\/h3>\nThe Barrio 18 are fierce enemies with the MS13, and internal divisions among the group periodically flare into violence. The Barrio 18 in El Salvador is divided into rival factions, the Revolutionaries and the Sure\u00f1os.<\/h3>\nThe gang also has a close relationship with the Mexican Mafia.\u00a0It is also known to have networks of lawyers, taxi drivers and mechanics as collaborators.\u00a0The gang\u2019s reliance on extortion and penchant for violence, however, puts it at odds with the local community.<\/h3>\nProspects<\/strong><\/h3>\nThe Barrio 18 has been operational for over 70 years. There is no reason to believe it won\u2019t be around for 70 more.<\/h3>\n
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\n<\/figure>\nBagdad<\/a><\/h2>\n <\/p>\n
Bagdad, along with its rival Calor Calor, is one of Panama\u2019s two main gang federations, consisting of 30-40 smaller gangs that work together to fulfill drug transportation across Panama for larger transnational crime groups.<\/h3>\nHowever, the gangs that make up Bagdad do not have deep internal loyalty and often feud over microtrafficking in Panama City and other areas of the country.<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\nHistory<\/h3>\nBagdad\u2019s origins go back to the Uni\u00f3n Sovi\u00e9tica gang, itself a combination of smaller gangs named Bagdad, El Pent\u00e1gono and Matar o Morir (MOM). Led by Jorge Rub\u00e9n Camargo Clarke, alias \u201cCholo Chorrillo\u201d or \u201cEl Cholo,\u201d Bagdad became notorious \u201ctumbadores\u201d \u2014 gangs specialized in stealing drug shipments from trafficking groups. Bagdad was original based in El Chorrillo, while El Pent\u00e1gono operated in Santa Ana and MOM in Curund\u00fa, all neighborhoods of Panama City.<\/h3>\nUni\u00f3n Sovi\u00e9tica also extorted other criminal groups and fought to eliminate other gangs and tumbadores. Its enemies eventually rallied together to form \u201cCalor Calor,\u201d starting a rivalry that continues to this day.<\/h3>\nAfter the leaders of El Pent\u00e1gono and MOM were killed, Bagdad took over the federation and its name stuck.<\/h3>\nBagdad still engages in drug theft but the gang\u2019s main activities now consist of controlling territory for the movement and sale of drugs. According to the Panama Attorney General\u2019s Office, in 2021, Bagdad\u00a0charged<\/a>\u00a0between 5 to 10 percent of the price of cocaine shipments that they transported through the country. In 2014, InSight Crime research estimated the federation controlled over 50 percent of drug sales in Panama. Bagdad also provides services such as guarding shipments and contract killings, and engages in kidnapping and extortion. The gang recruits young people from about 14 years of age.<\/h3>\nBagdad and Calor Calor together were estimated to have more than 2,000 members in 2014.<\/h3>\nLeadership<\/h3>\nJorge Rub\u00e9n Camargo Clarke, alias \u201cCholo Chorrillo,\u201d was the notorious leader of the Uni\u00f3n Sovi\u00e9tica group and once ruled over Bagdad.<\/h3>\nThe current leader of Bagdad is Jaime Powell Rodriguez, alias \u201cYunya,\u201d who took over around 2016.<\/h3>\nAccording to InSight Crime field research, Yunya fancies himself a drug kingpin. He is known for being well-dressed and maintaining a public businessman persona, while actually using his\u00a0network of businesses<\/a>\u00a0in Spain to ship drugs to Europe and launder money, which he hides in Swiss bank accounts.<\/h3>\nIn 2018, Powell Rodriguez was\u00a0arrested in Dubai<\/a>\u00a0and extradited to Panama on charges of transnational drug trafficking but was\u00a0released<\/a>\u00a0in March 2019. In May 2020, Panamanian police were\u00a0searching<\/a>\u00a0for him once again.<\/h3>\nIn 2021, Camargo Clarke was out of jail once more and was one of the main\u00a0targets<\/a>\u00a0of Operation Neptune, a joint investigation into Bagdad by Panamanian authorities and the US Drug Enforcement Administration. He appeared to flee the country with other senior Bagdad commanders to avoid arrest.<\/h3>\nCamargo Clarke was\u00a0finally arrested<\/a>\u00a0in February 2022 in Costa Rica. He is awaiting extradition to the United States.<\/h3>\nGeography<\/h3>\nOriginally based in Panama City, Bagdad is now strongest across the canal in West Panama province, which borders with Panama City, Col\u00f3n and the Pacific Ocean. The violent territorial conflict between Bagdad and Calor Calor has expanded from Panama City into West Panama, where drug shipments enter and leave from La Chorrera coastal area.<\/h3>\nBagdad and Calor Calor members often live in close proximity.<\/h3>\nAllies and Enemies<\/h3>\nBagdad is made up of numerous youth gangs. Groups that have been described as allies of Bagdad include \u201cEl Pent\u00e1gono,\u201d \u201cVietnam 23,\u201d and \u201cNadie ta\u2019 Bien.\u201d Its main rival is Calor Calor, itself an agglomeration of groups.<\/h3>\nThe two organizations are the biggest criminal blocs in Panama and their rivalry centers around control of\u00a0strategically located ports<\/a>, shares of the international drug trade, especially the European market and over the personal rivalry between Yunya and the leader of Calor Calor, Eduardo Macea, alias Marshall.<\/h3>\nYunya and Marshall started out working together under Juan Vicente Blandford, alias El P\u00e1tron Juancito, but began fighting in 2014, when members of Calor Calor\u2019s structure moved to Bagdad. Yunya has the reputation of being the less violent of the two criminals, while Marshall has a reputation for ruthlessness. \u00a0El P\u00e1tron Juancito\u00a0was captured<\/a>\u00a0in 2019, but is, reportedly, still trying to unite the two from within prison.<\/h3>\nSince 2019, Bagdad has also had to deal with an\u00a0internal rift<\/a>, as one of its member-gangs, Matar o Morir (Kill or Be Killed \u2013 MOM) kept a shipment of drugs for themselves as a declaration of independence.<\/h3>\nIn December of 2019 Bagdad retaliated by orchestrating a\u00a0shootout in La Joyita<\/a>, one of Panama\u2019s largest high-security prisons. One group of prisoners opened fire on another, using high-caliber assault weapons and leaving 15 dead and 11 more injured.<\/h3>\nThe incident became known as the \u201cLa Joyita Massacre,\u201d and has set off a wave violence that both continues to\u00a0flare up<\/a>\u00a0in the La Joya prison complex, but which has also spilled into the\u00a0streets of Panama Oeste<\/a>\u00a0and caused homicides rates to skyrocket.<\/h3>\nSince then, Bagdad has drawn the\u00a0wrong kind of attention<\/a>\u00a0from the DEA, which has a long track record of dismantling drug gangs in Central America once they reach a certain size.<\/h3>\nProspects<\/h3>\nBagdad\u2019s operations in transnational drug trafficking have become more sophisticated and its role has changed from a subordinate to a subcontractor that brokers shipment of drugs for Colombian and Mexican groups through Panama and beyond, according to InSight Crime field research. Though Bagdad is likely to remain a middleman in the transnational drug trade, the business is lucrative, and the stakes are getting higher.<\/h3>\nBecause\u00a0there is more money<\/a>\u00a0to be made than when they were first formed Bagdad, as well as its rival Calor Calor, has\u00a0responded by consolidating<\/a>\u00a0power and upping the violence.<\/h3>\nHowever, the scale of violence involved in the La Joyita massacre may have marked a turning point. In April 2021, US and Panamanian authorities\u00a0carried<\/a>\u00a0out large-scale raids, targeting Bagdad leadership, after a year-long investigation, which involved tapping phones, identifying front businesses and money laundering techniques. It is uncertain how Bagdad will be able to stand up to such pressure.<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
According to my contacts these groups\/gangs are operating in some capacity here in the U.S. either as drug couriers, enforcers or in human trafficking. Most all of them are felons with violent records for murder, rape and assault. Stay Sharp and Know Your Enemy. Barrio 18 The 18th Street Gang, also known as…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[5150,2636,6896,2351,2717,13,74,3688,4892,7372,3986],"tags":[9740,16732,8490,7177,7984,7190,6949,5803,4090,3781],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70632"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70642,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632\/revisions\/70642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Despite efforts to isolate gang leaders from their contacts on the outside and from their fellow prisoners, Barrio 18 bosses like Francisco Martinez, alias \u201cPuppet,\u201d devised ways to continue running criminal activities from the inside. Some Barrio 18 also become members of the Mexican Mafia, the feared prison gang that grouped street gangs in Southern California in a single, powerful collective known as the Sure\u00f1os. Outside of prison, the street gangs fight one another; inside, they form a single unit under the leadership of the Mafia.<\/h3>\nBarrio 18 spread south into Central America and Mexico largely as a function of a change to US immigration policies in the mid-1990s, which increased the number of criminal charges for which a foreign-born resident could be deported to their country of origin.<\/h3>\nThe new policy was applied aggressively to gangs in California, where many of Barrio 18\u2019s members were not US citizens. The deportations led to a sudden influx of Barrio 18 members in Central America and Mexico. As a result, some argue that US policy helped Barrio 18 spread internationally.<\/h3>\nThe response of Central American governments to the rise in gang activity has also proven to be largely counterproductive. In the late 90s, beginning in El Salvador, the governments began passing more stringent laws that criminalized mere \u201cassociation\u201d with gangs. These so-called\u00a0\u201cmano dura,\u201d or \u201ciron fist,\u201d<\/a>\u00a0policies only encouraged the gangs\u2019 growth by concentrating many members in prison, pushing them to reorganize and regroup. In Central America, the space created for extortion rackets and kidnapping gangs by weak police forces and a relatively open criminal landscape was filled in part by the Barrio 18 and the MS13 in the 2000s.<\/h3>\nWhat\u2019s more, following a series of violent incidents in prisons\u00a0between the Barrio 18 and the MS13, Salvadoran officials separated inmates from the two gangs from each other. The leaders increased their control over criminal acts, such as extortion, from inside the prisons.<\/h3>\nOn the outside, they branched into petty drug trafficking. They also began to operate in a more sophisticated manner, laundering money through small businesses such as car washes, and trying to control community and local non-governmental organizations in order to influence policy at the local levels and, later, national levels.<\/h3>\nAround 2005, the Barrio 18 in El Salvador suffered a rupture between some on the inside of prison and some on the outside. The result of the in-fighting was a split into two factions,\u00a0the Revolutionaries and Sure\u00f1os. These factions remain, fighting each other with the same fervor as they do the MS13.<\/h3>\nThe gang poses the greatest threat in Central American nations like El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, where weaker governments and larger gangs (relative to the population) have turned the gang phenomenon into a significant threat to national security \u2014 the gangs\u00a0systematically extort public transport systems<\/a>, displace entire communities, and have forced their way into the political system.<\/h3>\nThis was most evident in March 2012, Barrio 18 leaders and their rivals in the MS13 agreed to a nationwide \u201ctruce,\u201d which was mediated by a government envoy and the Catholic Church and facilitated by the government. As a result of this ceasefire, the homicide rate in the country plummeted.<\/h3>\nWhereas El Salvador saw about 13 or 14 murders a day in the beginning of that year, this fell to around six a day, on average, in the following months. Following the initial success of the truce, an unsuccessful attempt to emulate it was made in Honduras.<\/h3>\nThe leaders of both the MS13 and Barrio 18 proved alarmingly adept at using their now heightened political profile to their advantage, fueling concerns that the initiative could provide a means of increasing their criminal sophistication and overall influence in the country. To add to these concerns, extortion and disappearances have reportedly continued to rise in El Salvador over the course of the truce, and homicides began rising again in mid-2013 topping out in 2015, before dropping back again.<\/h3>\nA radical drop-off in El Salvador\u2019s murder rate starting in 2019 has again thrust the country\u2019s gangs into the spotlight. Though state officials\u00a0attribute<\/a>\u00a0the fall to its national security plan, there have been multiple media reports of an\u00a0informal pact<\/a>\u00a0between parts of the El Salvador government and imprisoned gang leaders, with the latter reportedly cooling killings in exchange for better prison conditions.<\/h3>\nThough the bulk of the alleged negotiations appear to have gone through the MS13, El Salvador media initially detected\u00a0at least one meeting<\/a>\u00a0between government officials and imprisoned Barrio 18 leaders.\u00a0Additional materials<\/a>\u00a0sourced from an unfinished government investigation later provided further evidence of encounters between top officials and imprisoned members of the Barrio 18.<\/h3>\nThe onset of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 presented both opportunities and economic challenges for the gang. In some parts of Central America, the gang shored up local support by reportedly\u00a0giving<\/a>\u00a0shopkeepers and other extortion victims a\u202ftemporary\u202freprieve from payments as the initial lockdowns began to bite. But that decision took its toll on rank-and-file gang members in Guatemala, where some strapped-for-cash members purportedly\u00a0broke off into splinter groups<\/a>\u00a0to keep up with extortion rackets, exacerbating the structural weaknesses that have long affected the group.<\/h3>\nLeadership<\/strong><\/h3>\nAt the top are \u201cpalabreros,\u201d or \u201cleaders,\u201d most of whom are in the prison system. They coordinate all criminal activities. One palabrero keeps a notebook that keeps track of all finances, homicides, drugs, and weapons. There are also palabreros outside the prison system, aka, \u201cen la libre.\u201d<\/h3>\nOutside, the gang organizes itself in \u201ccanchas.\u201d A cancha is a territorial division that isn\u2019t necessarily based on municipal delineations. Each cancha has several \u201ctribus,\u201d or tribes, the smallest units of the Barrio 18 organization.<\/h3>\nFinally, there are collaborators: those who are not quite or never will be gang members. They help the gang with small jobs, like gathering intelligence, and moving or holding illicit goods.<\/h3>\nGeography<\/strong><\/h3>\nIn Central America, the gang operates mostly in\u00a0El Salvador<\/a>,\u00a0Guatemala<\/a>, and\u00a0Honduras<\/a>, where it is estimated to have over 16,000 members. But it is in the United States where it has its most defined presence:\u00a0an estimated 30,000 to 50,000 members.<\/a>\u00a0The group operates in dozens of cities across an estimated 20 states.<\/h3>\nMany of its members are located in California, but the Barrio 18 also has a presence in other western cities like Denver. Barrio 18 has also had a presence in Italy since the mid-2000s, and in September 2016 the arrest of an alleged Barrio 18 leader hinted at the gangs\u2019 desires to expand their presence in Europe.<\/h3>\nAllies and Enemies<\/strong><\/h3>\nThe Barrio 18 are fierce enemies with the MS13, and internal divisions among the group periodically flare into violence. The Barrio 18 in El Salvador is divided into rival factions, the Revolutionaries and the Sure\u00f1os.<\/h3>\nThe gang also has a close relationship with the Mexican Mafia.\u00a0It is also known to have networks of lawyers, taxi drivers and mechanics as collaborators.\u00a0The gang\u2019s reliance on extortion and penchant for violence, however, puts it at odds with the local community.<\/h3>\nProspects<\/strong><\/h3>\nThe Barrio 18 has been operational for over 70 years. There is no reason to believe it won\u2019t be around for 70 more.<\/h3>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/figure>\nBagdad<\/a><\/h2>\n <\/p>\n
Bagdad, along with its rival Calor Calor, is one of Panama\u2019s two main gang federations, consisting of 30-40 smaller gangs that work together to fulfill drug transportation across Panama for larger transnational crime groups.<\/h3>\nHowever, the gangs that make up Bagdad do not have deep internal loyalty and often feud over microtrafficking in Panama City and other areas of the country.<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\nHistory<\/h3>\nBagdad\u2019s origins go back to the Uni\u00f3n Sovi\u00e9tica gang, itself a combination of smaller gangs named Bagdad, El Pent\u00e1gono and Matar o Morir (MOM). Led by Jorge Rub\u00e9n Camargo Clarke, alias \u201cCholo Chorrillo\u201d or \u201cEl Cholo,\u201d Bagdad became notorious \u201ctumbadores\u201d \u2014 gangs specialized in stealing drug shipments from trafficking groups. Bagdad was original based in El Chorrillo, while El Pent\u00e1gono operated in Santa Ana and MOM in Curund\u00fa, all neighborhoods of Panama City.<\/h3>\nUni\u00f3n Sovi\u00e9tica also extorted other criminal groups and fought to eliminate other gangs and tumbadores. Its enemies eventually rallied together to form \u201cCalor Calor,\u201d starting a rivalry that continues to this day.<\/h3>\nAfter the leaders of El Pent\u00e1gono and MOM were killed, Bagdad took over the federation and its name stuck.<\/h3>\nBagdad still engages in drug theft but the gang\u2019s main activities now consist of controlling territory for the movement and sale of drugs. According to the Panama Attorney General\u2019s Office, in 2021, Bagdad\u00a0charged<\/a>\u00a0between 5 to 10 percent of the price of cocaine shipments that they transported through the country. In 2014, InSight Crime research estimated the federation controlled over 50 percent of drug sales in Panama. Bagdad also provides services such as guarding shipments and contract killings, and engages in kidnapping and extortion. The gang recruits young people from about 14 years of age.<\/h3>\nBagdad and Calor Calor together were estimated to have more than 2,000 members in 2014.<\/h3>\nLeadership<\/h3>\nJorge Rub\u00e9n Camargo Clarke, alias \u201cCholo Chorrillo,\u201d was the notorious leader of the Uni\u00f3n Sovi\u00e9tica group and once ruled over Bagdad.<\/h3>\nThe current leader of Bagdad is Jaime Powell Rodriguez, alias \u201cYunya,\u201d who took over around 2016.<\/h3>\nAccording to InSight Crime field research, Yunya fancies himself a drug kingpin. He is known for being well-dressed and maintaining a public businessman persona, while actually using his\u00a0network of businesses<\/a>\u00a0in Spain to ship drugs to Europe and launder money, which he hides in Swiss bank accounts.<\/h3>\nIn 2018, Powell Rodriguez was\u00a0arrested in Dubai<\/a>\u00a0and extradited to Panama on charges of transnational drug trafficking but was\u00a0released<\/a>\u00a0in March 2019. In May 2020, Panamanian police were\u00a0searching<\/a>\u00a0for him once again.<\/h3>\nIn 2021, Camargo Clarke was out of jail once more and was one of the main\u00a0targets<\/a>\u00a0of Operation Neptune, a joint investigation into Bagdad by Panamanian authorities and the US Drug Enforcement Administration. He appeared to flee the country with other senior Bagdad commanders to avoid arrest.<\/h3>\nCamargo Clarke was\u00a0finally arrested<\/a>\u00a0in February 2022 in Costa Rica. He is awaiting extradition to the United States.<\/h3>\nGeography<\/h3>\nOriginally based in Panama City, Bagdad is now strongest across the canal in West Panama province, which borders with Panama City, Col\u00f3n and the Pacific Ocean. The violent territorial conflict between Bagdad and Calor Calor has expanded from Panama City into West Panama, where drug shipments enter and leave from La Chorrera coastal area.<\/h3>\nBagdad and Calor Calor members often live in close proximity.<\/h3>\nAllies and Enemies<\/h3>\nBagdad is made up of numerous youth gangs. Groups that have been described as allies of Bagdad include \u201cEl Pent\u00e1gono,\u201d \u201cVietnam 23,\u201d and \u201cNadie ta\u2019 Bien.\u201d Its main rival is Calor Calor, itself an agglomeration of groups.<\/h3>\nThe two organizations are the biggest criminal blocs in Panama and their rivalry centers around control of\u00a0strategically located ports<\/a>, shares of the international drug trade, especially the European market and over the personal rivalry between Yunya and the leader of Calor Calor, Eduardo Macea, alias Marshall.<\/h3>\nYunya and Marshall started out working together under Juan Vicente Blandford, alias El P\u00e1tron Juancito, but began fighting in 2014, when members of Calor Calor\u2019s structure moved to Bagdad. Yunya has the reputation of being the less violent of the two criminals, while Marshall has a reputation for ruthlessness. \u00a0El P\u00e1tron Juancito\u00a0was captured<\/a>\u00a0in 2019, but is, reportedly, still trying to unite the two from within prison.<\/h3>\nSince 2019, Bagdad has also had to deal with an\u00a0internal rift<\/a>, as one of its member-gangs, Matar o Morir (Kill or Be Killed \u2013 MOM) kept a shipment of drugs for themselves as a declaration of independence.<\/h3>\nIn December of 2019 Bagdad retaliated by orchestrating a\u00a0shootout in La Joyita<\/a>, one of Panama\u2019s largest high-security prisons. One group of prisoners opened fire on another, using high-caliber assault weapons and leaving 15 dead and 11 more injured.<\/h3>\nThe incident became known as the \u201cLa Joyita Massacre,\u201d and has set off a wave violence that both continues to\u00a0flare up<\/a>\u00a0in the La Joya prison complex, but which has also spilled into the\u00a0streets of Panama Oeste<\/a>\u00a0and caused homicides rates to skyrocket.<\/h3>\nSince then, Bagdad has drawn the\u00a0wrong kind of attention<\/a>\u00a0from the DEA, which has a long track record of dismantling drug gangs in Central America once they reach a certain size.<\/h3>\nProspects<\/h3>\nBagdad\u2019s operations in transnational drug trafficking have become more sophisticated and its role has changed from a subordinate to a subcontractor that brokers shipment of drugs for Colombian and Mexican groups through Panama and beyond, according to InSight Crime field research. Though Bagdad is likely to remain a middleman in the transnational drug trade, the business is lucrative, and the stakes are getting higher.<\/h3>\nBecause\u00a0there is more money<\/a>\u00a0to be made than when they were first formed Bagdad, as well as its rival Calor Calor, has\u00a0responded by consolidating<\/a>\u00a0power and upping the violence.<\/h3>\nHowever, the scale of violence involved in the La Joyita massacre may have marked a turning point. In April 2021, US and Panamanian authorities\u00a0carried<\/a>\u00a0out large-scale raids, targeting Bagdad leadership, after a year-long investigation, which involved tapping phones, identifying front businesses and money laundering techniques. It is uncertain how Bagdad will be able to stand up to such pressure.<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
According to my contacts these groups\/gangs are operating in some capacity here in the U.S. either as drug couriers, enforcers or in human trafficking. Most all of them are felons with violent records for murder, rape and assault. Stay Sharp and Know Your Enemy. Barrio 18 The 18th Street Gang, also known as…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[5150,2636,6896,2351,2717,13,74,3688,4892,7372,3986],"tags":[9740,16732,8490,7177,7984,7190,6949,5803,4090,3781],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70632"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70642,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632\/revisions\/70642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
The new policy was applied aggressively to gangs in California, where many of Barrio 18\u2019s members were not US citizens. The deportations led to a sudden influx of Barrio 18 members in Central America and Mexico. As a result, some argue that US policy helped Barrio 18 spread internationally.<\/h3>\nThe response of Central American governments to the rise in gang activity has also proven to be largely counterproductive. In the late 90s, beginning in El Salvador, the governments began passing more stringent laws that criminalized mere \u201cassociation\u201d with gangs. These so-called\u00a0\u201cmano dura,\u201d or \u201ciron fist,\u201d<\/a>\u00a0policies only encouraged the gangs\u2019 growth by concentrating many members in prison, pushing them to reorganize and regroup. In Central America, the space created for extortion rackets and kidnapping gangs by weak police forces and a relatively open criminal landscape was filled in part by the Barrio 18 and the MS13 in the 2000s.<\/h3>\nWhat\u2019s more, following a series of violent incidents in prisons\u00a0between the Barrio 18 and the MS13, Salvadoran officials separated inmates from the two gangs from each other. The leaders increased their control over criminal acts, such as extortion, from inside the prisons.<\/h3>\nOn the outside, they branched into petty drug trafficking. They also began to operate in a more sophisticated manner, laundering money through small businesses such as car washes, and trying to control community and local non-governmental organizations in order to influence policy at the local levels and, later, national levels.<\/h3>\nAround 2005, the Barrio 18 in El Salvador suffered a rupture between some on the inside of prison and some on the outside. The result of the in-fighting was a split into two factions,\u00a0the Revolutionaries and Sure\u00f1os. These factions remain, fighting each other with the same fervor as they do the MS13.<\/h3>\nThe gang poses the greatest threat in Central American nations like El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, where weaker governments and larger gangs (relative to the population) have turned the gang phenomenon into a significant threat to national security \u2014 the gangs\u00a0systematically extort public transport systems<\/a>, displace entire communities, and have forced their way into the political system.<\/h3>\nThis was most evident in March 2012, Barrio 18 leaders and their rivals in the MS13 agreed to a nationwide \u201ctruce,\u201d which was mediated by a government envoy and the Catholic Church and facilitated by the government. As a result of this ceasefire, the homicide rate in the country plummeted.<\/h3>\nWhereas El Salvador saw about 13 or 14 murders a day in the beginning of that year, this fell to around six a day, on average, in the following months. Following the initial success of the truce, an unsuccessful attempt to emulate it was made in Honduras.<\/h3>\nThe leaders of both the MS13 and Barrio 18 proved alarmingly adept at using their now heightened political profile to their advantage, fueling concerns that the initiative could provide a means of increasing their criminal sophistication and overall influence in the country. To add to these concerns, extortion and disappearances have reportedly continued to rise in El Salvador over the course of the truce, and homicides began rising again in mid-2013 topping out in 2015, before dropping back again.<\/h3>\nA radical drop-off in El Salvador\u2019s murder rate starting in 2019 has again thrust the country\u2019s gangs into the spotlight. Though state officials\u00a0attribute<\/a>\u00a0the fall to its national security plan, there have been multiple media reports of an\u00a0informal pact<\/a>\u00a0between parts of the El Salvador government and imprisoned gang leaders, with the latter reportedly cooling killings in exchange for better prison conditions.<\/h3>\nThough the bulk of the alleged negotiations appear to have gone through the MS13, El Salvador media initially detected\u00a0at least one meeting<\/a>\u00a0between government officials and imprisoned Barrio 18 leaders.\u00a0Additional materials<\/a>\u00a0sourced from an unfinished government investigation later provided further evidence of encounters between top officials and imprisoned members of the Barrio 18.<\/h3>\nThe onset of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 presented both opportunities and economic challenges for the gang. In some parts of Central America, the gang shored up local support by reportedly\u00a0giving<\/a>\u00a0shopkeepers and other extortion victims a\u202ftemporary\u202freprieve from payments as the initial lockdowns began to bite. But that decision took its toll on rank-and-file gang members in Guatemala, where some strapped-for-cash members purportedly\u00a0broke off into splinter groups<\/a>\u00a0to keep up with extortion rackets, exacerbating the structural weaknesses that have long affected the group.<\/h3>\nLeadership<\/strong><\/h3>\nAt the top are \u201cpalabreros,\u201d or \u201cleaders,\u201d most of whom are in the prison system. They coordinate all criminal activities. One palabrero keeps a notebook that keeps track of all finances, homicides, drugs, and weapons. There are also palabreros outside the prison system, aka, \u201cen la libre.\u201d<\/h3>\nOutside, the gang organizes itself in \u201ccanchas.\u201d A cancha is a territorial division that isn\u2019t necessarily based on municipal delineations. Each cancha has several \u201ctribus,\u201d or tribes, the smallest units of the Barrio 18 organization.<\/h3>\nFinally, there are collaborators: those who are not quite or never will be gang members. They help the gang with small jobs, like gathering intelligence, and moving or holding illicit goods.<\/h3>\nGeography<\/strong><\/h3>\nIn Central America, the gang operates mostly in\u00a0El Salvador<\/a>,\u00a0Guatemala<\/a>, and\u00a0Honduras<\/a>, where it is estimated to have over 16,000 members. But it is in the United States where it has its most defined presence:\u00a0an estimated 30,000 to 50,000 members.<\/a>\u00a0The group operates in dozens of cities across an estimated 20 states.<\/h3>\nMany of its members are located in California, but the Barrio 18 also has a presence in other western cities like Denver. Barrio 18 has also had a presence in Italy since the mid-2000s, and in September 2016 the arrest of an alleged Barrio 18 leader hinted at the gangs\u2019 desires to expand their presence in Europe.<\/h3>\nAllies and Enemies<\/strong><\/h3>\nThe Barrio 18 are fierce enemies with the MS13, and internal divisions among the group periodically flare into violence. The Barrio 18 in El Salvador is divided into rival factions, the Revolutionaries and the Sure\u00f1os.<\/h3>\nThe gang also has a close relationship with the Mexican Mafia.\u00a0It is also known to have networks of lawyers, taxi drivers and mechanics as collaborators.\u00a0The gang\u2019s reliance on extortion and penchant for violence, however, puts it at odds with the local community.<\/h3>\nProspects<\/strong><\/h3>\nThe Barrio 18 has been operational for over 70 years. There is no reason to believe it won\u2019t be around for 70 more.<\/h3>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/figure>\nBagdad<\/a><\/h2>\n <\/p>\n
Bagdad, along with its rival Calor Calor, is one of Panama\u2019s two main gang federations, consisting of 30-40 smaller gangs that work together to fulfill drug transportation across Panama for larger transnational crime groups.<\/h3>\nHowever, the gangs that make up Bagdad do not have deep internal loyalty and often feud over microtrafficking in Panama City and other areas of the country.<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\nHistory<\/h3>\nBagdad\u2019s origins go back to the Uni\u00f3n Sovi\u00e9tica gang, itself a combination of smaller gangs named Bagdad, El Pent\u00e1gono and Matar o Morir (MOM). Led by Jorge Rub\u00e9n Camargo Clarke, alias \u201cCholo Chorrillo\u201d or \u201cEl Cholo,\u201d Bagdad became notorious \u201ctumbadores\u201d \u2014 gangs specialized in stealing drug shipments from trafficking groups. Bagdad was original based in El Chorrillo, while El Pent\u00e1gono operated in Santa Ana and MOM in Curund\u00fa, all neighborhoods of Panama City.<\/h3>\nUni\u00f3n Sovi\u00e9tica also extorted other criminal groups and fought to eliminate other gangs and tumbadores. Its enemies eventually rallied together to form \u201cCalor Calor,\u201d starting a rivalry that continues to this day.<\/h3>\nAfter the leaders of El Pent\u00e1gono and MOM were killed, Bagdad took over the federation and its name stuck.<\/h3>\nBagdad still engages in drug theft but the gang\u2019s main activities now consist of controlling territory for the movement and sale of drugs. According to the Panama Attorney General\u2019s Office, in 2021, Bagdad\u00a0charged<\/a>\u00a0between 5 to 10 percent of the price of cocaine shipments that they transported through the country. In 2014, InSight Crime research estimated the federation controlled over 50 percent of drug sales in Panama. Bagdad also provides services such as guarding shipments and contract killings, and engages in kidnapping and extortion. The gang recruits young people from about 14 years of age.<\/h3>\nBagdad and Calor Calor together were estimated to have more than 2,000 members in 2014.<\/h3>\nLeadership<\/h3>\nJorge Rub\u00e9n Camargo Clarke, alias \u201cCholo Chorrillo,\u201d was the notorious leader of the Uni\u00f3n Sovi\u00e9tica group and once ruled over Bagdad.<\/h3>\nThe current leader of Bagdad is Jaime Powell Rodriguez, alias \u201cYunya,\u201d who took over around 2016.<\/h3>\nAccording to InSight Crime field research, Yunya fancies himself a drug kingpin. He is known for being well-dressed and maintaining a public businessman persona, while actually using his\u00a0network of businesses<\/a>\u00a0in Spain to ship drugs to Europe and launder money, which he hides in Swiss bank accounts.<\/h3>\nIn 2018, Powell Rodriguez was\u00a0arrested in Dubai<\/a>\u00a0and extradited to Panama on charges of transnational drug trafficking but was\u00a0released<\/a>\u00a0in March 2019. In May 2020, Panamanian police were\u00a0searching<\/a>\u00a0for him once again.<\/h3>\nIn 2021, Camargo Clarke was out of jail once more and was one of the main\u00a0targets<\/a>\u00a0of Operation Neptune, a joint investigation into Bagdad by Panamanian authorities and the US Drug Enforcement Administration. He appeared to flee the country with other senior Bagdad commanders to avoid arrest.<\/h3>\nCamargo Clarke was\u00a0finally arrested<\/a>\u00a0in February 2022 in Costa Rica. He is awaiting extradition to the United States.<\/h3>\nGeography<\/h3>\nOriginally based in Panama City, Bagdad is now strongest across the canal in West Panama province, which borders with Panama City, Col\u00f3n and the Pacific Ocean. The violent territorial conflict between Bagdad and Calor Calor has expanded from Panama City into West Panama, where drug shipments enter and leave from La Chorrera coastal area.<\/h3>\nBagdad and Calor Calor members often live in close proximity.<\/h3>\nAllies and Enemies<\/h3>\nBagdad is made up of numerous youth gangs. Groups that have been described as allies of Bagdad include \u201cEl Pent\u00e1gono,\u201d \u201cVietnam 23,\u201d and \u201cNadie ta\u2019 Bien.\u201d Its main rival is Calor Calor, itself an agglomeration of groups.<\/h3>\nThe two organizations are the biggest criminal blocs in Panama and their rivalry centers around control of\u00a0strategically located ports<\/a>, shares of the international drug trade, especially the European market and over the personal rivalry between Yunya and the leader of Calor Calor, Eduardo Macea, alias Marshall.<\/h3>\nYunya and Marshall started out working together under Juan Vicente Blandford, alias El P\u00e1tron Juancito, but began fighting in 2014, when members of Calor Calor\u2019s structure moved to Bagdad. Yunya has the reputation of being the less violent of the two criminals, while Marshall has a reputation for ruthlessness. \u00a0El P\u00e1tron Juancito\u00a0was captured<\/a>\u00a0in 2019, but is, reportedly, still trying to unite the two from within prison.<\/h3>\nSince 2019, Bagdad has also had to deal with an\u00a0internal rift<\/a>, as one of its member-gangs, Matar o Morir (Kill or Be Killed \u2013 MOM) kept a shipment of drugs for themselves as a declaration of independence.<\/h3>\nIn December of 2019 Bagdad retaliated by orchestrating a\u00a0shootout in La Joyita<\/a>, one of Panama\u2019s largest high-security prisons. One group of prisoners opened fire on another, using high-caliber assault weapons and leaving 15 dead and 11 more injured.<\/h3>\nThe incident became known as the \u201cLa Joyita Massacre,\u201d and has set off a wave violence that both continues to\u00a0flare up<\/a>\u00a0in the La Joya prison complex, but which has also spilled into the\u00a0streets of Panama Oeste<\/a>\u00a0and caused homicides rates to skyrocket.<\/h3>\nSince then, Bagdad has drawn the\u00a0wrong kind of attention<\/a>\u00a0from the DEA, which has a long track record of dismantling drug gangs in Central America once they reach a certain size.<\/h3>\nProspects<\/h3>\nBagdad\u2019s operations in transnational drug trafficking have become more sophisticated and its role has changed from a subordinate to a subcontractor that brokers shipment of drugs for Colombian and Mexican groups through Panama and beyond, according to InSight Crime field research. Though Bagdad is likely to remain a middleman in the transnational drug trade, the business is lucrative, and the stakes are getting higher.<\/h3>\nBecause\u00a0there is more money<\/a>\u00a0to be made than when they were first formed Bagdad, as well as its rival Calor Calor, has\u00a0responded by consolidating<\/a>\u00a0power and upping the violence.<\/h3>\nHowever, the scale of violence involved in the La Joyita massacre may have marked a turning point. In April 2021, US and Panamanian authorities\u00a0carried<\/a>\u00a0out large-scale raids, targeting Bagdad leadership, after a year-long investigation, which involved tapping phones, identifying front businesses and money laundering techniques. It is uncertain how Bagdad will be able to stand up to such pressure.<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
According to my contacts these groups\/gangs are operating in some capacity here in the U.S. either as drug couriers, enforcers or in human trafficking. Most all of them are felons with violent records for murder, rape and assault. Stay Sharp and Know Your Enemy. Barrio 18 The 18th Street Gang, also known as…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[5150,2636,6896,2351,2717,13,74,3688,4892,7372,3986],"tags":[9740,16732,8490,7177,7984,7190,6949,5803,4090,3781],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70632"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70642,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632\/revisions\/70642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
What\u2019s more, following a series of violent incidents in prisons\u00a0between the Barrio 18 and the MS13, Salvadoran officials separated inmates from the two gangs from each other. The leaders increased their control over criminal acts, such as extortion, from inside the prisons.<\/h3>\nOn the outside, they branched into petty drug trafficking. They also began to operate in a more sophisticated manner, laundering money through small businesses such as car washes, and trying to control community and local non-governmental organizations in order to influence policy at the local levels and, later, national levels.<\/h3>\nAround 2005, the Barrio 18 in El Salvador suffered a rupture between some on the inside of prison and some on the outside. The result of the in-fighting was a split into two factions,\u00a0the Revolutionaries and Sure\u00f1os. These factions remain, fighting each other with the same fervor as they do the MS13.<\/h3>\nThe gang poses the greatest threat in Central American nations like El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, where weaker governments and larger gangs (relative to the population) have turned the gang phenomenon into a significant threat to national security \u2014 the gangs\u00a0systematically extort public transport systems<\/a>, displace entire communities, and have forced their way into the political system.<\/h3>\nThis was most evident in March 2012, Barrio 18 leaders and their rivals in the MS13 agreed to a nationwide \u201ctruce,\u201d which was mediated by a government envoy and the Catholic Church and facilitated by the government. As a result of this ceasefire, the homicide rate in the country plummeted.<\/h3>\nWhereas El Salvador saw about 13 or 14 murders a day in the beginning of that year, this fell to around six a day, on average, in the following months. Following the initial success of the truce, an unsuccessful attempt to emulate it was made in Honduras.<\/h3>\nThe leaders of both the MS13 and Barrio 18 proved alarmingly adept at using their now heightened political profile to their advantage, fueling concerns that the initiative could provide a means of increasing their criminal sophistication and overall influence in the country. To add to these concerns, extortion and disappearances have reportedly continued to rise in El Salvador over the course of the truce, and homicides began rising again in mid-2013 topping out in 2015, before dropping back again.<\/h3>\nA radical drop-off in El Salvador\u2019s murder rate starting in 2019 has again thrust the country\u2019s gangs into the spotlight. Though state officials\u00a0attribute<\/a>\u00a0the fall to its national security plan, there have been multiple media reports of an\u00a0informal pact<\/a>\u00a0between parts of the El Salvador government and imprisoned gang leaders, with the latter reportedly cooling killings in exchange for better prison conditions.<\/h3>\nThough the bulk of the alleged negotiations appear to have gone through the MS13, El Salvador media initially detected\u00a0at least one meeting<\/a>\u00a0between government officials and imprisoned Barrio 18 leaders.\u00a0Additional materials<\/a>\u00a0sourced from an unfinished government investigation later provided further evidence of encounters between top officials and imprisoned members of the Barrio 18.<\/h3>\nThe onset of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 presented both opportunities and economic challenges for the gang. In some parts of Central America, the gang shored up local support by reportedly\u00a0giving<\/a>\u00a0shopkeepers and other extortion victims a\u202ftemporary\u202freprieve from payments as the initial lockdowns began to bite. But that decision took its toll on rank-and-file gang members in Guatemala, where some strapped-for-cash members purportedly\u00a0broke off into splinter groups<\/a>\u00a0to keep up with extortion rackets, exacerbating the structural weaknesses that have long affected the group.<\/h3>\nLeadership<\/strong><\/h3>\nAt the top are \u201cpalabreros,\u201d or \u201cleaders,\u201d most of whom are in the prison system. They coordinate all criminal activities. One palabrero keeps a notebook that keeps track of all finances, homicides, drugs, and weapons. There are also palabreros outside the prison system, aka, \u201cen la libre.\u201d<\/h3>\nOutside, the gang organizes itself in \u201ccanchas.\u201d A cancha is a territorial division that isn\u2019t necessarily based on municipal delineations. Each cancha has several \u201ctribus,\u201d or tribes, the smallest units of the Barrio 18 organization.<\/h3>\nFinally, there are collaborators: those who are not quite or never will be gang members. They help the gang with small jobs, like gathering intelligence, and moving or holding illicit goods.<\/h3>\nGeography<\/strong><\/h3>\nIn Central America, the gang operates mostly in\u00a0El Salvador<\/a>,\u00a0Guatemala<\/a>, and\u00a0Honduras<\/a>, where it is estimated to have over 16,000 members. But it is in the United States where it has its most defined presence:\u00a0an estimated 30,000 to 50,000 members.<\/a>\u00a0The group operates in dozens of cities across an estimated 20 states.<\/h3>\nMany of its members are located in California, but the Barrio 18 also has a presence in other western cities like Denver. Barrio 18 has also had a presence in Italy since the mid-2000s, and in September 2016 the arrest of an alleged Barrio 18 leader hinted at the gangs\u2019 desires to expand their presence in Europe.<\/h3>\nAllies and Enemies<\/strong><\/h3>\nThe Barrio 18 are fierce enemies with the MS13, and internal divisions among the group periodically flare into violence. The Barrio 18 in El Salvador is divided into rival factions, the Revolutionaries and the Sure\u00f1os.<\/h3>\nThe gang also has a close relationship with the Mexican Mafia.\u00a0It is also known to have networks of lawyers, taxi drivers and mechanics as collaborators.\u00a0The gang\u2019s reliance on extortion and penchant for violence, however, puts it at odds with the local community.<\/h3>\nProspects<\/strong><\/h3>\nThe Barrio 18 has been operational for over 70 years. There is no reason to believe it won\u2019t be around for 70 more.<\/h3>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/figure>\nBagdad<\/a><\/h2>\n <\/p>\n
Bagdad, along with its rival Calor Calor, is one of Panama\u2019s two main gang federations, consisting of 30-40 smaller gangs that work together to fulfill drug transportation across Panama for larger transnational crime groups.<\/h3>\nHowever, the gangs that make up Bagdad do not have deep internal loyalty and often feud over microtrafficking in Panama City and other areas of the country.<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\nHistory<\/h3>\nBagdad\u2019s origins go back to the Uni\u00f3n Sovi\u00e9tica gang, itself a combination of smaller gangs named Bagdad, El Pent\u00e1gono and Matar o Morir (MOM). Led by Jorge Rub\u00e9n Camargo Clarke, alias \u201cCholo Chorrillo\u201d or \u201cEl Cholo,\u201d Bagdad became notorious \u201ctumbadores\u201d \u2014 gangs specialized in stealing drug shipments from trafficking groups. Bagdad was original based in El Chorrillo, while El Pent\u00e1gono operated in Santa Ana and MOM in Curund\u00fa, all neighborhoods of Panama City.<\/h3>\nUni\u00f3n Sovi\u00e9tica also extorted other criminal groups and fought to eliminate other gangs and tumbadores. Its enemies eventually rallied together to form \u201cCalor Calor,\u201d starting a rivalry that continues to this day.<\/h3>\nAfter the leaders of El Pent\u00e1gono and MOM were killed, Bagdad took over the federation and its name stuck.<\/h3>\nBagdad still engages in drug theft but the gang\u2019s main activities now consist of controlling territory for the movement and sale of drugs. According to the Panama Attorney General\u2019s Office, in 2021, Bagdad\u00a0charged<\/a>\u00a0between 5 to 10 percent of the price of cocaine shipments that they transported through the country. In 2014, InSight Crime research estimated the federation controlled over 50 percent of drug sales in Panama. Bagdad also provides services such as guarding shipments and contract killings, and engages in kidnapping and extortion. The gang recruits young people from about 14 years of age.<\/h3>\nBagdad and Calor Calor together were estimated to have more than 2,000 members in 2014.<\/h3>\nLeadership<\/h3>\nJorge Rub\u00e9n Camargo Clarke, alias \u201cCholo Chorrillo,\u201d was the notorious leader of the Uni\u00f3n Sovi\u00e9tica group and once ruled over Bagdad.<\/h3>\nThe current leader of Bagdad is Jaime Powell Rodriguez, alias \u201cYunya,\u201d who took over around 2016.<\/h3>\nAccording to InSight Crime field research, Yunya fancies himself a drug kingpin. He is known for being well-dressed and maintaining a public businessman persona, while actually using his\u00a0network of businesses<\/a>\u00a0in Spain to ship drugs to Europe and launder money, which he hides in Swiss bank accounts.<\/h3>\nIn 2018, Powell Rodriguez was\u00a0arrested in Dubai<\/a>\u00a0and extradited to Panama on charges of transnational drug trafficking but was\u00a0released<\/a>\u00a0in March 2019. In May 2020, Panamanian police were\u00a0searching<\/a>\u00a0for him once again.<\/h3>\nIn 2021, Camargo Clarke was out of jail once more and was one of the main\u00a0targets<\/a>\u00a0of Operation Neptune, a joint investigation into Bagdad by Panamanian authorities and the US Drug Enforcement Administration. He appeared to flee the country with other senior Bagdad commanders to avoid arrest.<\/h3>\nCamargo Clarke was\u00a0finally arrested<\/a>\u00a0in February 2022 in Costa Rica. He is awaiting extradition to the United States.<\/h3>\nGeography<\/h3>\nOriginally based in Panama City, Bagdad is now strongest across the canal in West Panama province, which borders with Panama City, Col\u00f3n and the Pacific Ocean. The violent territorial conflict between Bagdad and Calor Calor has expanded from Panama City into West Panama, where drug shipments enter and leave from La Chorrera coastal area.<\/h3>\nBagdad and Calor Calor members often live in close proximity.<\/h3>\nAllies and Enemies<\/h3>\nBagdad is made up of numerous youth gangs. Groups that have been described as allies of Bagdad include \u201cEl Pent\u00e1gono,\u201d \u201cVietnam 23,\u201d and \u201cNadie ta\u2019 Bien.\u201d Its main rival is Calor Calor, itself an agglomeration of groups.<\/h3>\nThe two organizations are the biggest criminal blocs in Panama and their rivalry centers around control of\u00a0strategically located ports<\/a>, shares of the international drug trade, especially the European market and over the personal rivalry between Yunya and the leader of Calor Calor, Eduardo Macea, alias Marshall.<\/h3>\nYunya and Marshall started out working together under Juan Vicente Blandford, alias El P\u00e1tron Juancito, but began fighting in 2014, when members of Calor Calor\u2019s structure moved to Bagdad. Yunya has the reputation of being the less violent of the two criminals, while Marshall has a reputation for ruthlessness. \u00a0El P\u00e1tron Juancito\u00a0was captured<\/a>\u00a0in 2019, but is, reportedly, still trying to unite the two from within prison.<\/h3>\nSince 2019, Bagdad has also had to deal with an\u00a0internal rift<\/a>, as one of its member-gangs, Matar o Morir (Kill or Be Killed \u2013 MOM) kept a shipment of drugs for themselves as a declaration of independence.<\/h3>\nIn December of 2019 Bagdad retaliated by orchestrating a\u00a0shootout in La Joyita<\/a>, one of Panama\u2019s largest high-security prisons. One group of prisoners opened fire on another, using high-caliber assault weapons and leaving 15 dead and 11 more injured.<\/h3>\nThe incident became known as the \u201cLa Joyita Massacre,\u201d and has set off a wave violence that both continues to\u00a0flare up<\/a>\u00a0in the La Joya prison complex, but which has also spilled into the\u00a0streets of Panama Oeste<\/a>\u00a0and caused homicides rates to skyrocket.<\/h3>\nSince then, Bagdad has drawn the\u00a0wrong kind of attention<\/a>\u00a0from the DEA, which has a long track record of dismantling drug gangs in Central America once they reach a certain size.<\/h3>\nProspects<\/h3>\nBagdad\u2019s operations in transnational drug trafficking have become more sophisticated and its role has changed from a subordinate to a subcontractor that brokers shipment of drugs for Colombian and Mexican groups through Panama and beyond, according to InSight Crime field research. Though Bagdad is likely to remain a middleman in the transnational drug trade, the business is lucrative, and the stakes are getting higher.<\/h3>\nBecause\u00a0there is more money<\/a>\u00a0to be made than when they were first formed Bagdad, as well as its rival Calor Calor, has\u00a0responded by consolidating<\/a>\u00a0power and upping the violence.<\/h3>\nHowever, the scale of violence involved in the La Joyita massacre may have marked a turning point. In April 2021, US and Panamanian authorities\u00a0carried<\/a>\u00a0out large-scale raids, targeting Bagdad leadership, after a year-long investigation, which involved tapping phones, identifying front businesses and money laundering techniques. It is uncertain how Bagdad will be able to stand up to such pressure.<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
According to my contacts these groups\/gangs are operating in some capacity here in the U.S. either as drug couriers, enforcers or in human trafficking. Most all of them are felons with violent records for murder, rape and assault. Stay Sharp and Know Your Enemy. Barrio 18 The 18th Street Gang, also known as…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[5150,2636,6896,2351,2717,13,74,3688,4892,7372,3986],"tags":[9740,16732,8490,7177,7984,7190,6949,5803,4090,3781],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70632"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70642,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632\/revisions\/70642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Around 2005, the Barrio 18 in El Salvador suffered a rupture between some on the inside of prison and some on the outside. The result of the in-fighting was a split into two factions,\u00a0the Revolutionaries and Sure\u00f1os. These factions remain, fighting each other with the same fervor as they do the MS13.<\/h3>\nThe gang poses the greatest threat in Central American nations like El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, where weaker governments and larger gangs (relative to the population) have turned the gang phenomenon into a significant threat to national security \u2014 the gangs\u00a0systematically extort public transport systems<\/a>, displace entire communities, and have forced their way into the political system.<\/h3>\nThis was most evident in March 2012, Barrio 18 leaders and their rivals in the MS13 agreed to a nationwide \u201ctruce,\u201d which was mediated by a government envoy and the Catholic Church and facilitated by the government. As a result of this ceasefire, the homicide rate in the country plummeted.<\/h3>\nWhereas El Salvador saw about 13 or 14 murders a day in the beginning of that year, this fell to around six a day, on average, in the following months. Following the initial success of the truce, an unsuccessful attempt to emulate it was made in Honduras.<\/h3>\nThe leaders of both the MS13 and Barrio 18 proved alarmingly adept at using their now heightened political profile to their advantage, fueling concerns that the initiative could provide a means of increasing their criminal sophistication and overall influence in the country. To add to these concerns, extortion and disappearances have reportedly continued to rise in El Salvador over the course of the truce, and homicides began rising again in mid-2013 topping out in 2015, before dropping back again.<\/h3>\nA radical drop-off in El Salvador\u2019s murder rate starting in 2019 has again thrust the country\u2019s gangs into the spotlight. Though state officials\u00a0attribute<\/a>\u00a0the fall to its national security plan, there have been multiple media reports of an\u00a0informal pact<\/a>\u00a0between parts of the El Salvador government and imprisoned gang leaders, with the latter reportedly cooling killings in exchange for better prison conditions.<\/h3>\nThough the bulk of the alleged negotiations appear to have gone through the MS13, El Salvador media initially detected\u00a0at least one meeting<\/a>\u00a0between government officials and imprisoned Barrio 18 leaders.\u00a0Additional materials<\/a>\u00a0sourced from an unfinished government investigation later provided further evidence of encounters between top officials and imprisoned members of the Barrio 18.<\/h3>\nThe onset of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 presented both opportunities and economic challenges for the gang. In some parts of Central America, the gang shored up local support by reportedly\u00a0giving<\/a>\u00a0shopkeepers and other extortion victims a\u202ftemporary\u202freprieve from payments as the initial lockdowns began to bite. But that decision took its toll on rank-and-file gang members in Guatemala, where some strapped-for-cash members purportedly\u00a0broke off into splinter groups<\/a>\u00a0to keep up with extortion rackets, exacerbating the structural weaknesses that have long affected the group.<\/h3>\nLeadership<\/strong><\/h3>\nAt the top are \u201cpalabreros,\u201d or \u201cleaders,\u201d most of whom are in the prison system. They coordinate all criminal activities. One palabrero keeps a notebook that keeps track of all finances, homicides, drugs, and weapons. There are also palabreros outside the prison system, aka, \u201cen la libre.\u201d<\/h3>\nOutside, the gang organizes itself in \u201ccanchas.\u201d A cancha is a territorial division that isn\u2019t necessarily based on municipal delineations. Each cancha has several \u201ctribus,\u201d or tribes, the smallest units of the Barrio 18 organization.<\/h3>\nFinally, there are collaborators: those who are not quite or never will be gang members. They help the gang with small jobs, like gathering intelligence, and moving or holding illicit goods.<\/h3>\nGeography<\/strong><\/h3>\nIn Central America, the gang operates mostly in\u00a0El Salvador<\/a>,\u00a0Guatemala<\/a>, and\u00a0Honduras<\/a>, where it is estimated to have over 16,000 members. But it is in the United States where it has its most defined presence:\u00a0an estimated 30,000 to 50,000 members.<\/a>\u00a0The group operates in dozens of cities across an estimated 20 states.<\/h3>\nMany of its members are located in California, but the Barrio 18 also has a presence in other western cities like Denver. Barrio 18 has also had a presence in Italy since the mid-2000s, and in September 2016 the arrest of an alleged Barrio 18 leader hinted at the gangs\u2019 desires to expand their presence in Europe.<\/h3>\nAllies and Enemies<\/strong><\/h3>\nThe Barrio 18 are fierce enemies with the MS13, and internal divisions among the group periodically flare into violence. The Barrio 18 in El Salvador is divided into rival factions, the Revolutionaries and the Sure\u00f1os.<\/h3>\nThe gang also has a close relationship with the Mexican Mafia.\u00a0It is also known to have networks of lawyers, taxi drivers and mechanics as collaborators.\u00a0The gang\u2019s reliance on extortion and penchant for violence, however, puts it at odds with the local community.<\/h3>\nProspects<\/strong><\/h3>\nThe Barrio 18 has been operational for over 70 years. There is no reason to believe it won\u2019t be around for 70 more.<\/h3>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/figure>\nBagdad<\/a><\/h2>\n <\/p>\n
Bagdad, along with its rival Calor Calor, is one of Panama\u2019s two main gang federations, consisting of 30-40 smaller gangs that work together to fulfill drug transportation across Panama for larger transnational crime groups.<\/h3>\nHowever, the gangs that make up Bagdad do not have deep internal loyalty and often feud over microtrafficking in Panama City and other areas of the country.<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\nHistory<\/h3>\nBagdad\u2019s origins go back to the Uni\u00f3n Sovi\u00e9tica gang, itself a combination of smaller gangs named Bagdad, El Pent\u00e1gono and Matar o Morir (MOM). Led by Jorge Rub\u00e9n Camargo Clarke, alias \u201cCholo Chorrillo\u201d or \u201cEl Cholo,\u201d Bagdad became notorious \u201ctumbadores\u201d \u2014 gangs specialized in stealing drug shipments from trafficking groups. Bagdad was original based in El Chorrillo, while El Pent\u00e1gono operated in Santa Ana and MOM in Curund\u00fa, all neighborhoods of Panama City.<\/h3>\nUni\u00f3n Sovi\u00e9tica also extorted other criminal groups and fought to eliminate other gangs and tumbadores. Its enemies eventually rallied together to form \u201cCalor Calor,\u201d starting a rivalry that continues to this day.<\/h3>\nAfter the leaders of El Pent\u00e1gono and MOM were killed, Bagdad took over the federation and its name stuck.<\/h3>\nBagdad still engages in drug theft but the gang\u2019s main activities now consist of controlling territory for the movement and sale of drugs. According to the Panama Attorney General\u2019s Office, in 2021, Bagdad\u00a0charged<\/a>\u00a0between 5 to 10 percent of the price of cocaine shipments that they transported through the country. In 2014, InSight Crime research estimated the federation controlled over 50 percent of drug sales in Panama. Bagdad also provides services such as guarding shipments and contract killings, and engages in kidnapping and extortion. The gang recruits young people from about 14 years of age.<\/h3>\nBagdad and Calor Calor together were estimated to have more than 2,000 members in 2014.<\/h3>\nLeadership<\/h3>\nJorge Rub\u00e9n Camargo Clarke, alias \u201cCholo Chorrillo,\u201d was the notorious leader of the Uni\u00f3n Sovi\u00e9tica group and once ruled over Bagdad.<\/h3>\nThe current leader of Bagdad is Jaime Powell Rodriguez, alias \u201cYunya,\u201d who took over around 2016.<\/h3>\nAccording to InSight Crime field research, Yunya fancies himself a drug kingpin. He is known for being well-dressed and maintaining a public businessman persona, while actually using his\u00a0network of businesses<\/a>\u00a0in Spain to ship drugs to Europe and launder money, which he hides in Swiss bank accounts.<\/h3>\nIn 2018, Powell Rodriguez was\u00a0arrested in Dubai<\/a>\u00a0and extradited to Panama on charges of transnational drug trafficking but was\u00a0released<\/a>\u00a0in March 2019. In May 2020, Panamanian police were\u00a0searching<\/a>\u00a0for him once again.<\/h3>\nIn 2021, Camargo Clarke was out of jail once more and was one of the main\u00a0targets<\/a>\u00a0of Operation Neptune, a joint investigation into Bagdad by Panamanian authorities and the US Drug Enforcement Administration. He appeared to flee the country with other senior Bagdad commanders to avoid arrest.<\/h3>\nCamargo Clarke was\u00a0finally arrested<\/a>\u00a0in February 2022 in Costa Rica. He is awaiting extradition to the United States.<\/h3>\nGeography<\/h3>\nOriginally based in Panama City, Bagdad is now strongest across the canal in West Panama province, which borders with Panama City, Col\u00f3n and the Pacific Ocean. The violent territorial conflict between Bagdad and Calor Calor has expanded from Panama City into West Panama, where drug shipments enter and leave from La Chorrera coastal area.<\/h3>\nBagdad and Calor Calor members often live in close proximity.<\/h3>\nAllies and Enemies<\/h3>\nBagdad is made up of numerous youth gangs. Groups that have been described as allies of Bagdad include \u201cEl Pent\u00e1gono,\u201d \u201cVietnam 23,\u201d and \u201cNadie ta\u2019 Bien.\u201d Its main rival is Calor Calor, itself an agglomeration of groups.<\/h3>\nThe two organizations are the biggest criminal blocs in Panama and their rivalry centers around control of\u00a0strategically located ports<\/a>, shares of the international drug trade, especially the European market and over the personal rivalry between Yunya and the leader of Calor Calor, Eduardo Macea, alias Marshall.<\/h3>\nYunya and Marshall started out working together under Juan Vicente Blandford, alias El P\u00e1tron Juancito, but began fighting in 2014, when members of Calor Calor\u2019s structure moved to Bagdad. Yunya has the reputation of being the less violent of the two criminals, while Marshall has a reputation for ruthlessness. \u00a0El P\u00e1tron Juancito\u00a0was captured<\/a>\u00a0in 2019, but is, reportedly, still trying to unite the two from within prison.<\/h3>\nSince 2019, Bagdad has also had to deal with an\u00a0internal rift<\/a>, as one of its member-gangs, Matar o Morir (Kill or Be Killed \u2013 MOM) kept a shipment of drugs for themselves as a declaration of independence.<\/h3>\nIn December of 2019 Bagdad retaliated by orchestrating a\u00a0shootout in La Joyita<\/a>, one of Panama\u2019s largest high-security prisons. One group of prisoners opened fire on another, using high-caliber assault weapons and leaving 15 dead and 11 more injured.<\/h3>\nThe incident became known as the \u201cLa Joyita Massacre,\u201d and has set off a wave violence that both continues to\u00a0flare up<\/a>\u00a0in the La Joya prison complex, but which has also spilled into the\u00a0streets of Panama Oeste<\/a>\u00a0and caused homicides rates to skyrocket.<\/h3>\nSince then, Bagdad has drawn the\u00a0wrong kind of attention<\/a>\u00a0from the DEA, which has a long track record of dismantling drug gangs in Central America once they reach a certain size.<\/h3>\nProspects<\/h3>\nBagdad\u2019s operations in transnational drug trafficking have become more sophisticated and its role has changed from a subordinate to a subcontractor that brokers shipment of drugs for Colombian and Mexican groups through Panama and beyond, according to InSight Crime field research. Though Bagdad is likely to remain a middleman in the transnational drug trade, the business is lucrative, and the stakes are getting higher.<\/h3>\nBecause\u00a0there is more money<\/a>\u00a0to be made than when they were first formed Bagdad, as well as its rival Calor Calor, has\u00a0responded by consolidating<\/a>\u00a0power and upping the violence.<\/h3>\nHowever, the scale of violence involved in the La Joyita massacre may have marked a turning point. In April 2021, US and Panamanian authorities\u00a0carried<\/a>\u00a0out large-scale raids, targeting Bagdad leadership, after a year-long investigation, which involved tapping phones, identifying front businesses and money laundering techniques. It is uncertain how Bagdad will be able to stand up to such pressure.<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
According to my contacts these groups\/gangs are operating in some capacity here in the U.S. either as drug couriers, enforcers or in human trafficking. Most all of them are felons with violent records for murder, rape and assault. Stay Sharp and Know Your Enemy. Barrio 18 The 18th Street Gang, also known as…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[5150,2636,6896,2351,2717,13,74,3688,4892,7372,3986],"tags":[9740,16732,8490,7177,7984,7190,6949,5803,4090,3781],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70632"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70642,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632\/revisions\/70642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
This was most evident in March 2012, Barrio 18 leaders and their rivals in the MS13 agreed to a nationwide \u201ctruce,\u201d which was mediated by a government envoy and the Catholic Church and facilitated by the government. As a result of this ceasefire, the homicide rate in the country plummeted.<\/h3>\nWhereas El Salvador saw about 13 or 14 murders a day in the beginning of that year, this fell to around six a day, on average, in the following months. Following the initial success of the truce, an unsuccessful attempt to emulate it was made in Honduras.<\/h3>\nThe leaders of both the MS13 and Barrio 18 proved alarmingly adept at using their now heightened political profile to their advantage, fueling concerns that the initiative could provide a means of increasing their criminal sophistication and overall influence in the country. To add to these concerns, extortion and disappearances have reportedly continued to rise in El Salvador over the course of the truce, and homicides began rising again in mid-2013 topping out in 2015, before dropping back again.<\/h3>\nA radical drop-off in El Salvador\u2019s murder rate starting in 2019 has again thrust the country\u2019s gangs into the spotlight. Though state officials\u00a0attribute<\/a>\u00a0the fall to its national security plan, there have been multiple media reports of an\u00a0informal pact<\/a>\u00a0between parts of the El Salvador government and imprisoned gang leaders, with the latter reportedly cooling killings in exchange for better prison conditions.<\/h3>\nThough the bulk of the alleged negotiations appear to have gone through the MS13, El Salvador media initially detected\u00a0at least one meeting<\/a>\u00a0between government officials and imprisoned Barrio 18 leaders.\u00a0Additional materials<\/a>\u00a0sourced from an unfinished government investigation later provided further evidence of encounters between top officials and imprisoned members of the Barrio 18.<\/h3>\nThe onset of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 presented both opportunities and economic challenges for the gang. In some parts of Central America, the gang shored up local support by reportedly\u00a0giving<\/a>\u00a0shopkeepers and other extortion victims a\u202ftemporary\u202freprieve from payments as the initial lockdowns began to bite. But that decision took its toll on rank-and-file gang members in Guatemala, where some strapped-for-cash members purportedly\u00a0broke off into splinter groups<\/a>\u00a0to keep up with extortion rackets, exacerbating the structural weaknesses that have long affected the group.<\/h3>\nLeadership<\/strong><\/h3>\nAt the top are \u201cpalabreros,\u201d or \u201cleaders,\u201d most of whom are in the prison system. They coordinate all criminal activities. One palabrero keeps a notebook that keeps track of all finances, homicides, drugs, and weapons. There are also palabreros outside the prison system, aka, \u201cen la libre.\u201d<\/h3>\nOutside, the gang organizes itself in \u201ccanchas.\u201d A cancha is a territorial division that isn\u2019t necessarily based on municipal delineations. Each cancha has several \u201ctribus,\u201d or tribes, the smallest units of the Barrio 18 organization.<\/h3>\nFinally, there are collaborators: those who are not quite or never will be gang members. They help the gang with small jobs, like gathering intelligence, and moving or holding illicit goods.<\/h3>\nGeography<\/strong><\/h3>\nIn Central America, the gang operates mostly in\u00a0El Salvador<\/a>,\u00a0Guatemala<\/a>, and\u00a0Honduras<\/a>, where it is estimated to have over 16,000 members. But it is in the United States where it has its most defined presence:\u00a0an estimated 30,000 to 50,000 members.<\/a>\u00a0The group operates in dozens of cities across an estimated 20 states.<\/h3>\nMany of its members are located in California, but the Barrio 18 also has a presence in other western cities like Denver. Barrio 18 has also had a presence in Italy since the mid-2000s, and in September 2016 the arrest of an alleged Barrio 18 leader hinted at the gangs\u2019 desires to expand their presence in Europe.<\/h3>\nAllies and Enemies<\/strong><\/h3>\nThe Barrio 18 are fierce enemies with the MS13, and internal divisions among the group periodically flare into violence. The Barrio 18 in El Salvador is divided into rival factions, the Revolutionaries and the Sure\u00f1os.<\/h3>\nThe gang also has a close relationship with the Mexican Mafia.\u00a0It is also known to have networks of lawyers, taxi drivers and mechanics as collaborators.\u00a0The gang\u2019s reliance on extortion and penchant for violence, however, puts it at odds with the local community.<\/h3>\nProspects<\/strong><\/h3>\nThe Barrio 18 has been operational for over 70 years. There is no reason to believe it won\u2019t be around for 70 more.<\/h3>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/figure>\nBagdad<\/a><\/h2>\n <\/p>\n
Bagdad, along with its rival Calor Calor, is one of Panama\u2019s two main gang federations, consisting of 30-40 smaller gangs that work together to fulfill drug transportation across Panama for larger transnational crime groups.<\/h3>\nHowever, the gangs that make up Bagdad do not have deep internal loyalty and often feud over microtrafficking in Panama City and other areas of the country.<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\nHistory<\/h3>\nBagdad\u2019s origins go back to the Uni\u00f3n Sovi\u00e9tica gang, itself a combination of smaller gangs named Bagdad, El Pent\u00e1gono and Matar o Morir (MOM). Led by Jorge Rub\u00e9n Camargo Clarke, alias \u201cCholo Chorrillo\u201d or \u201cEl Cholo,\u201d Bagdad became notorious \u201ctumbadores\u201d \u2014 gangs specialized in stealing drug shipments from trafficking groups. Bagdad was original based in El Chorrillo, while El Pent\u00e1gono operated in Santa Ana and MOM in Curund\u00fa, all neighborhoods of Panama City.<\/h3>\nUni\u00f3n Sovi\u00e9tica also extorted other criminal groups and fought to eliminate other gangs and tumbadores. Its enemies eventually rallied together to form \u201cCalor Calor,\u201d starting a rivalry that continues to this day.<\/h3>\nAfter the leaders of El Pent\u00e1gono and MOM were killed, Bagdad took over the federation and its name stuck.<\/h3>\nBagdad still engages in drug theft but the gang\u2019s main activities now consist of controlling territory for the movement and sale of drugs. According to the Panama Attorney General\u2019s Office, in 2021, Bagdad\u00a0charged<\/a>\u00a0between 5 to 10 percent of the price of cocaine shipments that they transported through the country. In 2014, InSight Crime research estimated the federation controlled over 50 percent of drug sales in Panama. Bagdad also provides services such as guarding shipments and contract killings, and engages in kidnapping and extortion. The gang recruits young people from about 14 years of age.<\/h3>\nBagdad and Calor Calor together were estimated to have more than 2,000 members in 2014.<\/h3>\nLeadership<\/h3>\nJorge Rub\u00e9n Camargo Clarke, alias \u201cCholo Chorrillo,\u201d was the notorious leader of the Uni\u00f3n Sovi\u00e9tica group and once ruled over Bagdad.<\/h3>\nThe current leader of Bagdad is Jaime Powell Rodriguez, alias \u201cYunya,\u201d who took over around 2016.<\/h3>\nAccording to InSight Crime field research, Yunya fancies himself a drug kingpin. He is known for being well-dressed and maintaining a public businessman persona, while actually using his\u00a0network of businesses<\/a>\u00a0in Spain to ship drugs to Europe and launder money, which he hides in Swiss bank accounts.<\/h3>\nIn 2018, Powell Rodriguez was\u00a0arrested in Dubai<\/a>\u00a0and extradited to Panama on charges of transnational drug trafficking but was\u00a0released<\/a>\u00a0in March 2019. In May 2020, Panamanian police were\u00a0searching<\/a>\u00a0for him once again.<\/h3>\nIn 2021, Camargo Clarke was out of jail once more and was one of the main\u00a0targets<\/a>\u00a0of Operation Neptune, a joint investigation into Bagdad by Panamanian authorities and the US Drug Enforcement Administration. He appeared to flee the country with other senior Bagdad commanders to avoid arrest.<\/h3>\nCamargo Clarke was\u00a0finally arrested<\/a>\u00a0in February 2022 in Costa Rica. He is awaiting extradition to the United States.<\/h3>\nGeography<\/h3>\nOriginally based in Panama City, Bagdad is now strongest across the canal in West Panama province, which borders with Panama City, Col\u00f3n and the Pacific Ocean. The violent territorial conflict between Bagdad and Calor Calor has expanded from Panama City into West Panama, where drug shipments enter and leave from La Chorrera coastal area.<\/h3>\nBagdad and Calor Calor members often live in close proximity.<\/h3>\nAllies and Enemies<\/h3>\nBagdad is made up of numerous youth gangs. Groups that have been described as allies of Bagdad include \u201cEl Pent\u00e1gono,\u201d \u201cVietnam 23,\u201d and \u201cNadie ta\u2019 Bien.\u201d Its main rival is Calor Calor, itself an agglomeration of groups.<\/h3>\nThe two organizations are the biggest criminal blocs in Panama and their rivalry centers around control of\u00a0strategically located ports<\/a>, shares of the international drug trade, especially the European market and over the personal rivalry between Yunya and the leader of Calor Calor, Eduardo Macea, alias Marshall.<\/h3>\nYunya and Marshall started out working together under Juan Vicente Blandford, alias El P\u00e1tron Juancito, but began fighting in 2014, when members of Calor Calor\u2019s structure moved to Bagdad. Yunya has the reputation of being the less violent of the two criminals, while Marshall has a reputation for ruthlessness. \u00a0El P\u00e1tron Juancito\u00a0was captured<\/a>\u00a0in 2019, but is, reportedly, still trying to unite the two from within prison.<\/h3>\nSince 2019, Bagdad has also had to deal with an\u00a0internal rift<\/a>, as one of its member-gangs, Matar o Morir (Kill or Be Killed \u2013 MOM) kept a shipment of drugs for themselves as a declaration of independence.<\/h3>\nIn December of 2019 Bagdad retaliated by orchestrating a\u00a0shootout in La Joyita<\/a>, one of Panama\u2019s largest high-security prisons. One group of prisoners opened fire on another, using high-caliber assault weapons and leaving 15 dead and 11 more injured.<\/h3>\nThe incident became known as the \u201cLa Joyita Massacre,\u201d and has set off a wave violence that both continues to\u00a0flare up<\/a>\u00a0in the La Joya prison complex, but which has also spilled into the\u00a0streets of Panama Oeste<\/a>\u00a0and caused homicides rates to skyrocket.<\/h3>\nSince then, Bagdad has drawn the\u00a0wrong kind of attention<\/a>\u00a0from the DEA, which has a long track record of dismantling drug gangs in Central America once they reach a certain size.<\/h3>\nProspects<\/h3>\nBagdad\u2019s operations in transnational drug trafficking have become more sophisticated and its role has changed from a subordinate to a subcontractor that brokers shipment of drugs for Colombian and Mexican groups through Panama and beyond, according to InSight Crime field research. Though Bagdad is likely to remain a middleman in the transnational drug trade, the business is lucrative, and the stakes are getting higher.<\/h3>\nBecause\u00a0there is more money<\/a>\u00a0to be made than when they were first formed Bagdad, as well as its rival Calor Calor, has\u00a0responded by consolidating<\/a>\u00a0power and upping the violence.<\/h3>\nHowever, the scale of violence involved in the La Joyita massacre may have marked a turning point. In April 2021, US and Panamanian authorities\u00a0carried<\/a>\u00a0out large-scale raids, targeting Bagdad leadership, after a year-long investigation, which involved tapping phones, identifying front businesses and money laundering techniques. It is uncertain how Bagdad will be able to stand up to such pressure.<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
According to my contacts these groups\/gangs are operating in some capacity here in the U.S. either as drug couriers, enforcers or in human trafficking. Most all of them are felons with violent records for murder, rape and assault. Stay Sharp and Know Your Enemy. Barrio 18 The 18th Street Gang, also known as…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[5150,2636,6896,2351,2717,13,74,3688,4892,7372,3986],"tags":[9740,16732,8490,7177,7984,7190,6949,5803,4090,3781],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70632"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70642,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632\/revisions\/70642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
The leaders of both the MS13 and Barrio 18 proved alarmingly adept at using their now heightened political profile to their advantage, fueling concerns that the initiative could provide a means of increasing their criminal sophistication and overall influence in the country. To add to these concerns, extortion and disappearances have reportedly continued to rise in El Salvador over the course of the truce, and homicides began rising again in mid-2013 topping out in 2015, before dropping back again.<\/h3>\nA radical drop-off in El Salvador\u2019s murder rate starting in 2019 has again thrust the country\u2019s gangs into the spotlight. Though state officials\u00a0attribute<\/a>\u00a0the fall to its national security plan, there have been multiple media reports of an\u00a0informal pact<\/a>\u00a0between parts of the El Salvador government and imprisoned gang leaders, with the latter reportedly cooling killings in exchange for better prison conditions.<\/h3>\nThough the bulk of the alleged negotiations appear to have gone through the MS13, El Salvador media initially detected\u00a0at least one meeting<\/a>\u00a0between government officials and imprisoned Barrio 18 leaders.\u00a0Additional materials<\/a>\u00a0sourced from an unfinished government investigation later provided further evidence of encounters between top officials and imprisoned members of the Barrio 18.<\/h3>\nThe onset of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 presented both opportunities and economic challenges for the gang. In some parts of Central America, the gang shored up local support by reportedly\u00a0giving<\/a>\u00a0shopkeepers and other extortion victims a\u202ftemporary\u202freprieve from payments as the initial lockdowns began to bite. But that decision took its toll on rank-and-file gang members in Guatemala, where some strapped-for-cash members purportedly\u00a0broke off into splinter groups<\/a>\u00a0to keep up with extortion rackets, exacerbating the structural weaknesses that have long affected the group.<\/h3>\nLeadership<\/strong><\/h3>\nAt the top are \u201cpalabreros,\u201d or \u201cleaders,\u201d most of whom are in the prison system. They coordinate all criminal activities. One palabrero keeps a notebook that keeps track of all finances, homicides, drugs, and weapons. There are also palabreros outside the prison system, aka, \u201cen la libre.\u201d<\/h3>\nOutside, the gang organizes itself in \u201ccanchas.\u201d A cancha is a territorial division that isn\u2019t necessarily based on municipal delineations. Each cancha has several \u201ctribus,\u201d or tribes, the smallest units of the Barrio 18 organization.<\/h3>\nFinally, there are collaborators: those who are not quite or never will be gang members. They help the gang with small jobs, like gathering intelligence, and moving or holding illicit goods.<\/h3>\nGeography<\/strong><\/h3>\nIn Central America, the gang operates mostly in\u00a0El Salvador<\/a>,\u00a0Guatemala<\/a>, and\u00a0Honduras<\/a>, where it is estimated to have over 16,000 members. But it is in the United States where it has its most defined presence:\u00a0an estimated 30,000 to 50,000 members.<\/a>\u00a0The group operates in dozens of cities across an estimated 20 states.<\/h3>\nMany of its members are located in California, but the Barrio 18 also has a presence in other western cities like Denver. Barrio 18 has also had a presence in Italy since the mid-2000s, and in September 2016 the arrest of an alleged Barrio 18 leader hinted at the gangs\u2019 desires to expand their presence in Europe.<\/h3>\nAllies and Enemies<\/strong><\/h3>\nThe Barrio 18 are fierce enemies with the MS13, and internal divisions among the group periodically flare into violence. The Barrio 18 in El Salvador is divided into rival factions, the Revolutionaries and the Sure\u00f1os.<\/h3>\nThe gang also has a close relationship with the Mexican Mafia.\u00a0It is also known to have networks of lawyers, taxi drivers and mechanics as collaborators.\u00a0The gang\u2019s reliance on extortion and penchant for violence, however, puts it at odds with the local community.<\/h3>\nProspects<\/strong><\/h3>\nThe Barrio 18 has been operational for over 70 years. There is no reason to believe it won\u2019t be around for 70 more.<\/h3>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/figure>\nBagdad<\/a><\/h2>\n <\/p>\n
Bagdad, along with its rival Calor Calor, is one of Panama\u2019s two main gang federations, consisting of 30-40 smaller gangs that work together to fulfill drug transportation across Panama for larger transnational crime groups.<\/h3>\nHowever, the gangs that make up Bagdad do not have deep internal loyalty and often feud over microtrafficking in Panama City and other areas of the country.<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\nHistory<\/h3>\nBagdad\u2019s origins go back to the Uni\u00f3n Sovi\u00e9tica gang, itself a combination of smaller gangs named Bagdad, El Pent\u00e1gono and Matar o Morir (MOM). Led by Jorge Rub\u00e9n Camargo Clarke, alias \u201cCholo Chorrillo\u201d or \u201cEl Cholo,\u201d Bagdad became notorious \u201ctumbadores\u201d \u2014 gangs specialized in stealing drug shipments from trafficking groups. Bagdad was original based in El Chorrillo, while El Pent\u00e1gono operated in Santa Ana and MOM in Curund\u00fa, all neighborhoods of Panama City.<\/h3>\nUni\u00f3n Sovi\u00e9tica also extorted other criminal groups and fought to eliminate other gangs and tumbadores. Its enemies eventually rallied together to form \u201cCalor Calor,\u201d starting a rivalry that continues to this day.<\/h3>\nAfter the leaders of El Pent\u00e1gono and MOM were killed, Bagdad took over the federation and its name stuck.<\/h3>\nBagdad still engages in drug theft but the gang\u2019s main activities now consist of controlling territory for the movement and sale of drugs. According to the Panama Attorney General\u2019s Office, in 2021, Bagdad\u00a0charged<\/a>\u00a0between 5 to 10 percent of the price of cocaine shipments that they transported through the country. In 2014, InSight Crime research estimated the federation controlled over 50 percent of drug sales in Panama. Bagdad also provides services such as guarding shipments and contract killings, and engages in kidnapping and extortion. The gang recruits young people from about 14 years of age.<\/h3>\nBagdad and Calor Calor together were estimated to have more than 2,000 members in 2014.<\/h3>\nLeadership<\/h3>\nJorge Rub\u00e9n Camargo Clarke, alias \u201cCholo Chorrillo,\u201d was the notorious leader of the Uni\u00f3n Sovi\u00e9tica group and once ruled over Bagdad.<\/h3>\nThe current leader of Bagdad is Jaime Powell Rodriguez, alias \u201cYunya,\u201d who took over around 2016.<\/h3>\nAccording to InSight Crime field research, Yunya fancies himself a drug kingpin. He is known for being well-dressed and maintaining a public businessman persona, while actually using his\u00a0network of businesses<\/a>\u00a0in Spain to ship drugs to Europe and launder money, which he hides in Swiss bank accounts.<\/h3>\nIn 2018, Powell Rodriguez was\u00a0arrested in Dubai<\/a>\u00a0and extradited to Panama on charges of transnational drug trafficking but was\u00a0released<\/a>\u00a0in March 2019. In May 2020, Panamanian police were\u00a0searching<\/a>\u00a0for him once again.<\/h3>\nIn 2021, Camargo Clarke was out of jail once more and was one of the main\u00a0targets<\/a>\u00a0of Operation Neptune, a joint investigation into Bagdad by Panamanian authorities and the US Drug Enforcement Administration. He appeared to flee the country with other senior Bagdad commanders to avoid arrest.<\/h3>\nCamargo Clarke was\u00a0finally arrested<\/a>\u00a0in February 2022 in Costa Rica. He is awaiting extradition to the United States.<\/h3>\nGeography<\/h3>\nOriginally based in Panama City, Bagdad is now strongest across the canal in West Panama province, which borders with Panama City, Col\u00f3n and the Pacific Ocean. The violent territorial conflict between Bagdad and Calor Calor has expanded from Panama City into West Panama, where drug shipments enter and leave from La Chorrera coastal area.<\/h3>\nBagdad and Calor Calor members often live in close proximity.<\/h3>\nAllies and Enemies<\/h3>\nBagdad is made up of numerous youth gangs. Groups that have been described as allies of Bagdad include \u201cEl Pent\u00e1gono,\u201d \u201cVietnam 23,\u201d and \u201cNadie ta\u2019 Bien.\u201d Its main rival is Calor Calor, itself an agglomeration of groups.<\/h3>\nThe two organizations are the biggest criminal blocs in Panama and their rivalry centers around control of\u00a0strategically located ports<\/a>, shares of the international drug trade, especially the European market and over the personal rivalry between Yunya and the leader of Calor Calor, Eduardo Macea, alias Marshall.<\/h3>\nYunya and Marshall started out working together under Juan Vicente Blandford, alias El P\u00e1tron Juancito, but began fighting in 2014, when members of Calor Calor\u2019s structure moved to Bagdad. Yunya has the reputation of being the less violent of the two criminals, while Marshall has a reputation for ruthlessness. \u00a0El P\u00e1tron Juancito\u00a0was captured<\/a>\u00a0in 2019, but is, reportedly, still trying to unite the two from within prison.<\/h3>\nSince 2019, Bagdad has also had to deal with an\u00a0internal rift<\/a>, as one of its member-gangs, Matar o Morir (Kill or Be Killed \u2013 MOM) kept a shipment of drugs for themselves as a declaration of independence.<\/h3>\nIn December of 2019 Bagdad retaliated by orchestrating a\u00a0shootout in La Joyita<\/a>, one of Panama\u2019s largest high-security prisons. One group of prisoners opened fire on another, using high-caliber assault weapons and leaving 15 dead and 11 more injured.<\/h3>\nThe incident became known as the \u201cLa Joyita Massacre,\u201d and has set off a wave violence that both continues to\u00a0flare up<\/a>\u00a0in the La Joya prison complex, but which has also spilled into the\u00a0streets of Panama Oeste<\/a>\u00a0and caused homicides rates to skyrocket.<\/h3>\nSince then, Bagdad has drawn the\u00a0wrong kind of attention<\/a>\u00a0from the DEA, which has a long track record of dismantling drug gangs in Central America once they reach a certain size.<\/h3>\nProspects<\/h3>\nBagdad\u2019s operations in transnational drug trafficking have become more sophisticated and its role has changed from a subordinate to a subcontractor that brokers shipment of drugs for Colombian and Mexican groups through Panama and beyond, according to InSight Crime field research. Though Bagdad is likely to remain a middleman in the transnational drug trade, the business is lucrative, and the stakes are getting higher.<\/h3>\nBecause\u00a0there is more money<\/a>\u00a0to be made than when they were first formed Bagdad, as well as its rival Calor Calor, has\u00a0responded by consolidating<\/a>\u00a0power and upping the violence.<\/h3>\nHowever, the scale of violence involved in the La Joyita massacre may have marked a turning point. In April 2021, US and Panamanian authorities\u00a0carried<\/a>\u00a0out large-scale raids, targeting Bagdad leadership, after a year-long investigation, which involved tapping phones, identifying front businesses and money laundering techniques. It is uncertain how Bagdad will be able to stand up to such pressure.<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
According to my contacts these groups\/gangs are operating in some capacity here in the U.S. either as drug couriers, enforcers or in human trafficking. Most all of them are felons with violent records for murder, rape and assault. Stay Sharp and Know Your Enemy. Barrio 18 The 18th Street Gang, also known as…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[5150,2636,6896,2351,2717,13,74,3688,4892,7372,3986],"tags":[9740,16732,8490,7177,7984,7190,6949,5803,4090,3781],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70632"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70642,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632\/revisions\/70642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Though the bulk of the alleged negotiations appear to have gone through the MS13, El Salvador media initially detected\u00a0at least one meeting<\/a>\u00a0between government officials and imprisoned Barrio 18 leaders.\u00a0Additional materials<\/a>\u00a0sourced from an unfinished government investigation later provided further evidence of encounters between top officials and imprisoned members of the Barrio 18.<\/h3>\nThe onset of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 presented both opportunities and economic challenges for the gang. In some parts of Central America, the gang shored up local support by reportedly\u00a0giving<\/a>\u00a0shopkeepers and other extortion victims a\u202ftemporary\u202freprieve from payments as the initial lockdowns began to bite. But that decision took its toll on rank-and-file gang members in Guatemala, where some strapped-for-cash members purportedly\u00a0broke off into splinter groups<\/a>\u00a0to keep up with extortion rackets, exacerbating the structural weaknesses that have long affected the group.<\/h3>\nLeadership<\/strong><\/h3>\nAt the top are \u201cpalabreros,\u201d or \u201cleaders,\u201d most of whom are in the prison system. They coordinate all criminal activities. One palabrero keeps a notebook that keeps track of all finances, homicides, drugs, and weapons. There are also palabreros outside the prison system, aka, \u201cen la libre.\u201d<\/h3>\nOutside, the gang organizes itself in \u201ccanchas.\u201d A cancha is a territorial division that isn\u2019t necessarily based on municipal delineations. Each cancha has several \u201ctribus,\u201d or tribes, the smallest units of the Barrio 18 organization.<\/h3>\nFinally, there are collaborators: those who are not quite or never will be gang members. They help the gang with small jobs, like gathering intelligence, and moving or holding illicit goods.<\/h3>\nGeography<\/strong><\/h3>\nIn Central America, the gang operates mostly in\u00a0El Salvador<\/a>,\u00a0Guatemala<\/a>, and\u00a0Honduras<\/a>, where it is estimated to have over 16,000 members. But it is in the United States where it has its most defined presence:\u00a0an estimated 30,000 to 50,000 members.<\/a>\u00a0The group operates in dozens of cities across an estimated 20 states.<\/h3>\nMany of its members are located in California, but the Barrio 18 also has a presence in other western cities like Denver. Barrio 18 has also had a presence in Italy since the mid-2000s, and in September 2016 the arrest of an alleged Barrio 18 leader hinted at the gangs\u2019 desires to expand their presence in Europe.<\/h3>\nAllies and Enemies<\/strong><\/h3>\nThe Barrio 18 are fierce enemies with the MS13, and internal divisions among the group periodically flare into violence. The Barrio 18 in El Salvador is divided into rival factions, the Revolutionaries and the Sure\u00f1os.<\/h3>\nThe gang also has a close relationship with the Mexican Mafia.\u00a0It is also known to have networks of lawyers, taxi drivers and mechanics as collaborators.\u00a0The gang\u2019s reliance on extortion and penchant for violence, however, puts it at odds with the local community.<\/h3>\nProspects<\/strong><\/h3>\nThe Barrio 18 has been operational for over 70 years. There is no reason to believe it won\u2019t be around for 70 more.<\/h3>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/figure>\nBagdad<\/a><\/h2>\n <\/p>\n
Bagdad, along with its rival Calor Calor, is one of Panama\u2019s two main gang federations, consisting of 30-40 smaller gangs that work together to fulfill drug transportation across Panama for larger transnational crime groups.<\/h3>\nHowever, the gangs that make up Bagdad do not have deep internal loyalty and often feud over microtrafficking in Panama City and other areas of the country.<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\nHistory<\/h3>\nBagdad\u2019s origins go back to the Uni\u00f3n Sovi\u00e9tica gang, itself a combination of smaller gangs named Bagdad, El Pent\u00e1gono and Matar o Morir (MOM). Led by Jorge Rub\u00e9n Camargo Clarke, alias \u201cCholo Chorrillo\u201d or \u201cEl Cholo,\u201d Bagdad became notorious \u201ctumbadores\u201d \u2014 gangs specialized in stealing drug shipments from trafficking groups. Bagdad was original based in El Chorrillo, while El Pent\u00e1gono operated in Santa Ana and MOM in Curund\u00fa, all neighborhoods of Panama City.<\/h3>\nUni\u00f3n Sovi\u00e9tica also extorted other criminal groups and fought to eliminate other gangs and tumbadores. Its enemies eventually rallied together to form \u201cCalor Calor,\u201d starting a rivalry that continues to this day.<\/h3>\nAfter the leaders of El Pent\u00e1gono and MOM were killed, Bagdad took over the federation and its name stuck.<\/h3>\nBagdad still engages in drug theft but the gang\u2019s main activities now consist of controlling territory for the movement and sale of drugs. According to the Panama Attorney General\u2019s Office, in 2021, Bagdad\u00a0charged<\/a>\u00a0between 5 to 10 percent of the price of cocaine shipments that they transported through the country. In 2014, InSight Crime research estimated the federation controlled over 50 percent of drug sales in Panama. Bagdad also provides services such as guarding shipments and contract killings, and engages in kidnapping and extortion. The gang recruits young people from about 14 years of age.<\/h3>\nBagdad and Calor Calor together were estimated to have more than 2,000 members in 2014.<\/h3>\nLeadership<\/h3>\nJorge Rub\u00e9n Camargo Clarke, alias \u201cCholo Chorrillo,\u201d was the notorious leader of the Uni\u00f3n Sovi\u00e9tica group and once ruled over Bagdad.<\/h3>\nThe current leader of Bagdad is Jaime Powell Rodriguez, alias \u201cYunya,\u201d who took over around 2016.<\/h3>\nAccording to InSight Crime field research, Yunya fancies himself a drug kingpin. He is known for being well-dressed and maintaining a public businessman persona, while actually using his\u00a0network of businesses<\/a>\u00a0in Spain to ship drugs to Europe and launder money, which he hides in Swiss bank accounts.<\/h3>\nIn 2018, Powell Rodriguez was\u00a0arrested in Dubai<\/a>\u00a0and extradited to Panama on charges of transnational drug trafficking but was\u00a0released<\/a>\u00a0in March 2019. In May 2020, Panamanian police were\u00a0searching<\/a>\u00a0for him once again.<\/h3>\nIn 2021, Camargo Clarke was out of jail once more and was one of the main\u00a0targets<\/a>\u00a0of Operation Neptune, a joint investigation into Bagdad by Panamanian authorities and the US Drug Enforcement Administration. He appeared to flee the country with other senior Bagdad commanders to avoid arrest.<\/h3>\nCamargo Clarke was\u00a0finally arrested<\/a>\u00a0in February 2022 in Costa Rica. He is awaiting extradition to the United States.<\/h3>\nGeography<\/h3>\nOriginally based in Panama City, Bagdad is now strongest across the canal in West Panama province, which borders with Panama City, Col\u00f3n and the Pacific Ocean. The violent territorial conflict between Bagdad and Calor Calor has expanded from Panama City into West Panama, where drug shipments enter and leave from La Chorrera coastal area.<\/h3>\nBagdad and Calor Calor members often live in close proximity.<\/h3>\nAllies and Enemies<\/h3>\nBagdad is made up of numerous youth gangs. Groups that have been described as allies of Bagdad include \u201cEl Pent\u00e1gono,\u201d \u201cVietnam 23,\u201d and \u201cNadie ta\u2019 Bien.\u201d Its main rival is Calor Calor, itself an agglomeration of groups.<\/h3>\nThe two organizations are the biggest criminal blocs in Panama and their rivalry centers around control of\u00a0strategically located ports<\/a>, shares of the international drug trade, especially the European market and over the personal rivalry between Yunya and the leader of Calor Calor, Eduardo Macea, alias Marshall.<\/h3>\nYunya and Marshall started out working together under Juan Vicente Blandford, alias El P\u00e1tron Juancito, but began fighting in 2014, when members of Calor Calor\u2019s structure moved to Bagdad. Yunya has the reputation of being the less violent of the two criminals, while Marshall has a reputation for ruthlessness. \u00a0El P\u00e1tron Juancito\u00a0was captured<\/a>\u00a0in 2019, but is, reportedly, still trying to unite the two from within prison.<\/h3>\nSince 2019, Bagdad has also had to deal with an\u00a0internal rift<\/a>, as one of its member-gangs, Matar o Morir (Kill or Be Killed \u2013 MOM) kept a shipment of drugs for themselves as a declaration of independence.<\/h3>\nIn December of 2019 Bagdad retaliated by orchestrating a\u00a0shootout in La Joyita<\/a>, one of Panama\u2019s largest high-security prisons. One group of prisoners opened fire on another, using high-caliber assault weapons and leaving 15 dead and 11 more injured.<\/h3>\nThe incident became known as the \u201cLa Joyita Massacre,\u201d and has set off a wave violence that both continues to\u00a0flare up<\/a>\u00a0in the La Joya prison complex, but which has also spilled into the\u00a0streets of Panama Oeste<\/a>\u00a0and caused homicides rates to skyrocket.<\/h3>\nSince then, Bagdad has drawn the\u00a0wrong kind of attention<\/a>\u00a0from the DEA, which has a long track record of dismantling drug gangs in Central America once they reach a certain size.<\/h3>\nProspects<\/h3>\nBagdad\u2019s operations in transnational drug trafficking have become more sophisticated and its role has changed from a subordinate to a subcontractor that brokers shipment of drugs for Colombian and Mexican groups through Panama and beyond, according to InSight Crime field research. Though Bagdad is likely to remain a middleman in the transnational drug trade, the business is lucrative, and the stakes are getting higher.<\/h3>\nBecause\u00a0there is more money<\/a>\u00a0to be made than when they were first formed Bagdad, as well as its rival Calor Calor, has\u00a0responded by consolidating<\/a>\u00a0power and upping the violence.<\/h3>\nHowever, the scale of violence involved in the La Joyita massacre may have marked a turning point. In April 2021, US and Panamanian authorities\u00a0carried<\/a>\u00a0out large-scale raids, targeting Bagdad leadership, after a year-long investigation, which involved tapping phones, identifying front businesses and money laundering techniques. It is uncertain how Bagdad will be able to stand up to such pressure.<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
According to my contacts these groups\/gangs are operating in some capacity here in the U.S. either as drug couriers, enforcers or in human trafficking. Most all of them are felons with violent records for murder, rape and assault. Stay Sharp and Know Your Enemy. Barrio 18 The 18th Street Gang, also known as…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[5150,2636,6896,2351,2717,13,74,3688,4892,7372,3986],"tags":[9740,16732,8490,7177,7984,7190,6949,5803,4090,3781],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70632"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70642,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632\/revisions\/70642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Leadership<\/strong><\/h3>\nAt the top are \u201cpalabreros,\u201d or \u201cleaders,\u201d most of whom are in the prison system. They coordinate all criminal activities. One palabrero keeps a notebook that keeps track of all finances, homicides, drugs, and weapons. There are also palabreros outside the prison system, aka, \u201cen la libre.\u201d<\/h3>\nOutside, the gang organizes itself in \u201ccanchas.\u201d A cancha is a territorial division that isn\u2019t necessarily based on municipal delineations. Each cancha has several \u201ctribus,\u201d or tribes, the smallest units of the Barrio 18 organization.<\/h3>\nFinally, there are collaborators: those who are not quite or never will be gang members. They help the gang with small jobs, like gathering intelligence, and moving or holding illicit goods.<\/h3>\nGeography<\/strong><\/h3>\nIn Central America, the gang operates mostly in\u00a0El Salvador<\/a>,\u00a0Guatemala<\/a>, and\u00a0Honduras<\/a>, where it is estimated to have over 16,000 members. But it is in the United States where it has its most defined presence:\u00a0an estimated 30,000 to 50,000 members.<\/a>\u00a0The group operates in dozens of cities across an estimated 20 states.<\/h3>\nMany of its members are located in California, but the Barrio 18 also has a presence in other western cities like Denver. Barrio 18 has also had a presence in Italy since the mid-2000s, and in September 2016 the arrest of an alleged Barrio 18 leader hinted at the gangs\u2019 desires to expand their presence in Europe.<\/h3>\nAllies and Enemies<\/strong><\/h3>\nThe Barrio 18 are fierce enemies with the MS13, and internal divisions among the group periodically flare into violence. The Barrio 18 in El Salvador is divided into rival factions, the Revolutionaries and the Sure\u00f1os.<\/h3>\nThe gang also has a close relationship with the Mexican Mafia.\u00a0It is also known to have networks of lawyers, taxi drivers and mechanics as collaborators.\u00a0The gang\u2019s reliance on extortion and penchant for violence, however, puts it at odds with the local community.<\/h3>\nProspects<\/strong><\/h3>\nThe Barrio 18 has been operational for over 70 years. There is no reason to believe it won\u2019t be around for 70 more.<\/h3>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/figure>\nBagdad<\/a><\/h2>\n <\/p>\n
Bagdad, along with its rival Calor Calor, is one of Panama\u2019s two main gang federations, consisting of 30-40 smaller gangs that work together to fulfill drug transportation across Panama for larger transnational crime groups.<\/h3>\nHowever, the gangs that make up Bagdad do not have deep internal loyalty and often feud over microtrafficking in Panama City and other areas of the country.<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\nHistory<\/h3>\nBagdad\u2019s origins go back to the Uni\u00f3n Sovi\u00e9tica gang, itself a combination of smaller gangs named Bagdad, El Pent\u00e1gono and Matar o Morir (MOM). Led by Jorge Rub\u00e9n Camargo Clarke, alias \u201cCholo Chorrillo\u201d or \u201cEl Cholo,\u201d Bagdad became notorious \u201ctumbadores\u201d \u2014 gangs specialized in stealing drug shipments from trafficking groups. Bagdad was original based in El Chorrillo, while El Pent\u00e1gono operated in Santa Ana and MOM in Curund\u00fa, all neighborhoods of Panama City.<\/h3>\nUni\u00f3n Sovi\u00e9tica also extorted other criminal groups and fought to eliminate other gangs and tumbadores. Its enemies eventually rallied together to form \u201cCalor Calor,\u201d starting a rivalry that continues to this day.<\/h3>\nAfter the leaders of El Pent\u00e1gono and MOM were killed, Bagdad took over the federation and its name stuck.<\/h3>\nBagdad still engages in drug theft but the gang\u2019s main activities now consist of controlling territory for the movement and sale of drugs. According to the Panama Attorney General\u2019s Office, in 2021, Bagdad\u00a0charged<\/a>\u00a0between 5 to 10 percent of the price of cocaine shipments that they transported through the country. In 2014, InSight Crime research estimated the federation controlled over 50 percent of drug sales in Panama. Bagdad also provides services such as guarding shipments and contract killings, and engages in kidnapping and extortion. The gang recruits young people from about 14 years of age.<\/h3>\nBagdad and Calor Calor together were estimated to have more than 2,000 members in 2014.<\/h3>\nLeadership<\/h3>\nJorge Rub\u00e9n Camargo Clarke, alias \u201cCholo Chorrillo,\u201d was the notorious leader of the Uni\u00f3n Sovi\u00e9tica group and once ruled over Bagdad.<\/h3>\nThe current leader of Bagdad is Jaime Powell Rodriguez, alias \u201cYunya,\u201d who took over around 2016.<\/h3>\nAccording to InSight Crime field research, Yunya fancies himself a drug kingpin. He is known for being well-dressed and maintaining a public businessman persona, while actually using his\u00a0network of businesses<\/a>\u00a0in Spain to ship drugs to Europe and launder money, which he hides in Swiss bank accounts.<\/h3>\nIn 2018, Powell Rodriguez was\u00a0arrested in Dubai<\/a>\u00a0and extradited to Panama on charges of transnational drug trafficking but was\u00a0released<\/a>\u00a0in March 2019. In May 2020, Panamanian police were\u00a0searching<\/a>\u00a0for him once again.<\/h3>\nIn 2021, Camargo Clarke was out of jail once more and was one of the main\u00a0targets<\/a>\u00a0of Operation Neptune, a joint investigation into Bagdad by Panamanian authorities and the US Drug Enforcement Administration. He appeared to flee the country with other senior Bagdad commanders to avoid arrest.<\/h3>\nCamargo Clarke was\u00a0finally arrested<\/a>\u00a0in February 2022 in Costa Rica. He is awaiting extradition to the United States.<\/h3>\nGeography<\/h3>\nOriginally based in Panama City, Bagdad is now strongest across the canal in West Panama province, which borders with Panama City, Col\u00f3n and the Pacific Ocean. The violent territorial conflict between Bagdad and Calor Calor has expanded from Panama City into West Panama, where drug shipments enter and leave from La Chorrera coastal area.<\/h3>\nBagdad and Calor Calor members often live in close proximity.<\/h3>\nAllies and Enemies<\/h3>\nBagdad is made up of numerous youth gangs. Groups that have been described as allies of Bagdad include \u201cEl Pent\u00e1gono,\u201d \u201cVietnam 23,\u201d and \u201cNadie ta\u2019 Bien.\u201d Its main rival is Calor Calor, itself an agglomeration of groups.<\/h3>\nThe two organizations are the biggest criminal blocs in Panama and their rivalry centers around control of\u00a0strategically located ports<\/a>, shares of the international drug trade, especially the European market and over the personal rivalry between Yunya and the leader of Calor Calor, Eduardo Macea, alias Marshall.<\/h3>\nYunya and Marshall started out working together under Juan Vicente Blandford, alias El P\u00e1tron Juancito, but began fighting in 2014, when members of Calor Calor\u2019s structure moved to Bagdad. Yunya has the reputation of being the less violent of the two criminals, while Marshall has a reputation for ruthlessness. \u00a0El P\u00e1tron Juancito\u00a0was captured<\/a>\u00a0in 2019, but is, reportedly, still trying to unite the two from within prison.<\/h3>\nSince 2019, Bagdad has also had to deal with an\u00a0internal rift<\/a>, as one of its member-gangs, Matar o Morir (Kill or Be Killed \u2013 MOM) kept a shipment of drugs for themselves as a declaration of independence.<\/h3>\nIn December of 2019 Bagdad retaliated by orchestrating a\u00a0shootout in La Joyita<\/a>, one of Panama\u2019s largest high-security prisons. One group of prisoners opened fire on another, using high-caliber assault weapons and leaving 15 dead and 11 more injured.<\/h3>\nThe incident became known as the \u201cLa Joyita Massacre,\u201d and has set off a wave violence that both continues to\u00a0flare up<\/a>\u00a0in the La Joya prison complex, but which has also spilled into the\u00a0streets of Panama Oeste<\/a>\u00a0and caused homicides rates to skyrocket.<\/h3>\nSince then, Bagdad has drawn the\u00a0wrong kind of attention<\/a>\u00a0from the DEA, which has a long track record of dismantling drug gangs in Central America once they reach a certain size.<\/h3>\nProspects<\/h3>\nBagdad\u2019s operations in transnational drug trafficking have become more sophisticated and its role has changed from a subordinate to a subcontractor that brokers shipment of drugs for Colombian and Mexican groups through Panama and beyond, according to InSight Crime field research. Though Bagdad is likely to remain a middleman in the transnational drug trade, the business is lucrative, and the stakes are getting higher.<\/h3>\nBecause\u00a0there is more money<\/a>\u00a0to be made than when they were first formed Bagdad, as well as its rival Calor Calor, has\u00a0responded by consolidating<\/a>\u00a0power and upping the violence.<\/h3>\nHowever, the scale of violence involved in the La Joyita massacre may have marked a turning point. In April 2021, US and Panamanian authorities\u00a0carried<\/a>\u00a0out large-scale raids, targeting Bagdad leadership, after a year-long investigation, which involved tapping phones, identifying front businesses and money laundering techniques. It is uncertain how Bagdad will be able to stand up to such pressure.<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
According to my contacts these groups\/gangs are operating in some capacity here in the U.S. either as drug couriers, enforcers or in human trafficking. Most all of them are felons with violent records for murder, rape and assault. Stay Sharp and Know Your Enemy. Barrio 18 The 18th Street Gang, also known as…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[5150,2636,6896,2351,2717,13,74,3688,4892,7372,3986],"tags":[9740,16732,8490,7177,7984,7190,6949,5803,4090,3781],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70632"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70642,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632\/revisions\/70642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Outside, the gang organizes itself in \u201ccanchas.\u201d A cancha is a territorial division that isn\u2019t necessarily based on municipal delineations. Each cancha has several \u201ctribus,\u201d or tribes, the smallest units of the Barrio 18 organization.<\/h3>\nFinally, there are collaborators: those who are not quite or never will be gang members. They help the gang with small jobs, like gathering intelligence, and moving or holding illicit goods.<\/h3>\nGeography<\/strong><\/h3>\nIn Central America, the gang operates mostly in\u00a0El Salvador<\/a>,\u00a0Guatemala<\/a>, and\u00a0Honduras<\/a>, where it is estimated to have over 16,000 members. But it is in the United States where it has its most defined presence:\u00a0an estimated 30,000 to 50,000 members.<\/a>\u00a0The group operates in dozens of cities across an estimated 20 states.<\/h3>\nMany of its members are located in California, but the Barrio 18 also has a presence in other western cities like Denver. Barrio 18 has also had a presence in Italy since the mid-2000s, and in September 2016 the arrest of an alleged Barrio 18 leader hinted at the gangs\u2019 desires to expand their presence in Europe.<\/h3>\nAllies and Enemies<\/strong><\/h3>\nThe Barrio 18 are fierce enemies with the MS13, and internal divisions among the group periodically flare into violence. The Barrio 18 in El Salvador is divided into rival factions, the Revolutionaries and the Sure\u00f1os.<\/h3>\nThe gang also has a close relationship with the Mexican Mafia.\u00a0It is also known to have networks of lawyers, taxi drivers and mechanics as collaborators.\u00a0The gang\u2019s reliance on extortion and penchant for violence, however, puts it at odds with the local community.<\/h3>\nProspects<\/strong><\/h3>\nThe Barrio 18 has been operational for over 70 years. There is no reason to believe it won\u2019t be around for 70 more.<\/h3>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/figure>\nBagdad<\/a><\/h2>\n <\/p>\n
Bagdad, along with its rival Calor Calor, is one of Panama\u2019s two main gang federations, consisting of 30-40 smaller gangs that work together to fulfill drug transportation across Panama for larger transnational crime groups.<\/h3>\nHowever, the gangs that make up Bagdad do not have deep internal loyalty and often feud over microtrafficking in Panama City and other areas of the country.<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\nHistory<\/h3>\nBagdad\u2019s origins go back to the Uni\u00f3n Sovi\u00e9tica gang, itself a combination of smaller gangs named Bagdad, El Pent\u00e1gono and Matar o Morir (MOM). Led by Jorge Rub\u00e9n Camargo Clarke, alias \u201cCholo Chorrillo\u201d or \u201cEl Cholo,\u201d Bagdad became notorious \u201ctumbadores\u201d \u2014 gangs specialized in stealing drug shipments from trafficking groups. Bagdad was original based in El Chorrillo, while El Pent\u00e1gono operated in Santa Ana and MOM in Curund\u00fa, all neighborhoods of Panama City.<\/h3>\nUni\u00f3n Sovi\u00e9tica also extorted other criminal groups and fought to eliminate other gangs and tumbadores. Its enemies eventually rallied together to form \u201cCalor Calor,\u201d starting a rivalry that continues to this day.<\/h3>\nAfter the leaders of El Pent\u00e1gono and MOM were killed, Bagdad took over the federation and its name stuck.<\/h3>\nBagdad still engages in drug theft but the gang\u2019s main activities now consist of controlling territory for the movement and sale of drugs. According to the Panama Attorney General\u2019s Office, in 2021, Bagdad\u00a0charged<\/a>\u00a0between 5 to 10 percent of the price of cocaine shipments that they transported through the country. In 2014, InSight Crime research estimated the federation controlled over 50 percent of drug sales in Panama. Bagdad also provides services such as guarding shipments and contract killings, and engages in kidnapping and extortion. The gang recruits young people from about 14 years of age.<\/h3>\nBagdad and Calor Calor together were estimated to have more than 2,000 members in 2014.<\/h3>\nLeadership<\/h3>\nJorge Rub\u00e9n Camargo Clarke, alias \u201cCholo Chorrillo,\u201d was the notorious leader of the Uni\u00f3n Sovi\u00e9tica group and once ruled over Bagdad.<\/h3>\nThe current leader of Bagdad is Jaime Powell Rodriguez, alias \u201cYunya,\u201d who took over around 2016.<\/h3>\nAccording to InSight Crime field research, Yunya fancies himself a drug kingpin. He is known for being well-dressed and maintaining a public businessman persona, while actually using his\u00a0network of businesses<\/a>\u00a0in Spain to ship drugs to Europe and launder money, which he hides in Swiss bank accounts.<\/h3>\nIn 2018, Powell Rodriguez was\u00a0arrested in Dubai<\/a>\u00a0and extradited to Panama on charges of transnational drug trafficking but was\u00a0released<\/a>\u00a0in March 2019. In May 2020, Panamanian police were\u00a0searching<\/a>\u00a0for him once again.<\/h3>\nIn 2021, Camargo Clarke was out of jail once more and was one of the main\u00a0targets<\/a>\u00a0of Operation Neptune, a joint investigation into Bagdad by Panamanian authorities and the US Drug Enforcement Administration. He appeared to flee the country with other senior Bagdad commanders to avoid arrest.<\/h3>\nCamargo Clarke was\u00a0finally arrested<\/a>\u00a0in February 2022 in Costa Rica. He is awaiting extradition to the United States.<\/h3>\nGeography<\/h3>\nOriginally based in Panama City, Bagdad is now strongest across the canal in West Panama province, which borders with Panama City, Col\u00f3n and the Pacific Ocean. The violent territorial conflict between Bagdad and Calor Calor has expanded from Panama City into West Panama, where drug shipments enter and leave from La Chorrera coastal area.<\/h3>\nBagdad and Calor Calor members often live in close proximity.<\/h3>\nAllies and Enemies<\/h3>\nBagdad is made up of numerous youth gangs. Groups that have been described as allies of Bagdad include \u201cEl Pent\u00e1gono,\u201d \u201cVietnam 23,\u201d and \u201cNadie ta\u2019 Bien.\u201d Its main rival is Calor Calor, itself an agglomeration of groups.<\/h3>\nThe two organizations are the biggest criminal blocs in Panama and their rivalry centers around control of\u00a0strategically located ports<\/a>, shares of the international drug trade, especially the European market and over the personal rivalry between Yunya and the leader of Calor Calor, Eduardo Macea, alias Marshall.<\/h3>\nYunya and Marshall started out working together under Juan Vicente Blandford, alias El P\u00e1tron Juancito, but began fighting in 2014, when members of Calor Calor\u2019s structure moved to Bagdad. Yunya has the reputation of being the less violent of the two criminals, while Marshall has a reputation for ruthlessness. \u00a0El P\u00e1tron Juancito\u00a0was captured<\/a>\u00a0in 2019, but is, reportedly, still trying to unite the two from within prison.<\/h3>\nSince 2019, Bagdad has also had to deal with an\u00a0internal rift<\/a>, as one of its member-gangs, Matar o Morir (Kill or Be Killed \u2013 MOM) kept a shipment of drugs for themselves as a declaration of independence.<\/h3>\nIn December of 2019 Bagdad retaliated by orchestrating a\u00a0shootout in La Joyita<\/a>, one of Panama\u2019s largest high-security prisons. One group of prisoners opened fire on another, using high-caliber assault weapons and leaving 15 dead and 11 more injured.<\/h3>\nThe incident became known as the \u201cLa Joyita Massacre,\u201d and has set off a wave violence that both continues to\u00a0flare up<\/a>\u00a0in the La Joya prison complex, but which has also spilled into the\u00a0streets of Panama Oeste<\/a>\u00a0and caused homicides rates to skyrocket.<\/h3>\nSince then, Bagdad has drawn the\u00a0wrong kind of attention<\/a>\u00a0from the DEA, which has a long track record of dismantling drug gangs in Central America once they reach a certain size.<\/h3>\nProspects<\/h3>\nBagdad\u2019s operations in transnational drug trafficking have become more sophisticated and its role has changed from a subordinate to a subcontractor that brokers shipment of drugs for Colombian and Mexican groups through Panama and beyond, according to InSight Crime field research. Though Bagdad is likely to remain a middleman in the transnational drug trade, the business is lucrative, and the stakes are getting higher.<\/h3>\nBecause\u00a0there is more money<\/a>\u00a0to be made than when they were first formed Bagdad, as well as its rival Calor Calor, has\u00a0responded by consolidating<\/a>\u00a0power and upping the violence.<\/h3>\nHowever, the scale of violence involved in the La Joyita massacre may have marked a turning point. In April 2021, US and Panamanian authorities\u00a0carried<\/a>\u00a0out large-scale raids, targeting Bagdad leadership, after a year-long investigation, which involved tapping phones, identifying front businesses and money laundering techniques. It is uncertain how Bagdad will be able to stand up to such pressure.<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
According to my contacts these groups\/gangs are operating in some capacity here in the U.S. either as drug couriers, enforcers or in human trafficking. Most all of them are felons with violent records for murder, rape and assault. Stay Sharp and Know Your Enemy. Barrio 18 The 18th Street Gang, also known as…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[5150,2636,6896,2351,2717,13,74,3688,4892,7372,3986],"tags":[9740,16732,8490,7177,7984,7190,6949,5803,4090,3781],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70632"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70642,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632\/revisions\/70642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Geography<\/strong><\/h3>\nIn Central America, the gang operates mostly in\u00a0El Salvador<\/a>,\u00a0Guatemala<\/a>, and\u00a0Honduras<\/a>, where it is estimated to have over 16,000 members. But it is in the United States where it has its most defined presence:\u00a0an estimated 30,000 to 50,000 members.<\/a>\u00a0The group operates in dozens of cities across an estimated 20 states.<\/h3>\nMany of its members are located in California, but the Barrio 18 also has a presence in other western cities like Denver. Barrio 18 has also had a presence in Italy since the mid-2000s, and in September 2016 the arrest of an alleged Barrio 18 leader hinted at the gangs\u2019 desires to expand their presence in Europe.<\/h3>\nAllies and Enemies<\/strong><\/h3>\nThe Barrio 18 are fierce enemies with the MS13, and internal divisions among the group periodically flare into violence. The Barrio 18 in El Salvador is divided into rival factions, the Revolutionaries and the Sure\u00f1os.<\/h3>\nThe gang also has a close relationship with the Mexican Mafia.\u00a0It is also known to have networks of lawyers, taxi drivers and mechanics as collaborators.\u00a0The gang\u2019s reliance on extortion and penchant for violence, however, puts it at odds with the local community.<\/h3>\nProspects<\/strong><\/h3>\nThe Barrio 18 has been operational for over 70 years. There is no reason to believe it won\u2019t be around for 70 more.<\/h3>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/figure>\nBagdad<\/a><\/h2>\n <\/p>\n
Bagdad, along with its rival Calor Calor, is one of Panama\u2019s two main gang federations, consisting of 30-40 smaller gangs that work together to fulfill drug transportation across Panama for larger transnational crime groups.<\/h3>\nHowever, the gangs that make up Bagdad do not have deep internal loyalty and often feud over microtrafficking in Panama City and other areas of the country.<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\nHistory<\/h3>\nBagdad\u2019s origins go back to the Uni\u00f3n Sovi\u00e9tica gang, itself a combination of smaller gangs named Bagdad, El Pent\u00e1gono and Matar o Morir (MOM). Led by Jorge Rub\u00e9n Camargo Clarke, alias \u201cCholo Chorrillo\u201d or \u201cEl Cholo,\u201d Bagdad became notorious \u201ctumbadores\u201d \u2014 gangs specialized in stealing drug shipments from trafficking groups. Bagdad was original based in El Chorrillo, while El Pent\u00e1gono operated in Santa Ana and MOM in Curund\u00fa, all neighborhoods of Panama City.<\/h3>\nUni\u00f3n Sovi\u00e9tica also extorted other criminal groups and fought to eliminate other gangs and tumbadores. Its enemies eventually rallied together to form \u201cCalor Calor,\u201d starting a rivalry that continues to this day.<\/h3>\nAfter the leaders of El Pent\u00e1gono and MOM were killed, Bagdad took over the federation and its name stuck.<\/h3>\nBagdad still engages in drug theft but the gang\u2019s main activities now consist of controlling territory for the movement and sale of drugs. According to the Panama Attorney General\u2019s Office, in 2021, Bagdad\u00a0charged<\/a>\u00a0between 5 to 10 percent of the price of cocaine shipments that they transported through the country. In 2014, InSight Crime research estimated the federation controlled over 50 percent of drug sales in Panama. Bagdad also provides services such as guarding shipments and contract killings, and engages in kidnapping and extortion. The gang recruits young people from about 14 years of age.<\/h3>\nBagdad and Calor Calor together were estimated to have more than 2,000 members in 2014.<\/h3>\nLeadership<\/h3>\nJorge Rub\u00e9n Camargo Clarke, alias \u201cCholo Chorrillo,\u201d was the notorious leader of the Uni\u00f3n Sovi\u00e9tica group and once ruled over Bagdad.<\/h3>\nThe current leader of Bagdad is Jaime Powell Rodriguez, alias \u201cYunya,\u201d who took over around 2016.<\/h3>\nAccording to InSight Crime field research, Yunya fancies himself a drug kingpin. He is known for being well-dressed and maintaining a public businessman persona, while actually using his\u00a0network of businesses<\/a>\u00a0in Spain to ship drugs to Europe and launder money, which he hides in Swiss bank accounts.<\/h3>\nIn 2018, Powell Rodriguez was\u00a0arrested in Dubai<\/a>\u00a0and extradited to Panama on charges of transnational drug trafficking but was\u00a0released<\/a>\u00a0in March 2019. In May 2020, Panamanian police were\u00a0searching<\/a>\u00a0for him once again.<\/h3>\nIn 2021, Camargo Clarke was out of jail once more and was one of the main\u00a0targets<\/a>\u00a0of Operation Neptune, a joint investigation into Bagdad by Panamanian authorities and the US Drug Enforcement Administration. He appeared to flee the country with other senior Bagdad commanders to avoid arrest.<\/h3>\nCamargo Clarke was\u00a0finally arrested<\/a>\u00a0in February 2022 in Costa Rica. He is awaiting extradition to the United States.<\/h3>\nGeography<\/h3>\nOriginally based in Panama City, Bagdad is now strongest across the canal in West Panama province, which borders with Panama City, Col\u00f3n and the Pacific Ocean. The violent territorial conflict between Bagdad and Calor Calor has expanded from Panama City into West Panama, where drug shipments enter and leave from La Chorrera coastal area.<\/h3>\nBagdad and Calor Calor members often live in close proximity.<\/h3>\nAllies and Enemies<\/h3>\nBagdad is made up of numerous youth gangs. Groups that have been described as allies of Bagdad include \u201cEl Pent\u00e1gono,\u201d \u201cVietnam 23,\u201d and \u201cNadie ta\u2019 Bien.\u201d Its main rival is Calor Calor, itself an agglomeration of groups.<\/h3>\nThe two organizations are the biggest criminal blocs in Panama and their rivalry centers around control of\u00a0strategically located ports<\/a>, shares of the international drug trade, especially the European market and over the personal rivalry between Yunya and the leader of Calor Calor, Eduardo Macea, alias Marshall.<\/h3>\nYunya and Marshall started out working together under Juan Vicente Blandford, alias El P\u00e1tron Juancito, but began fighting in 2014, when members of Calor Calor\u2019s structure moved to Bagdad. Yunya has the reputation of being the less violent of the two criminals, while Marshall has a reputation for ruthlessness. \u00a0El P\u00e1tron Juancito\u00a0was captured<\/a>\u00a0in 2019, but is, reportedly, still trying to unite the two from within prison.<\/h3>\nSince 2019, Bagdad has also had to deal with an\u00a0internal rift<\/a>, as one of its member-gangs, Matar o Morir (Kill or Be Killed \u2013 MOM) kept a shipment of drugs for themselves as a declaration of independence.<\/h3>\nIn December of 2019 Bagdad retaliated by orchestrating a\u00a0shootout in La Joyita<\/a>, one of Panama\u2019s largest high-security prisons. One group of prisoners opened fire on another, using high-caliber assault weapons and leaving 15 dead and 11 more injured.<\/h3>\nThe incident became known as the \u201cLa Joyita Massacre,\u201d and has set off a wave violence that both continues to\u00a0flare up<\/a>\u00a0in the La Joya prison complex, but which has also spilled into the\u00a0streets of Panama Oeste<\/a>\u00a0and caused homicides rates to skyrocket.<\/h3>\nSince then, Bagdad has drawn the\u00a0wrong kind of attention<\/a>\u00a0from the DEA, which has a long track record of dismantling drug gangs in Central America once they reach a certain size.<\/h3>\nProspects<\/h3>\nBagdad\u2019s operations in transnational drug trafficking have become more sophisticated and its role has changed from a subordinate to a subcontractor that brokers shipment of drugs for Colombian and Mexican groups through Panama and beyond, according to InSight Crime field research. Though Bagdad is likely to remain a middleman in the transnational drug trade, the business is lucrative, and the stakes are getting higher.<\/h3>\nBecause\u00a0there is more money<\/a>\u00a0to be made than when they were first formed Bagdad, as well as its rival Calor Calor, has\u00a0responded by consolidating<\/a>\u00a0power and upping the violence.<\/h3>\nHowever, the scale of violence involved in the La Joyita massacre may have marked a turning point. In April 2021, US and Panamanian authorities\u00a0carried<\/a>\u00a0out large-scale raids, targeting Bagdad leadership, after a year-long investigation, which involved tapping phones, identifying front businesses and money laundering techniques. It is uncertain how Bagdad will be able to stand up to such pressure.<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
According to my contacts these groups\/gangs are operating in some capacity here in the U.S. either as drug couriers, enforcers or in human trafficking. Most all of them are felons with violent records for murder, rape and assault. Stay Sharp and Know Your Enemy. Barrio 18 The 18th Street Gang, also known as…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[5150,2636,6896,2351,2717,13,74,3688,4892,7372,3986],"tags":[9740,16732,8490,7177,7984,7190,6949,5803,4090,3781],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70632"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70642,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632\/revisions\/70642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Many of its members are located in California, but the Barrio 18 also has a presence in other western cities like Denver. Barrio 18 has also had a presence in Italy since the mid-2000s, and in September 2016 the arrest of an alleged Barrio 18 leader hinted at the gangs\u2019 desires to expand their presence in Europe.<\/h3>\nAllies and Enemies<\/strong><\/h3>\nThe Barrio 18 are fierce enemies with the MS13, and internal divisions among the group periodically flare into violence. The Barrio 18 in El Salvador is divided into rival factions, the Revolutionaries and the Sure\u00f1os.<\/h3>\nThe gang also has a close relationship with the Mexican Mafia.\u00a0It is also known to have networks of lawyers, taxi drivers and mechanics as collaborators.\u00a0The gang\u2019s reliance on extortion and penchant for violence, however, puts it at odds with the local community.<\/h3>\nProspects<\/strong><\/h3>\nThe Barrio 18 has been operational for over 70 years. There is no reason to believe it won\u2019t be around for 70 more.<\/h3>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/figure>\nBagdad<\/a><\/h2>\n <\/p>\n
Bagdad, along with its rival Calor Calor, is one of Panama\u2019s two main gang federations, consisting of 30-40 smaller gangs that work together to fulfill drug transportation across Panama for larger transnational crime groups.<\/h3>\nHowever, the gangs that make up Bagdad do not have deep internal loyalty and often feud over microtrafficking in Panama City and other areas of the country.<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\nHistory<\/h3>\nBagdad\u2019s origins go back to the Uni\u00f3n Sovi\u00e9tica gang, itself a combination of smaller gangs named Bagdad, El Pent\u00e1gono and Matar o Morir (MOM). Led by Jorge Rub\u00e9n Camargo Clarke, alias \u201cCholo Chorrillo\u201d or \u201cEl Cholo,\u201d Bagdad became notorious \u201ctumbadores\u201d \u2014 gangs specialized in stealing drug shipments from trafficking groups. Bagdad was original based in El Chorrillo, while El Pent\u00e1gono operated in Santa Ana and MOM in Curund\u00fa, all neighborhoods of Panama City.<\/h3>\nUni\u00f3n Sovi\u00e9tica also extorted other criminal groups and fought to eliminate other gangs and tumbadores. Its enemies eventually rallied together to form \u201cCalor Calor,\u201d starting a rivalry that continues to this day.<\/h3>\nAfter the leaders of El Pent\u00e1gono and MOM were killed, Bagdad took over the federation and its name stuck.<\/h3>\nBagdad still engages in drug theft but the gang\u2019s main activities now consist of controlling territory for the movement and sale of drugs. According to the Panama Attorney General\u2019s Office, in 2021, Bagdad\u00a0charged<\/a>\u00a0between 5 to 10 percent of the price of cocaine shipments that they transported through the country. In 2014, InSight Crime research estimated the federation controlled over 50 percent of drug sales in Panama. Bagdad also provides services such as guarding shipments and contract killings, and engages in kidnapping and extortion. The gang recruits young people from about 14 years of age.<\/h3>\nBagdad and Calor Calor together were estimated to have more than 2,000 members in 2014.<\/h3>\nLeadership<\/h3>\nJorge Rub\u00e9n Camargo Clarke, alias \u201cCholo Chorrillo,\u201d was the notorious leader of the Uni\u00f3n Sovi\u00e9tica group and once ruled over Bagdad.<\/h3>\nThe current leader of Bagdad is Jaime Powell Rodriguez, alias \u201cYunya,\u201d who took over around 2016.<\/h3>\nAccording to InSight Crime field research, Yunya fancies himself a drug kingpin. He is known for being well-dressed and maintaining a public businessman persona, while actually using his\u00a0network of businesses<\/a>\u00a0in Spain to ship drugs to Europe and launder money, which he hides in Swiss bank accounts.<\/h3>\nIn 2018, Powell Rodriguez was\u00a0arrested in Dubai<\/a>\u00a0and extradited to Panama on charges of transnational drug trafficking but was\u00a0released<\/a>\u00a0in March 2019. In May 2020, Panamanian police were\u00a0searching<\/a>\u00a0for him once again.<\/h3>\nIn 2021, Camargo Clarke was out of jail once more and was one of the main\u00a0targets<\/a>\u00a0of Operation Neptune, a joint investigation into Bagdad by Panamanian authorities and the US Drug Enforcement Administration. He appeared to flee the country with other senior Bagdad commanders to avoid arrest.<\/h3>\nCamargo Clarke was\u00a0finally arrested<\/a>\u00a0in February 2022 in Costa Rica. He is awaiting extradition to the United States.<\/h3>\nGeography<\/h3>\nOriginally based in Panama City, Bagdad is now strongest across the canal in West Panama province, which borders with Panama City, Col\u00f3n and the Pacific Ocean. The violent territorial conflict between Bagdad and Calor Calor has expanded from Panama City into West Panama, where drug shipments enter and leave from La Chorrera coastal area.<\/h3>\nBagdad and Calor Calor members often live in close proximity.<\/h3>\nAllies and Enemies<\/h3>\nBagdad is made up of numerous youth gangs. Groups that have been described as allies of Bagdad include \u201cEl Pent\u00e1gono,\u201d \u201cVietnam 23,\u201d and \u201cNadie ta\u2019 Bien.\u201d Its main rival is Calor Calor, itself an agglomeration of groups.<\/h3>\nThe two organizations are the biggest criminal blocs in Panama and their rivalry centers around control of\u00a0strategically located ports<\/a>, shares of the international drug trade, especially the European market and over the personal rivalry between Yunya and the leader of Calor Calor, Eduardo Macea, alias Marshall.<\/h3>\nYunya and Marshall started out working together under Juan Vicente Blandford, alias El P\u00e1tron Juancito, but began fighting in 2014, when members of Calor Calor\u2019s structure moved to Bagdad. Yunya has the reputation of being the less violent of the two criminals, while Marshall has a reputation for ruthlessness. \u00a0El P\u00e1tron Juancito\u00a0was captured<\/a>\u00a0in 2019, but is, reportedly, still trying to unite the two from within prison.<\/h3>\nSince 2019, Bagdad has also had to deal with an\u00a0internal rift<\/a>, as one of its member-gangs, Matar o Morir (Kill or Be Killed \u2013 MOM) kept a shipment of drugs for themselves as a declaration of independence.<\/h3>\nIn December of 2019 Bagdad retaliated by orchestrating a\u00a0shootout in La Joyita<\/a>, one of Panama\u2019s largest high-security prisons. One group of prisoners opened fire on another, using high-caliber assault weapons and leaving 15 dead and 11 more injured.<\/h3>\nThe incident became known as the \u201cLa Joyita Massacre,\u201d and has set off a wave violence that both continues to\u00a0flare up<\/a>\u00a0in the La Joya prison complex, but which has also spilled into the\u00a0streets of Panama Oeste<\/a>\u00a0and caused homicides rates to skyrocket.<\/h3>\nSince then, Bagdad has drawn the\u00a0wrong kind of attention<\/a>\u00a0from the DEA, which has a long track record of dismantling drug gangs in Central America once they reach a certain size.<\/h3>\nProspects<\/h3>\nBagdad\u2019s operations in transnational drug trafficking have become more sophisticated and its role has changed from a subordinate to a subcontractor that brokers shipment of drugs for Colombian and Mexican groups through Panama and beyond, according to InSight Crime field research. Though Bagdad is likely to remain a middleman in the transnational drug trade, the business is lucrative, and the stakes are getting higher.<\/h3>\nBecause\u00a0there is more money<\/a>\u00a0to be made than when they were first formed Bagdad, as well as its rival Calor Calor, has\u00a0responded by consolidating<\/a>\u00a0power and upping the violence.<\/h3>\nHowever, the scale of violence involved in the La Joyita massacre may have marked a turning point. In April 2021, US and Panamanian authorities\u00a0carried<\/a>\u00a0out large-scale raids, targeting Bagdad leadership, after a year-long investigation, which involved tapping phones, identifying front businesses and money laundering techniques. It is uncertain how Bagdad will be able to stand up to such pressure.<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
According to my contacts these groups\/gangs are operating in some capacity here in the U.S. either as drug couriers, enforcers or in human trafficking. Most all of them are felons with violent records for murder, rape and assault. Stay Sharp and Know Your Enemy. Barrio 18 The 18th Street Gang, also known as…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[5150,2636,6896,2351,2717,13,74,3688,4892,7372,3986],"tags":[9740,16732,8490,7177,7984,7190,6949,5803,4090,3781],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70632"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70642,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632\/revisions\/70642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
The Barrio 18 are fierce enemies with the MS13, and internal divisions among the group periodically flare into violence. The Barrio 18 in El Salvador is divided into rival factions, the Revolutionaries and the Sure\u00f1os.<\/h3>\nThe gang also has a close relationship with the Mexican Mafia.\u00a0It is also known to have networks of lawyers, taxi drivers and mechanics as collaborators.\u00a0The gang\u2019s reliance on extortion and penchant for violence, however, puts it at odds with the local community.<\/h3>\nProspects<\/strong><\/h3>\nThe Barrio 18 has been operational for over 70 years. There is no reason to believe it won\u2019t be around for 70 more.<\/h3>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/figure>\nBagdad<\/a><\/h2>\n <\/p>\n
Bagdad, along with its rival Calor Calor, is one of Panama\u2019s two main gang federations, consisting of 30-40 smaller gangs that work together to fulfill drug transportation across Panama for larger transnational crime groups.<\/h3>\nHowever, the gangs that make up Bagdad do not have deep internal loyalty and often feud over microtrafficking in Panama City and other areas of the country.<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\nHistory<\/h3>\nBagdad\u2019s origins go back to the Uni\u00f3n Sovi\u00e9tica gang, itself a combination of smaller gangs named Bagdad, El Pent\u00e1gono and Matar o Morir (MOM). Led by Jorge Rub\u00e9n Camargo Clarke, alias \u201cCholo Chorrillo\u201d or \u201cEl Cholo,\u201d Bagdad became notorious \u201ctumbadores\u201d \u2014 gangs specialized in stealing drug shipments from trafficking groups. Bagdad was original based in El Chorrillo, while El Pent\u00e1gono operated in Santa Ana and MOM in Curund\u00fa, all neighborhoods of Panama City.<\/h3>\nUni\u00f3n Sovi\u00e9tica also extorted other criminal groups and fought to eliminate other gangs and tumbadores. Its enemies eventually rallied together to form \u201cCalor Calor,\u201d starting a rivalry that continues to this day.<\/h3>\nAfter the leaders of El Pent\u00e1gono and MOM were killed, Bagdad took over the federation and its name stuck.<\/h3>\nBagdad still engages in drug theft but the gang\u2019s main activities now consist of controlling territory for the movement and sale of drugs. According to the Panama Attorney General\u2019s Office, in 2021, Bagdad\u00a0charged<\/a>\u00a0between 5 to 10 percent of the price of cocaine shipments that they transported through the country. In 2014, InSight Crime research estimated the federation controlled over 50 percent of drug sales in Panama. Bagdad also provides services such as guarding shipments and contract killings, and engages in kidnapping and extortion. The gang recruits young people from about 14 years of age.<\/h3>\nBagdad and Calor Calor together were estimated to have more than 2,000 members in 2014.<\/h3>\nLeadership<\/h3>\nJorge Rub\u00e9n Camargo Clarke, alias \u201cCholo Chorrillo,\u201d was the notorious leader of the Uni\u00f3n Sovi\u00e9tica group and once ruled over Bagdad.<\/h3>\nThe current leader of Bagdad is Jaime Powell Rodriguez, alias \u201cYunya,\u201d who took over around 2016.<\/h3>\nAccording to InSight Crime field research, Yunya fancies himself a drug kingpin. He is known for being well-dressed and maintaining a public businessman persona, while actually using his\u00a0network of businesses<\/a>\u00a0in Spain to ship drugs to Europe and launder money, which he hides in Swiss bank accounts.<\/h3>\nIn 2018, Powell Rodriguez was\u00a0arrested in Dubai<\/a>\u00a0and extradited to Panama on charges of transnational drug trafficking but was\u00a0released<\/a>\u00a0in March 2019. In May 2020, Panamanian police were\u00a0searching<\/a>\u00a0for him once again.<\/h3>\nIn 2021, Camargo Clarke was out of jail once more and was one of the main\u00a0targets<\/a>\u00a0of Operation Neptune, a joint investigation into Bagdad by Panamanian authorities and the US Drug Enforcement Administration. He appeared to flee the country with other senior Bagdad commanders to avoid arrest.<\/h3>\nCamargo Clarke was\u00a0finally arrested<\/a>\u00a0in February 2022 in Costa Rica. He is awaiting extradition to the United States.<\/h3>\nGeography<\/h3>\nOriginally based in Panama City, Bagdad is now strongest across the canal in West Panama province, which borders with Panama City, Col\u00f3n and the Pacific Ocean. The violent territorial conflict between Bagdad and Calor Calor has expanded from Panama City into West Panama, where drug shipments enter and leave from La Chorrera coastal area.<\/h3>\nBagdad and Calor Calor members often live in close proximity.<\/h3>\nAllies and Enemies<\/h3>\nBagdad is made up of numerous youth gangs. Groups that have been described as allies of Bagdad include \u201cEl Pent\u00e1gono,\u201d \u201cVietnam 23,\u201d and \u201cNadie ta\u2019 Bien.\u201d Its main rival is Calor Calor, itself an agglomeration of groups.<\/h3>\nThe two organizations are the biggest criminal blocs in Panama and their rivalry centers around control of\u00a0strategically located ports<\/a>, shares of the international drug trade, especially the European market and over the personal rivalry between Yunya and the leader of Calor Calor, Eduardo Macea, alias Marshall.<\/h3>\nYunya and Marshall started out working together under Juan Vicente Blandford, alias El P\u00e1tron Juancito, but began fighting in 2014, when members of Calor Calor\u2019s structure moved to Bagdad. Yunya has the reputation of being the less violent of the two criminals, while Marshall has a reputation for ruthlessness. \u00a0El P\u00e1tron Juancito\u00a0was captured<\/a>\u00a0in 2019, but is, reportedly, still trying to unite the two from within prison.<\/h3>\nSince 2019, Bagdad has also had to deal with an\u00a0internal rift<\/a>, as one of its member-gangs, Matar o Morir (Kill or Be Killed \u2013 MOM) kept a shipment of drugs for themselves as a declaration of independence.<\/h3>\nIn December of 2019 Bagdad retaliated by orchestrating a\u00a0shootout in La Joyita<\/a>, one of Panama\u2019s largest high-security prisons. One group of prisoners opened fire on another, using high-caliber assault weapons and leaving 15 dead and 11 more injured.<\/h3>\nThe incident became known as the \u201cLa Joyita Massacre,\u201d and has set off a wave violence that both continues to\u00a0flare up<\/a>\u00a0in the La Joya prison complex, but which has also spilled into the\u00a0streets of Panama Oeste<\/a>\u00a0and caused homicides rates to skyrocket.<\/h3>\nSince then, Bagdad has drawn the\u00a0wrong kind of attention<\/a>\u00a0from the DEA, which has a long track record of dismantling drug gangs in Central America once they reach a certain size.<\/h3>\nProspects<\/h3>\nBagdad\u2019s operations in transnational drug trafficking have become more sophisticated and its role has changed from a subordinate to a subcontractor that brokers shipment of drugs for Colombian and Mexican groups through Panama and beyond, according to InSight Crime field research. Though Bagdad is likely to remain a middleman in the transnational drug trade, the business is lucrative, and the stakes are getting higher.<\/h3>\nBecause\u00a0there is more money<\/a>\u00a0to be made than when they were first formed Bagdad, as well as its rival Calor Calor, has\u00a0responded by consolidating<\/a>\u00a0power and upping the violence.<\/h3>\nHowever, the scale of violence involved in the La Joyita massacre may have marked a turning point. In April 2021, US and Panamanian authorities\u00a0carried<\/a>\u00a0out large-scale raids, targeting Bagdad leadership, after a year-long investigation, which involved tapping phones, identifying front businesses and money laundering techniques. It is uncertain how Bagdad will be able to stand up to such pressure.<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
According to my contacts these groups\/gangs are operating in some capacity here in the U.S. either as drug couriers, enforcers or in human trafficking. Most all of them are felons with violent records for murder, rape and assault. Stay Sharp and Know Your Enemy. Barrio 18 The 18th Street Gang, also known as…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[5150,2636,6896,2351,2717,13,74,3688,4892,7372,3986],"tags":[9740,16732,8490,7177,7984,7190,6949,5803,4090,3781],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70632"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70642,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632\/revisions\/70642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Prospects<\/strong><\/h3>\nThe Barrio 18 has been operational for over 70 years. There is no reason to believe it won\u2019t be around for 70 more.<\/h3>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/figure>\nBagdad<\/a><\/h2>\n <\/p>\n
Bagdad, along with its rival Calor Calor, is one of Panama\u2019s two main gang federations, consisting of 30-40 smaller gangs that work together to fulfill drug transportation across Panama for larger transnational crime groups.<\/h3>\nHowever, the gangs that make up Bagdad do not have deep internal loyalty and often feud over microtrafficking in Panama City and other areas of the country.<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\nHistory<\/h3>\nBagdad\u2019s origins go back to the Uni\u00f3n Sovi\u00e9tica gang, itself a combination of smaller gangs named Bagdad, El Pent\u00e1gono and Matar o Morir (MOM). Led by Jorge Rub\u00e9n Camargo Clarke, alias \u201cCholo Chorrillo\u201d or \u201cEl Cholo,\u201d Bagdad became notorious \u201ctumbadores\u201d \u2014 gangs specialized in stealing drug shipments from trafficking groups. Bagdad was original based in El Chorrillo, while El Pent\u00e1gono operated in Santa Ana and MOM in Curund\u00fa, all neighborhoods of Panama City.<\/h3>\nUni\u00f3n Sovi\u00e9tica also extorted other criminal groups and fought to eliminate other gangs and tumbadores. Its enemies eventually rallied together to form \u201cCalor Calor,\u201d starting a rivalry that continues to this day.<\/h3>\nAfter the leaders of El Pent\u00e1gono and MOM were killed, Bagdad took over the federation and its name stuck.<\/h3>\nBagdad still engages in drug theft but the gang\u2019s main activities now consist of controlling territory for the movement and sale of drugs. According to the Panama Attorney General\u2019s Office, in 2021, Bagdad\u00a0charged<\/a>\u00a0between 5 to 10 percent of the price of cocaine shipments that they transported through the country. In 2014, InSight Crime research estimated the federation controlled over 50 percent of drug sales in Panama. Bagdad also provides services such as guarding shipments and contract killings, and engages in kidnapping and extortion. The gang recruits young people from about 14 years of age.<\/h3>\nBagdad and Calor Calor together were estimated to have more than 2,000 members in 2014.<\/h3>\nLeadership<\/h3>\nJorge Rub\u00e9n Camargo Clarke, alias \u201cCholo Chorrillo,\u201d was the notorious leader of the Uni\u00f3n Sovi\u00e9tica group and once ruled over Bagdad.<\/h3>\nThe current leader of Bagdad is Jaime Powell Rodriguez, alias \u201cYunya,\u201d who took over around 2016.<\/h3>\nAccording to InSight Crime field research, Yunya fancies himself a drug kingpin. He is known for being well-dressed and maintaining a public businessman persona, while actually using his\u00a0network of businesses<\/a>\u00a0in Spain to ship drugs to Europe and launder money, which he hides in Swiss bank accounts.<\/h3>\nIn 2018, Powell Rodriguez was\u00a0arrested in Dubai<\/a>\u00a0and extradited to Panama on charges of transnational drug trafficking but was\u00a0released<\/a>\u00a0in March 2019. In May 2020, Panamanian police were\u00a0searching<\/a>\u00a0for him once again.<\/h3>\nIn 2021, Camargo Clarke was out of jail once more and was one of the main\u00a0targets<\/a>\u00a0of Operation Neptune, a joint investigation into Bagdad by Panamanian authorities and the US Drug Enforcement Administration. He appeared to flee the country with other senior Bagdad commanders to avoid arrest.<\/h3>\nCamargo Clarke was\u00a0finally arrested<\/a>\u00a0in February 2022 in Costa Rica. He is awaiting extradition to the United States.<\/h3>\nGeography<\/h3>\nOriginally based in Panama City, Bagdad is now strongest across the canal in West Panama province, which borders with Panama City, Col\u00f3n and the Pacific Ocean. The violent territorial conflict between Bagdad and Calor Calor has expanded from Panama City into West Panama, where drug shipments enter and leave from La Chorrera coastal area.<\/h3>\nBagdad and Calor Calor members often live in close proximity.<\/h3>\nAllies and Enemies<\/h3>\nBagdad is made up of numerous youth gangs. Groups that have been described as allies of Bagdad include \u201cEl Pent\u00e1gono,\u201d \u201cVietnam 23,\u201d and \u201cNadie ta\u2019 Bien.\u201d Its main rival is Calor Calor, itself an agglomeration of groups.<\/h3>\nThe two organizations are the biggest criminal blocs in Panama and their rivalry centers around control of\u00a0strategically located ports<\/a>, shares of the international drug trade, especially the European market and over the personal rivalry between Yunya and the leader of Calor Calor, Eduardo Macea, alias Marshall.<\/h3>\nYunya and Marshall started out working together under Juan Vicente Blandford, alias El P\u00e1tron Juancito, but began fighting in 2014, when members of Calor Calor\u2019s structure moved to Bagdad. Yunya has the reputation of being the less violent of the two criminals, while Marshall has a reputation for ruthlessness. \u00a0El P\u00e1tron Juancito\u00a0was captured<\/a>\u00a0in 2019, but is, reportedly, still trying to unite the two from within prison.<\/h3>\nSince 2019, Bagdad has also had to deal with an\u00a0internal rift<\/a>, as one of its member-gangs, Matar o Morir (Kill or Be Killed \u2013 MOM) kept a shipment of drugs for themselves as a declaration of independence.<\/h3>\nIn December of 2019 Bagdad retaliated by orchestrating a\u00a0shootout in La Joyita<\/a>, one of Panama\u2019s largest high-security prisons. One group of prisoners opened fire on another, using high-caliber assault weapons and leaving 15 dead and 11 more injured.<\/h3>\nThe incident became known as the \u201cLa Joyita Massacre,\u201d and has set off a wave violence that both continues to\u00a0flare up<\/a>\u00a0in the La Joya prison complex, but which has also spilled into the\u00a0streets of Panama Oeste<\/a>\u00a0and caused homicides rates to skyrocket.<\/h3>\nSince then, Bagdad has drawn the\u00a0wrong kind of attention<\/a>\u00a0from the DEA, which has a long track record of dismantling drug gangs in Central America once they reach a certain size.<\/h3>\nProspects<\/h3>\nBagdad\u2019s operations in transnational drug trafficking have become more sophisticated and its role has changed from a subordinate to a subcontractor that brokers shipment of drugs for Colombian and Mexican groups through Panama and beyond, according to InSight Crime field research. Though Bagdad is likely to remain a middleman in the transnational drug trade, the business is lucrative, and the stakes are getting higher.<\/h3>\nBecause\u00a0there is more money<\/a>\u00a0to be made than when they were first formed Bagdad, as well as its rival Calor Calor, has\u00a0responded by consolidating<\/a>\u00a0power and upping the violence.<\/h3>\nHowever, the scale of violence involved in the La Joyita massacre may have marked a turning point. In April 2021, US and Panamanian authorities\u00a0carried<\/a>\u00a0out large-scale raids, targeting Bagdad leadership, after a year-long investigation, which involved tapping phones, identifying front businesses and money laundering techniques. It is uncertain how Bagdad will be able to stand up to such pressure.<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
According to my contacts these groups\/gangs are operating in some capacity here in the U.S. either as drug couriers, enforcers or in human trafficking. Most all of them are felons with violent records for murder, rape and assault. Stay Sharp and Know Your Enemy. Barrio 18 The 18th Street Gang, also known as…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[5150,2636,6896,2351,2717,13,74,3688,4892,7372,3986],"tags":[9740,16732,8490,7177,7984,7190,6949,5803,4090,3781],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70632"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70642,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632\/revisions\/70642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
<\/figure>\nBagdad<\/a><\/h2>\n <\/p>\n
Bagdad, along with its rival Calor Calor, is one of Panama\u2019s two main gang federations, consisting of 30-40 smaller gangs that work together to fulfill drug transportation across Panama for larger transnational crime groups.<\/h3>\nHowever, the gangs that make up Bagdad do not have deep internal loyalty and often feud over microtrafficking in Panama City and other areas of the country.<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\nHistory<\/h3>\nBagdad\u2019s origins go back to the Uni\u00f3n Sovi\u00e9tica gang, itself a combination of smaller gangs named Bagdad, El Pent\u00e1gono and Matar o Morir (MOM). Led by Jorge Rub\u00e9n Camargo Clarke, alias \u201cCholo Chorrillo\u201d or \u201cEl Cholo,\u201d Bagdad became notorious \u201ctumbadores\u201d \u2014 gangs specialized in stealing drug shipments from trafficking groups. Bagdad was original based in El Chorrillo, while El Pent\u00e1gono operated in Santa Ana and MOM in Curund\u00fa, all neighborhoods of Panama City.<\/h3>\nUni\u00f3n Sovi\u00e9tica also extorted other criminal groups and fought to eliminate other gangs and tumbadores. Its enemies eventually rallied together to form \u201cCalor Calor,\u201d starting a rivalry that continues to this day.<\/h3>\nAfter the leaders of El Pent\u00e1gono and MOM were killed, Bagdad took over the federation and its name stuck.<\/h3>\nBagdad still engages in drug theft but the gang\u2019s main activities now consist of controlling territory for the movement and sale of drugs. According to the Panama Attorney General\u2019s Office, in 2021, Bagdad\u00a0charged<\/a>\u00a0between 5 to 10 percent of the price of cocaine shipments that they transported through the country. In 2014, InSight Crime research estimated the federation controlled over 50 percent of drug sales in Panama. Bagdad also provides services such as guarding shipments and contract killings, and engages in kidnapping and extortion. The gang recruits young people from about 14 years of age.<\/h3>\nBagdad and Calor Calor together were estimated to have more than 2,000 members in 2014.<\/h3>\nLeadership<\/h3>\nJorge Rub\u00e9n Camargo Clarke, alias \u201cCholo Chorrillo,\u201d was the notorious leader of the Uni\u00f3n Sovi\u00e9tica group and once ruled over Bagdad.<\/h3>\nThe current leader of Bagdad is Jaime Powell Rodriguez, alias \u201cYunya,\u201d who took over around 2016.<\/h3>\nAccording to InSight Crime field research, Yunya fancies himself a drug kingpin. He is known for being well-dressed and maintaining a public businessman persona, while actually using his\u00a0network of businesses<\/a>\u00a0in Spain to ship drugs to Europe and launder money, which he hides in Swiss bank accounts.<\/h3>\nIn 2018, Powell Rodriguez was\u00a0arrested in Dubai<\/a>\u00a0and extradited to Panama on charges of transnational drug trafficking but was\u00a0released<\/a>\u00a0in March 2019. In May 2020, Panamanian police were\u00a0searching<\/a>\u00a0for him once again.<\/h3>\nIn 2021, Camargo Clarke was out of jail once more and was one of the main\u00a0targets<\/a>\u00a0of Operation Neptune, a joint investigation into Bagdad by Panamanian authorities and the US Drug Enforcement Administration. He appeared to flee the country with other senior Bagdad commanders to avoid arrest.<\/h3>\nCamargo Clarke was\u00a0finally arrested<\/a>\u00a0in February 2022 in Costa Rica. He is awaiting extradition to the United States.<\/h3>\nGeography<\/h3>\nOriginally based in Panama City, Bagdad is now strongest across the canal in West Panama province, which borders with Panama City, Col\u00f3n and the Pacific Ocean. The violent territorial conflict between Bagdad and Calor Calor has expanded from Panama City into West Panama, where drug shipments enter and leave from La Chorrera coastal area.<\/h3>\nBagdad and Calor Calor members often live in close proximity.<\/h3>\nAllies and Enemies<\/h3>\nBagdad is made up of numerous youth gangs. Groups that have been described as allies of Bagdad include \u201cEl Pent\u00e1gono,\u201d \u201cVietnam 23,\u201d and \u201cNadie ta\u2019 Bien.\u201d Its main rival is Calor Calor, itself an agglomeration of groups.<\/h3>\nThe two organizations are the biggest criminal blocs in Panama and their rivalry centers around control of\u00a0strategically located ports<\/a>, shares of the international drug trade, especially the European market and over the personal rivalry between Yunya and the leader of Calor Calor, Eduardo Macea, alias Marshall.<\/h3>\nYunya and Marshall started out working together under Juan Vicente Blandford, alias El P\u00e1tron Juancito, but began fighting in 2014, when members of Calor Calor\u2019s structure moved to Bagdad. Yunya has the reputation of being the less violent of the two criminals, while Marshall has a reputation for ruthlessness. \u00a0El P\u00e1tron Juancito\u00a0was captured<\/a>\u00a0in 2019, but is, reportedly, still trying to unite the two from within prison.<\/h3>\nSince 2019, Bagdad has also had to deal with an\u00a0internal rift<\/a>, as one of its member-gangs, Matar o Morir (Kill or Be Killed \u2013 MOM) kept a shipment of drugs for themselves as a declaration of independence.<\/h3>\nIn December of 2019 Bagdad retaliated by orchestrating a\u00a0shootout in La Joyita<\/a>, one of Panama\u2019s largest high-security prisons. One group of prisoners opened fire on another, using high-caliber assault weapons and leaving 15 dead and 11 more injured.<\/h3>\nThe incident became known as the \u201cLa Joyita Massacre,\u201d and has set off a wave violence that both continues to\u00a0flare up<\/a>\u00a0in the La Joya prison complex, but which has also spilled into the\u00a0streets of Panama Oeste<\/a>\u00a0and caused homicides rates to skyrocket.<\/h3>\nSince then, Bagdad has drawn the\u00a0wrong kind of attention<\/a>\u00a0from the DEA, which has a long track record of dismantling drug gangs in Central America once they reach a certain size.<\/h3>\nProspects<\/h3>\nBagdad\u2019s operations in transnational drug trafficking have become more sophisticated and its role has changed from a subordinate to a subcontractor that brokers shipment of drugs for Colombian and Mexican groups through Panama and beyond, according to InSight Crime field research. Though Bagdad is likely to remain a middleman in the transnational drug trade, the business is lucrative, and the stakes are getting higher.<\/h3>\nBecause\u00a0there is more money<\/a>\u00a0to be made than when they were first formed Bagdad, as well as its rival Calor Calor, has\u00a0responded by consolidating<\/a>\u00a0power and upping the violence.<\/h3>\nHowever, the scale of violence involved in the La Joyita massacre may have marked a turning point. In April 2021, US and Panamanian authorities\u00a0carried<\/a>\u00a0out large-scale raids, targeting Bagdad leadership, after a year-long investigation, which involved tapping phones, identifying front businesses and money laundering techniques. It is uncertain how Bagdad will be able to stand up to such pressure.<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
According to my contacts these groups\/gangs are operating in some capacity here in the U.S. either as drug couriers, enforcers or in human trafficking. Most all of them are felons with violent records for murder, rape and assault. Stay Sharp and Know Your Enemy. Barrio 18 The 18th Street Gang, also known as…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[5150,2636,6896,2351,2717,13,74,3688,4892,7372,3986],"tags":[9740,16732,8490,7177,7984,7190,6949,5803,4090,3781],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70632"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70642,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632\/revisions\/70642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
However, the gangs that make up Bagdad do not have deep internal loyalty and often feud over microtrafficking in Panama City and other areas of the country.<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\nHistory<\/h3>\nBagdad\u2019s origins go back to the Uni\u00f3n Sovi\u00e9tica gang, itself a combination of smaller gangs named Bagdad, El Pent\u00e1gono and Matar o Morir (MOM). Led by Jorge Rub\u00e9n Camargo Clarke, alias \u201cCholo Chorrillo\u201d or \u201cEl Cholo,\u201d Bagdad became notorious \u201ctumbadores\u201d \u2014 gangs specialized in stealing drug shipments from trafficking groups. Bagdad was original based in El Chorrillo, while El Pent\u00e1gono operated in Santa Ana and MOM in Curund\u00fa, all neighborhoods of Panama City.<\/h3>\nUni\u00f3n Sovi\u00e9tica also extorted other criminal groups and fought to eliminate other gangs and tumbadores. Its enemies eventually rallied together to form \u201cCalor Calor,\u201d starting a rivalry that continues to this day.<\/h3>\nAfter the leaders of El Pent\u00e1gono and MOM were killed, Bagdad took over the federation and its name stuck.<\/h3>\nBagdad still engages in drug theft but the gang\u2019s main activities now consist of controlling territory for the movement and sale of drugs. According to the Panama Attorney General\u2019s Office, in 2021, Bagdad\u00a0charged<\/a>\u00a0between 5 to 10 percent of the price of cocaine shipments that they transported through the country. In 2014, InSight Crime research estimated the federation controlled over 50 percent of drug sales in Panama. Bagdad also provides services such as guarding shipments and contract killings, and engages in kidnapping and extortion. The gang recruits young people from about 14 years of age.<\/h3>\nBagdad and Calor Calor together were estimated to have more than 2,000 members in 2014.<\/h3>\nLeadership<\/h3>\nJorge Rub\u00e9n Camargo Clarke, alias \u201cCholo Chorrillo,\u201d was the notorious leader of the Uni\u00f3n Sovi\u00e9tica group and once ruled over Bagdad.<\/h3>\nThe current leader of Bagdad is Jaime Powell Rodriguez, alias \u201cYunya,\u201d who took over around 2016.<\/h3>\nAccording to InSight Crime field research, Yunya fancies himself a drug kingpin. He is known for being well-dressed and maintaining a public businessman persona, while actually using his\u00a0network of businesses<\/a>\u00a0in Spain to ship drugs to Europe and launder money, which he hides in Swiss bank accounts.<\/h3>\nIn 2018, Powell Rodriguez was\u00a0arrested in Dubai<\/a>\u00a0and extradited to Panama on charges of transnational drug trafficking but was\u00a0released<\/a>\u00a0in March 2019. In May 2020, Panamanian police were\u00a0searching<\/a>\u00a0for him once again.<\/h3>\nIn 2021, Camargo Clarke was out of jail once more and was one of the main\u00a0targets<\/a>\u00a0of Operation Neptune, a joint investigation into Bagdad by Panamanian authorities and the US Drug Enforcement Administration. He appeared to flee the country with other senior Bagdad commanders to avoid arrest.<\/h3>\nCamargo Clarke was\u00a0finally arrested<\/a>\u00a0in February 2022 in Costa Rica. He is awaiting extradition to the United States.<\/h3>\nGeography<\/h3>\nOriginally based in Panama City, Bagdad is now strongest across the canal in West Panama province, which borders with Panama City, Col\u00f3n and the Pacific Ocean. The violent territorial conflict between Bagdad and Calor Calor has expanded from Panama City into West Panama, where drug shipments enter and leave from La Chorrera coastal area.<\/h3>\nBagdad and Calor Calor members often live in close proximity.<\/h3>\nAllies and Enemies<\/h3>\nBagdad is made up of numerous youth gangs. Groups that have been described as allies of Bagdad include \u201cEl Pent\u00e1gono,\u201d \u201cVietnam 23,\u201d and \u201cNadie ta\u2019 Bien.\u201d Its main rival is Calor Calor, itself an agglomeration of groups.<\/h3>\nThe two organizations are the biggest criminal blocs in Panama and their rivalry centers around control of\u00a0strategically located ports<\/a>, shares of the international drug trade, especially the European market and over the personal rivalry between Yunya and the leader of Calor Calor, Eduardo Macea, alias Marshall.<\/h3>\nYunya and Marshall started out working together under Juan Vicente Blandford, alias El P\u00e1tron Juancito, but began fighting in 2014, when members of Calor Calor\u2019s structure moved to Bagdad. Yunya has the reputation of being the less violent of the two criminals, while Marshall has a reputation for ruthlessness. \u00a0El P\u00e1tron Juancito\u00a0was captured<\/a>\u00a0in 2019, but is, reportedly, still trying to unite the two from within prison.<\/h3>\nSince 2019, Bagdad has also had to deal with an\u00a0internal rift<\/a>, as one of its member-gangs, Matar o Morir (Kill or Be Killed \u2013 MOM) kept a shipment of drugs for themselves as a declaration of independence.<\/h3>\nIn December of 2019 Bagdad retaliated by orchestrating a\u00a0shootout in La Joyita<\/a>, one of Panama\u2019s largest high-security prisons. One group of prisoners opened fire on another, using high-caliber assault weapons and leaving 15 dead and 11 more injured.<\/h3>\nThe incident became known as the \u201cLa Joyita Massacre,\u201d and has set off a wave violence that both continues to\u00a0flare up<\/a>\u00a0in the La Joya prison complex, but which has also spilled into the\u00a0streets of Panama Oeste<\/a>\u00a0and caused homicides rates to skyrocket.<\/h3>\nSince then, Bagdad has drawn the\u00a0wrong kind of attention<\/a>\u00a0from the DEA, which has a long track record of dismantling drug gangs in Central America once they reach a certain size.<\/h3>\nProspects<\/h3>\nBagdad\u2019s operations in transnational drug trafficking have become more sophisticated and its role has changed from a subordinate to a subcontractor that brokers shipment of drugs for Colombian and Mexican groups through Panama and beyond, according to InSight Crime field research. Though Bagdad is likely to remain a middleman in the transnational drug trade, the business is lucrative, and the stakes are getting higher.<\/h3>\nBecause\u00a0there is more money<\/a>\u00a0to be made than when they were first formed Bagdad, as well as its rival Calor Calor, has\u00a0responded by consolidating<\/a>\u00a0power and upping the violence.<\/h3>\nHowever, the scale of violence involved in the La Joyita massacre may have marked a turning point. In April 2021, US and Panamanian authorities\u00a0carried<\/a>\u00a0out large-scale raids, targeting Bagdad leadership, after a year-long investigation, which involved tapping phones, identifying front businesses and money laundering techniques. It is uncertain how Bagdad will be able to stand up to such pressure.<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
According to my contacts these groups\/gangs are operating in some capacity here in the U.S. either as drug couriers, enforcers or in human trafficking. Most all of them are felons with violent records for murder, rape and assault. Stay Sharp and Know Your Enemy. Barrio 18 The 18th Street Gang, also known as…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[5150,2636,6896,2351,2717,13,74,3688,4892,7372,3986],"tags":[9740,16732,8490,7177,7984,7190,6949,5803,4090,3781],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70632"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70642,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632\/revisions\/70642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n\n
\nHistory<\/h3>\n
History<\/h3>\nBagdad\u2019s origins go back to the Uni\u00f3n Sovi\u00e9tica gang, itself a combination of smaller gangs named Bagdad, El Pent\u00e1gono and Matar o Morir (MOM). Led by Jorge Rub\u00e9n Camargo Clarke, alias \u201cCholo Chorrillo\u201d or \u201cEl Cholo,\u201d Bagdad became notorious \u201ctumbadores\u201d \u2014 gangs specialized in stealing drug shipments from trafficking groups. Bagdad was original based in El Chorrillo, while El Pent\u00e1gono operated in Santa Ana and MOM in Curund\u00fa, all neighborhoods of Panama City.<\/h3>\nUni\u00f3n Sovi\u00e9tica also extorted other criminal groups and fought to eliminate other gangs and tumbadores. Its enemies eventually rallied together to form \u201cCalor Calor,\u201d starting a rivalry that continues to this day.<\/h3>\nAfter the leaders of El Pent\u00e1gono and MOM were killed, Bagdad took over the federation and its name stuck.<\/h3>\nBagdad still engages in drug theft but the gang\u2019s main activities now consist of controlling territory for the movement and sale of drugs. According to the Panama Attorney General\u2019s Office, in 2021, Bagdad\u00a0charged<\/a>\u00a0between 5 to 10 percent of the price of cocaine shipments that they transported through the country. In 2014, InSight Crime research estimated the federation controlled over 50 percent of drug sales in Panama. Bagdad also provides services such as guarding shipments and contract killings, and engages in kidnapping and extortion. The gang recruits young people from about 14 years of age.<\/h3>\nBagdad and Calor Calor together were estimated to have more than 2,000 members in 2014.<\/h3>\nLeadership<\/h3>\nJorge Rub\u00e9n Camargo Clarke, alias \u201cCholo Chorrillo,\u201d was the notorious leader of the Uni\u00f3n Sovi\u00e9tica group and once ruled over Bagdad.<\/h3>\nThe current leader of Bagdad is Jaime Powell Rodriguez, alias \u201cYunya,\u201d who took over around 2016.<\/h3>\nAccording to InSight Crime field research, Yunya fancies himself a drug kingpin. He is known for being well-dressed and maintaining a public businessman persona, while actually using his\u00a0network of businesses<\/a>\u00a0in Spain to ship drugs to Europe and launder money, which he hides in Swiss bank accounts.<\/h3>\nIn 2018, Powell Rodriguez was\u00a0arrested in Dubai<\/a>\u00a0and extradited to Panama on charges of transnational drug trafficking but was\u00a0released<\/a>\u00a0in March 2019. In May 2020, Panamanian police were\u00a0searching<\/a>\u00a0for him once again.<\/h3>\nIn 2021, Camargo Clarke was out of jail once more and was one of the main\u00a0targets<\/a>\u00a0of Operation Neptune, a joint investigation into Bagdad by Panamanian authorities and the US Drug Enforcement Administration. He appeared to flee the country with other senior Bagdad commanders to avoid arrest.<\/h3>\nCamargo Clarke was\u00a0finally arrested<\/a>\u00a0in February 2022 in Costa Rica. He is awaiting extradition to the United States.<\/h3>\nGeography<\/h3>\nOriginally based in Panama City, Bagdad is now strongest across the canal in West Panama province, which borders with Panama City, Col\u00f3n and the Pacific Ocean. The violent territorial conflict between Bagdad and Calor Calor has expanded from Panama City into West Panama, where drug shipments enter and leave from La Chorrera coastal area.<\/h3>\nBagdad and Calor Calor members often live in close proximity.<\/h3>\nAllies and Enemies<\/h3>\nBagdad is made up of numerous youth gangs. Groups that have been described as allies of Bagdad include \u201cEl Pent\u00e1gono,\u201d \u201cVietnam 23,\u201d and \u201cNadie ta\u2019 Bien.\u201d Its main rival is Calor Calor, itself an agglomeration of groups.<\/h3>\nThe two organizations are the biggest criminal blocs in Panama and their rivalry centers around control of\u00a0strategically located ports<\/a>, shares of the international drug trade, especially the European market and over the personal rivalry between Yunya and the leader of Calor Calor, Eduardo Macea, alias Marshall.<\/h3>\nYunya and Marshall started out working together under Juan Vicente Blandford, alias El P\u00e1tron Juancito, but began fighting in 2014, when members of Calor Calor\u2019s structure moved to Bagdad. Yunya has the reputation of being the less violent of the two criminals, while Marshall has a reputation for ruthlessness. \u00a0El P\u00e1tron Juancito\u00a0was captured<\/a>\u00a0in 2019, but is, reportedly, still trying to unite the two from within prison.<\/h3>\nSince 2019, Bagdad has also had to deal with an\u00a0internal rift<\/a>, as one of its member-gangs, Matar o Morir (Kill or Be Killed \u2013 MOM) kept a shipment of drugs for themselves as a declaration of independence.<\/h3>\nIn December of 2019 Bagdad retaliated by orchestrating a\u00a0shootout in La Joyita<\/a>, one of Panama\u2019s largest high-security prisons. One group of prisoners opened fire on another, using high-caliber assault weapons and leaving 15 dead and 11 more injured.<\/h3>\nThe incident became known as the \u201cLa Joyita Massacre,\u201d and has set off a wave violence that both continues to\u00a0flare up<\/a>\u00a0in the La Joya prison complex, but which has also spilled into the\u00a0streets of Panama Oeste<\/a>\u00a0and caused homicides rates to skyrocket.<\/h3>\nSince then, Bagdad has drawn the\u00a0wrong kind of attention<\/a>\u00a0from the DEA, which has a long track record of dismantling drug gangs in Central America once they reach a certain size.<\/h3>\nProspects<\/h3>\nBagdad\u2019s operations in transnational drug trafficking have become more sophisticated and its role has changed from a subordinate to a subcontractor that brokers shipment of drugs for Colombian and Mexican groups through Panama and beyond, according to InSight Crime field research. Though Bagdad is likely to remain a middleman in the transnational drug trade, the business is lucrative, and the stakes are getting higher.<\/h3>\nBecause\u00a0there is more money<\/a>\u00a0to be made than when they were first formed Bagdad, as well as its rival Calor Calor, has\u00a0responded by consolidating<\/a>\u00a0power and upping the violence.<\/h3>\nHowever, the scale of violence involved in the La Joyita massacre may have marked a turning point. In April 2021, US and Panamanian authorities\u00a0carried<\/a>\u00a0out large-scale raids, targeting Bagdad leadership, after a year-long investigation, which involved tapping phones, identifying front businesses and money laundering techniques. It is uncertain how Bagdad will be able to stand up to such pressure.<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
According to my contacts these groups\/gangs are operating in some capacity here in the U.S. either as drug couriers, enforcers or in human trafficking. Most all of them are felons with violent records for murder, rape and assault. Stay Sharp and Know Your Enemy. Barrio 18 The 18th Street Gang, also known as…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[5150,2636,6896,2351,2717,13,74,3688,4892,7372,3986],"tags":[9740,16732,8490,7177,7984,7190,6949,5803,4090,3781],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70632"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70642,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632\/revisions\/70642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Uni\u00f3n Sovi\u00e9tica also extorted other criminal groups and fought to eliminate other gangs and tumbadores. Its enemies eventually rallied together to form \u201cCalor Calor,\u201d starting a rivalry that continues to this day.<\/h3>\nAfter the leaders of El Pent\u00e1gono and MOM were killed, Bagdad took over the federation and its name stuck.<\/h3>\nBagdad still engages in drug theft but the gang\u2019s main activities now consist of controlling territory for the movement and sale of drugs. According to the Panama Attorney General\u2019s Office, in 2021, Bagdad\u00a0charged<\/a>\u00a0between 5 to 10 percent of the price of cocaine shipments that they transported through the country. In 2014, InSight Crime research estimated the federation controlled over 50 percent of drug sales in Panama. Bagdad also provides services such as guarding shipments and contract killings, and engages in kidnapping and extortion. The gang recruits young people from about 14 years of age.<\/h3>\nBagdad and Calor Calor together were estimated to have more than 2,000 members in 2014.<\/h3>\nLeadership<\/h3>\nJorge Rub\u00e9n Camargo Clarke, alias \u201cCholo Chorrillo,\u201d was the notorious leader of the Uni\u00f3n Sovi\u00e9tica group and once ruled over Bagdad.<\/h3>\nThe current leader of Bagdad is Jaime Powell Rodriguez, alias \u201cYunya,\u201d who took over around 2016.<\/h3>\nAccording to InSight Crime field research, Yunya fancies himself a drug kingpin. He is known for being well-dressed and maintaining a public businessman persona, while actually using his\u00a0network of businesses<\/a>\u00a0in Spain to ship drugs to Europe and launder money, which he hides in Swiss bank accounts.<\/h3>\nIn 2018, Powell Rodriguez was\u00a0arrested in Dubai<\/a>\u00a0and extradited to Panama on charges of transnational drug trafficking but was\u00a0released<\/a>\u00a0in March 2019. In May 2020, Panamanian police were\u00a0searching<\/a>\u00a0for him once again.<\/h3>\nIn 2021, Camargo Clarke was out of jail once more and was one of the main\u00a0targets<\/a>\u00a0of Operation Neptune, a joint investigation into Bagdad by Panamanian authorities and the US Drug Enforcement Administration. He appeared to flee the country with other senior Bagdad commanders to avoid arrest.<\/h3>\nCamargo Clarke was\u00a0finally arrested<\/a>\u00a0in February 2022 in Costa Rica. He is awaiting extradition to the United States.<\/h3>\nGeography<\/h3>\nOriginally based in Panama City, Bagdad is now strongest across the canal in West Panama province, which borders with Panama City, Col\u00f3n and the Pacific Ocean. The violent territorial conflict between Bagdad and Calor Calor has expanded from Panama City into West Panama, where drug shipments enter and leave from La Chorrera coastal area.<\/h3>\nBagdad and Calor Calor members often live in close proximity.<\/h3>\nAllies and Enemies<\/h3>\nBagdad is made up of numerous youth gangs. Groups that have been described as allies of Bagdad include \u201cEl Pent\u00e1gono,\u201d \u201cVietnam 23,\u201d and \u201cNadie ta\u2019 Bien.\u201d Its main rival is Calor Calor, itself an agglomeration of groups.<\/h3>\nThe two organizations are the biggest criminal blocs in Panama and their rivalry centers around control of\u00a0strategically located ports<\/a>, shares of the international drug trade, especially the European market and over the personal rivalry between Yunya and the leader of Calor Calor, Eduardo Macea, alias Marshall.<\/h3>\nYunya and Marshall started out working together under Juan Vicente Blandford, alias El P\u00e1tron Juancito, but began fighting in 2014, when members of Calor Calor\u2019s structure moved to Bagdad. Yunya has the reputation of being the less violent of the two criminals, while Marshall has a reputation for ruthlessness. \u00a0El P\u00e1tron Juancito\u00a0was captured<\/a>\u00a0in 2019, but is, reportedly, still trying to unite the two from within prison.<\/h3>\nSince 2019, Bagdad has also had to deal with an\u00a0internal rift<\/a>, as one of its member-gangs, Matar o Morir (Kill or Be Killed \u2013 MOM) kept a shipment of drugs for themselves as a declaration of independence.<\/h3>\nIn December of 2019 Bagdad retaliated by orchestrating a\u00a0shootout in La Joyita<\/a>, one of Panama\u2019s largest high-security prisons. One group of prisoners opened fire on another, using high-caliber assault weapons and leaving 15 dead and 11 more injured.<\/h3>\nThe incident became known as the \u201cLa Joyita Massacre,\u201d and has set off a wave violence that both continues to\u00a0flare up<\/a>\u00a0in the La Joya prison complex, but which has also spilled into the\u00a0streets of Panama Oeste<\/a>\u00a0and caused homicides rates to skyrocket.<\/h3>\nSince then, Bagdad has drawn the\u00a0wrong kind of attention<\/a>\u00a0from the DEA, which has a long track record of dismantling drug gangs in Central America once they reach a certain size.<\/h3>\nProspects<\/h3>\nBagdad\u2019s operations in transnational drug trafficking have become more sophisticated and its role has changed from a subordinate to a subcontractor that brokers shipment of drugs for Colombian and Mexican groups through Panama and beyond, according to InSight Crime field research. Though Bagdad is likely to remain a middleman in the transnational drug trade, the business is lucrative, and the stakes are getting higher.<\/h3>\nBecause\u00a0there is more money<\/a>\u00a0to be made than when they were first formed Bagdad, as well as its rival Calor Calor, has\u00a0responded by consolidating<\/a>\u00a0power and upping the violence.<\/h3>\nHowever, the scale of violence involved in the La Joyita massacre may have marked a turning point. In April 2021, US and Panamanian authorities\u00a0carried<\/a>\u00a0out large-scale raids, targeting Bagdad leadership, after a year-long investigation, which involved tapping phones, identifying front businesses and money laundering techniques. It is uncertain how Bagdad will be able to stand up to such pressure.<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
According to my contacts these groups\/gangs are operating in some capacity here in the U.S. either as drug couriers, enforcers or in human trafficking. Most all of them are felons with violent records for murder, rape and assault. Stay Sharp and Know Your Enemy. Barrio 18 The 18th Street Gang, also known as…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[5150,2636,6896,2351,2717,13,74,3688,4892,7372,3986],"tags":[9740,16732,8490,7177,7984,7190,6949,5803,4090,3781],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70632"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70642,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632\/revisions\/70642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Bagdad still engages in drug theft but the gang\u2019s main activities now consist of controlling territory for the movement and sale of drugs. According to the Panama Attorney General\u2019s Office, in 2021, Bagdad\u00a0charged<\/a>\u00a0between 5 to 10 percent of the price of cocaine shipments that they transported through the country. In 2014, InSight Crime research estimated the federation controlled over 50 percent of drug sales in Panama. Bagdad also provides services such as guarding shipments and contract killings, and engages in kidnapping and extortion. The gang recruits young people from about 14 years of age.<\/h3>\nBagdad and Calor Calor together were estimated to have more than 2,000 members in 2014.<\/h3>\nLeadership<\/h3>\nJorge Rub\u00e9n Camargo Clarke, alias \u201cCholo Chorrillo,\u201d was the notorious leader of the Uni\u00f3n Sovi\u00e9tica group and once ruled over Bagdad.<\/h3>\nThe current leader of Bagdad is Jaime Powell Rodriguez, alias \u201cYunya,\u201d who took over around 2016.<\/h3>\nAccording to InSight Crime field research, Yunya fancies himself a drug kingpin. He is known for being well-dressed and maintaining a public businessman persona, while actually using his\u00a0network of businesses<\/a>\u00a0in Spain to ship drugs to Europe and launder money, which he hides in Swiss bank accounts.<\/h3>\nIn 2018, Powell Rodriguez was\u00a0arrested in Dubai<\/a>\u00a0and extradited to Panama on charges of transnational drug trafficking but was\u00a0released<\/a>\u00a0in March 2019. In May 2020, Panamanian police were\u00a0searching<\/a>\u00a0for him once again.<\/h3>\nIn 2021, Camargo Clarke was out of jail once more and was one of the main\u00a0targets<\/a>\u00a0of Operation Neptune, a joint investigation into Bagdad by Panamanian authorities and the US Drug Enforcement Administration. He appeared to flee the country with other senior Bagdad commanders to avoid arrest.<\/h3>\nCamargo Clarke was\u00a0finally arrested<\/a>\u00a0in February 2022 in Costa Rica. He is awaiting extradition to the United States.<\/h3>\nGeography<\/h3>\nOriginally based in Panama City, Bagdad is now strongest across the canal in West Panama province, which borders with Panama City, Col\u00f3n and the Pacific Ocean. The violent territorial conflict between Bagdad and Calor Calor has expanded from Panama City into West Panama, where drug shipments enter and leave from La Chorrera coastal area.<\/h3>\nBagdad and Calor Calor members often live in close proximity.<\/h3>\nAllies and Enemies<\/h3>\nBagdad is made up of numerous youth gangs. Groups that have been described as allies of Bagdad include \u201cEl Pent\u00e1gono,\u201d \u201cVietnam 23,\u201d and \u201cNadie ta\u2019 Bien.\u201d Its main rival is Calor Calor, itself an agglomeration of groups.<\/h3>\nThe two organizations are the biggest criminal blocs in Panama and their rivalry centers around control of\u00a0strategically located ports<\/a>, shares of the international drug trade, especially the European market and over the personal rivalry between Yunya and the leader of Calor Calor, Eduardo Macea, alias Marshall.<\/h3>\nYunya and Marshall started out working together under Juan Vicente Blandford, alias El P\u00e1tron Juancito, but began fighting in 2014, when members of Calor Calor\u2019s structure moved to Bagdad. Yunya has the reputation of being the less violent of the two criminals, while Marshall has a reputation for ruthlessness. \u00a0El P\u00e1tron Juancito\u00a0was captured<\/a>\u00a0in 2019, but is, reportedly, still trying to unite the two from within prison.<\/h3>\nSince 2019, Bagdad has also had to deal with an\u00a0internal rift<\/a>, as one of its member-gangs, Matar o Morir (Kill or Be Killed \u2013 MOM) kept a shipment of drugs for themselves as a declaration of independence.<\/h3>\nIn December of 2019 Bagdad retaliated by orchestrating a\u00a0shootout in La Joyita<\/a>, one of Panama\u2019s largest high-security prisons. One group of prisoners opened fire on another, using high-caliber assault weapons and leaving 15 dead and 11 more injured.<\/h3>\nThe incident became known as the \u201cLa Joyita Massacre,\u201d and has set off a wave violence that both continues to\u00a0flare up<\/a>\u00a0in the La Joya prison complex, but which has also spilled into the\u00a0streets of Panama Oeste<\/a>\u00a0and caused homicides rates to skyrocket.<\/h3>\nSince then, Bagdad has drawn the\u00a0wrong kind of attention<\/a>\u00a0from the DEA, which has a long track record of dismantling drug gangs in Central America once they reach a certain size.<\/h3>\nProspects<\/h3>\nBagdad\u2019s operations in transnational drug trafficking have become more sophisticated and its role has changed from a subordinate to a subcontractor that brokers shipment of drugs for Colombian and Mexican groups through Panama and beyond, according to InSight Crime field research. Though Bagdad is likely to remain a middleman in the transnational drug trade, the business is lucrative, and the stakes are getting higher.<\/h3>\nBecause\u00a0there is more money<\/a>\u00a0to be made than when they were first formed Bagdad, as well as its rival Calor Calor, has\u00a0responded by consolidating<\/a>\u00a0power and upping the violence.<\/h3>\nHowever, the scale of violence involved in the La Joyita massacre may have marked a turning point. In April 2021, US and Panamanian authorities\u00a0carried<\/a>\u00a0out large-scale raids, targeting Bagdad leadership, after a year-long investigation, which involved tapping phones, identifying front businesses and money laundering techniques. It is uncertain how Bagdad will be able to stand up to such pressure.<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
According to my contacts these groups\/gangs are operating in some capacity here in the U.S. either as drug couriers, enforcers or in human trafficking. Most all of them are felons with violent records for murder, rape and assault. Stay Sharp and Know Your Enemy. Barrio 18 The 18th Street Gang, also known as…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[5150,2636,6896,2351,2717,13,74,3688,4892,7372,3986],"tags":[9740,16732,8490,7177,7984,7190,6949,5803,4090,3781],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70632"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70642,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632\/revisions\/70642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Leadership<\/h3>\nJorge Rub\u00e9n Camargo Clarke, alias \u201cCholo Chorrillo,\u201d was the notorious leader of the Uni\u00f3n Sovi\u00e9tica group and once ruled over Bagdad.<\/h3>\nThe current leader of Bagdad is Jaime Powell Rodriguez, alias \u201cYunya,\u201d who took over around 2016.<\/h3>\nAccording to InSight Crime field research, Yunya fancies himself a drug kingpin. He is known for being well-dressed and maintaining a public businessman persona, while actually using his\u00a0network of businesses<\/a>\u00a0in Spain to ship drugs to Europe and launder money, which he hides in Swiss bank accounts.<\/h3>\nIn 2018, Powell Rodriguez was\u00a0arrested in Dubai<\/a>\u00a0and extradited to Panama on charges of transnational drug trafficking but was\u00a0released<\/a>\u00a0in March 2019. In May 2020, Panamanian police were\u00a0searching<\/a>\u00a0for him once again.<\/h3>\nIn 2021, Camargo Clarke was out of jail once more and was one of the main\u00a0targets<\/a>\u00a0of Operation Neptune, a joint investigation into Bagdad by Panamanian authorities and the US Drug Enforcement Administration. He appeared to flee the country with other senior Bagdad commanders to avoid arrest.<\/h3>\nCamargo Clarke was\u00a0finally arrested<\/a>\u00a0in February 2022 in Costa Rica. He is awaiting extradition to the United States.<\/h3>\nGeography<\/h3>\nOriginally based in Panama City, Bagdad is now strongest across the canal in West Panama province, which borders with Panama City, Col\u00f3n and the Pacific Ocean. The violent territorial conflict between Bagdad and Calor Calor has expanded from Panama City into West Panama, where drug shipments enter and leave from La Chorrera coastal area.<\/h3>\nBagdad and Calor Calor members often live in close proximity.<\/h3>\nAllies and Enemies<\/h3>\nBagdad is made up of numerous youth gangs. Groups that have been described as allies of Bagdad include \u201cEl Pent\u00e1gono,\u201d \u201cVietnam 23,\u201d and \u201cNadie ta\u2019 Bien.\u201d Its main rival is Calor Calor, itself an agglomeration of groups.<\/h3>\nThe two organizations are the biggest criminal blocs in Panama and their rivalry centers around control of\u00a0strategically located ports<\/a>, shares of the international drug trade, especially the European market and over the personal rivalry between Yunya and the leader of Calor Calor, Eduardo Macea, alias Marshall.<\/h3>\nYunya and Marshall started out working together under Juan Vicente Blandford, alias El P\u00e1tron Juancito, but began fighting in 2014, when members of Calor Calor\u2019s structure moved to Bagdad. Yunya has the reputation of being the less violent of the two criminals, while Marshall has a reputation for ruthlessness. \u00a0El P\u00e1tron Juancito\u00a0was captured<\/a>\u00a0in 2019, but is, reportedly, still trying to unite the two from within prison.<\/h3>\nSince 2019, Bagdad has also had to deal with an\u00a0internal rift<\/a>, as one of its member-gangs, Matar o Morir (Kill or Be Killed \u2013 MOM) kept a shipment of drugs for themselves as a declaration of independence.<\/h3>\nIn December of 2019 Bagdad retaliated by orchestrating a\u00a0shootout in La Joyita<\/a>, one of Panama\u2019s largest high-security prisons. One group of prisoners opened fire on another, using high-caliber assault weapons and leaving 15 dead and 11 more injured.<\/h3>\nThe incident became known as the \u201cLa Joyita Massacre,\u201d and has set off a wave violence that both continues to\u00a0flare up<\/a>\u00a0in the La Joya prison complex, but which has also spilled into the\u00a0streets of Panama Oeste<\/a>\u00a0and caused homicides rates to skyrocket.<\/h3>\nSince then, Bagdad has drawn the\u00a0wrong kind of attention<\/a>\u00a0from the DEA, which has a long track record of dismantling drug gangs in Central America once they reach a certain size.<\/h3>\nProspects<\/h3>\nBagdad\u2019s operations in transnational drug trafficking have become more sophisticated and its role has changed from a subordinate to a subcontractor that brokers shipment of drugs for Colombian and Mexican groups through Panama and beyond, according to InSight Crime field research. Though Bagdad is likely to remain a middleman in the transnational drug trade, the business is lucrative, and the stakes are getting higher.<\/h3>\nBecause\u00a0there is more money<\/a>\u00a0to be made than when they were first formed Bagdad, as well as its rival Calor Calor, has\u00a0responded by consolidating<\/a>\u00a0power and upping the violence.<\/h3>\nHowever, the scale of violence involved in the La Joyita massacre may have marked a turning point. In April 2021, US and Panamanian authorities\u00a0carried<\/a>\u00a0out large-scale raids, targeting Bagdad leadership, after a year-long investigation, which involved tapping phones, identifying front businesses and money laundering techniques. It is uncertain how Bagdad will be able to stand up to such pressure.<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
According to my contacts these groups\/gangs are operating in some capacity here in the U.S. either as drug couriers, enforcers or in human trafficking. Most all of them are felons with violent records for murder, rape and assault. Stay Sharp and Know Your Enemy. Barrio 18 The 18th Street Gang, also known as…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[5150,2636,6896,2351,2717,13,74,3688,4892,7372,3986],"tags":[9740,16732,8490,7177,7984,7190,6949,5803,4090,3781],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70632"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70642,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632\/revisions\/70642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
The current leader of Bagdad is Jaime Powell Rodriguez, alias \u201cYunya,\u201d who took over around 2016.<\/h3>\nAccording to InSight Crime field research, Yunya fancies himself a drug kingpin. He is known for being well-dressed and maintaining a public businessman persona, while actually using his\u00a0network of businesses<\/a>\u00a0in Spain to ship drugs to Europe and launder money, which he hides in Swiss bank accounts.<\/h3>\nIn 2018, Powell Rodriguez was\u00a0arrested in Dubai<\/a>\u00a0and extradited to Panama on charges of transnational drug trafficking but was\u00a0released<\/a>\u00a0in March 2019. In May 2020, Panamanian police were\u00a0searching<\/a>\u00a0for him once again.<\/h3>\nIn 2021, Camargo Clarke was out of jail once more and was one of the main\u00a0targets<\/a>\u00a0of Operation Neptune, a joint investigation into Bagdad by Panamanian authorities and the US Drug Enforcement Administration. He appeared to flee the country with other senior Bagdad commanders to avoid arrest.<\/h3>\nCamargo Clarke was\u00a0finally arrested<\/a>\u00a0in February 2022 in Costa Rica. He is awaiting extradition to the United States.<\/h3>\nGeography<\/h3>\nOriginally based in Panama City, Bagdad is now strongest across the canal in West Panama province, which borders with Panama City, Col\u00f3n and the Pacific Ocean. The violent territorial conflict between Bagdad and Calor Calor has expanded from Panama City into West Panama, where drug shipments enter and leave from La Chorrera coastal area.<\/h3>\nBagdad and Calor Calor members often live in close proximity.<\/h3>\nAllies and Enemies<\/h3>\nBagdad is made up of numerous youth gangs. Groups that have been described as allies of Bagdad include \u201cEl Pent\u00e1gono,\u201d \u201cVietnam 23,\u201d and \u201cNadie ta\u2019 Bien.\u201d Its main rival is Calor Calor, itself an agglomeration of groups.<\/h3>\nThe two organizations are the biggest criminal blocs in Panama and their rivalry centers around control of\u00a0strategically located ports<\/a>, shares of the international drug trade, especially the European market and over the personal rivalry between Yunya and the leader of Calor Calor, Eduardo Macea, alias Marshall.<\/h3>\nYunya and Marshall started out working together under Juan Vicente Blandford, alias El P\u00e1tron Juancito, but began fighting in 2014, when members of Calor Calor\u2019s structure moved to Bagdad. Yunya has the reputation of being the less violent of the two criminals, while Marshall has a reputation for ruthlessness. \u00a0El P\u00e1tron Juancito\u00a0was captured<\/a>\u00a0in 2019, but is, reportedly, still trying to unite the two from within prison.<\/h3>\nSince 2019, Bagdad has also had to deal with an\u00a0internal rift<\/a>, as one of its member-gangs, Matar o Morir (Kill or Be Killed \u2013 MOM) kept a shipment of drugs for themselves as a declaration of independence.<\/h3>\nIn December of 2019 Bagdad retaliated by orchestrating a\u00a0shootout in La Joyita<\/a>, one of Panama\u2019s largest high-security prisons. One group of prisoners opened fire on another, using high-caliber assault weapons and leaving 15 dead and 11 more injured.<\/h3>\nThe incident became known as the \u201cLa Joyita Massacre,\u201d and has set off a wave violence that both continues to\u00a0flare up<\/a>\u00a0in the La Joya prison complex, but which has also spilled into the\u00a0streets of Panama Oeste<\/a>\u00a0and caused homicides rates to skyrocket.<\/h3>\nSince then, Bagdad has drawn the\u00a0wrong kind of attention<\/a>\u00a0from the DEA, which has a long track record of dismantling drug gangs in Central America once they reach a certain size.<\/h3>\nProspects<\/h3>\nBagdad\u2019s operations in transnational drug trafficking have become more sophisticated and its role has changed from a subordinate to a subcontractor that brokers shipment of drugs for Colombian and Mexican groups through Panama and beyond, according to InSight Crime field research. Though Bagdad is likely to remain a middleman in the transnational drug trade, the business is lucrative, and the stakes are getting higher.<\/h3>\nBecause\u00a0there is more money<\/a>\u00a0to be made than when they were first formed Bagdad, as well as its rival Calor Calor, has\u00a0responded by consolidating<\/a>\u00a0power and upping the violence.<\/h3>\nHowever, the scale of violence involved in the La Joyita massacre may have marked a turning point. In April 2021, US and Panamanian authorities\u00a0carried<\/a>\u00a0out large-scale raids, targeting Bagdad leadership, after a year-long investigation, which involved tapping phones, identifying front businesses and money laundering techniques. It is uncertain how Bagdad will be able to stand up to such pressure.<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
According to my contacts these groups\/gangs are operating in some capacity here in the U.S. either as drug couriers, enforcers or in human trafficking. Most all of them are felons with violent records for murder, rape and assault. Stay Sharp and Know Your Enemy. Barrio 18 The 18th Street Gang, also known as…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[5150,2636,6896,2351,2717,13,74,3688,4892,7372,3986],"tags":[9740,16732,8490,7177,7984,7190,6949,5803,4090,3781],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70632"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70642,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632\/revisions\/70642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
In 2018, Powell Rodriguez was\u00a0arrested in Dubai<\/a>\u00a0and extradited to Panama on charges of transnational drug trafficking but was\u00a0released<\/a>\u00a0in March 2019. In May 2020, Panamanian police were\u00a0searching<\/a>\u00a0for him once again.<\/h3>\nIn 2021, Camargo Clarke was out of jail once more and was one of the main\u00a0targets<\/a>\u00a0of Operation Neptune, a joint investigation into Bagdad by Panamanian authorities and the US Drug Enforcement Administration. He appeared to flee the country with other senior Bagdad commanders to avoid arrest.<\/h3>\nCamargo Clarke was\u00a0finally arrested<\/a>\u00a0in February 2022 in Costa Rica. He is awaiting extradition to the United States.<\/h3>\nGeography<\/h3>\nOriginally based in Panama City, Bagdad is now strongest across the canal in West Panama province, which borders with Panama City, Col\u00f3n and the Pacific Ocean. The violent territorial conflict between Bagdad and Calor Calor has expanded from Panama City into West Panama, where drug shipments enter and leave from La Chorrera coastal area.<\/h3>\nBagdad and Calor Calor members often live in close proximity.<\/h3>\nAllies and Enemies<\/h3>\nBagdad is made up of numerous youth gangs. Groups that have been described as allies of Bagdad include \u201cEl Pent\u00e1gono,\u201d \u201cVietnam 23,\u201d and \u201cNadie ta\u2019 Bien.\u201d Its main rival is Calor Calor, itself an agglomeration of groups.<\/h3>\nThe two organizations are the biggest criminal blocs in Panama and their rivalry centers around control of\u00a0strategically located ports<\/a>, shares of the international drug trade, especially the European market and over the personal rivalry between Yunya and the leader of Calor Calor, Eduardo Macea, alias Marshall.<\/h3>\nYunya and Marshall started out working together under Juan Vicente Blandford, alias El P\u00e1tron Juancito, but began fighting in 2014, when members of Calor Calor\u2019s structure moved to Bagdad. Yunya has the reputation of being the less violent of the two criminals, while Marshall has a reputation for ruthlessness. \u00a0El P\u00e1tron Juancito\u00a0was captured<\/a>\u00a0in 2019, but is, reportedly, still trying to unite the two from within prison.<\/h3>\nSince 2019, Bagdad has also had to deal with an\u00a0internal rift<\/a>, as one of its member-gangs, Matar o Morir (Kill or Be Killed \u2013 MOM) kept a shipment of drugs for themselves as a declaration of independence.<\/h3>\nIn December of 2019 Bagdad retaliated by orchestrating a\u00a0shootout in La Joyita<\/a>, one of Panama\u2019s largest high-security prisons. One group of prisoners opened fire on another, using high-caliber assault weapons and leaving 15 dead and 11 more injured.<\/h3>\nThe incident became known as the \u201cLa Joyita Massacre,\u201d and has set off a wave violence that both continues to\u00a0flare up<\/a>\u00a0in the La Joya prison complex, but which has also spilled into the\u00a0streets of Panama Oeste<\/a>\u00a0and caused homicides rates to skyrocket.<\/h3>\nSince then, Bagdad has drawn the\u00a0wrong kind of attention<\/a>\u00a0from the DEA, which has a long track record of dismantling drug gangs in Central America once they reach a certain size.<\/h3>\nProspects<\/h3>\nBagdad\u2019s operations in transnational drug trafficking have become more sophisticated and its role has changed from a subordinate to a subcontractor that brokers shipment of drugs for Colombian and Mexican groups through Panama and beyond, according to InSight Crime field research. Though Bagdad is likely to remain a middleman in the transnational drug trade, the business is lucrative, and the stakes are getting higher.<\/h3>\nBecause\u00a0there is more money<\/a>\u00a0to be made than when they were first formed Bagdad, as well as its rival Calor Calor, has\u00a0responded by consolidating<\/a>\u00a0power and upping the violence.<\/h3>\nHowever, the scale of violence involved in the La Joyita massacre may have marked a turning point. In April 2021, US and Panamanian authorities\u00a0carried<\/a>\u00a0out large-scale raids, targeting Bagdad leadership, after a year-long investigation, which involved tapping phones, identifying front businesses and money laundering techniques. It is uncertain how Bagdad will be able to stand up to such pressure.<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
According to my contacts these groups\/gangs are operating in some capacity here in the U.S. either as drug couriers, enforcers or in human trafficking. Most all of them are felons with violent records for murder, rape and assault. Stay Sharp and Know Your Enemy. Barrio 18 The 18th Street Gang, also known as…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[5150,2636,6896,2351,2717,13,74,3688,4892,7372,3986],"tags":[9740,16732,8490,7177,7984,7190,6949,5803,4090,3781],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70632"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70642,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632\/revisions\/70642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Camargo Clarke was\u00a0finally arrested<\/a>\u00a0in February 2022 in Costa Rica. He is awaiting extradition to the United States.<\/h3>\nGeography<\/h3>\nOriginally based in Panama City, Bagdad is now strongest across the canal in West Panama province, which borders with Panama City, Col\u00f3n and the Pacific Ocean. The violent territorial conflict between Bagdad and Calor Calor has expanded from Panama City into West Panama, where drug shipments enter and leave from La Chorrera coastal area.<\/h3>\nBagdad and Calor Calor members often live in close proximity.<\/h3>\nAllies and Enemies<\/h3>\nBagdad is made up of numerous youth gangs. Groups that have been described as allies of Bagdad include \u201cEl Pent\u00e1gono,\u201d \u201cVietnam 23,\u201d and \u201cNadie ta\u2019 Bien.\u201d Its main rival is Calor Calor, itself an agglomeration of groups.<\/h3>\nThe two organizations are the biggest criminal blocs in Panama and their rivalry centers around control of\u00a0strategically located ports<\/a>, shares of the international drug trade, especially the European market and over the personal rivalry between Yunya and the leader of Calor Calor, Eduardo Macea, alias Marshall.<\/h3>\nYunya and Marshall started out working together under Juan Vicente Blandford, alias El P\u00e1tron Juancito, but began fighting in 2014, when members of Calor Calor\u2019s structure moved to Bagdad. Yunya has the reputation of being the less violent of the two criminals, while Marshall has a reputation for ruthlessness. \u00a0El P\u00e1tron Juancito\u00a0was captured<\/a>\u00a0in 2019, but is, reportedly, still trying to unite the two from within prison.<\/h3>\nSince 2019, Bagdad has also had to deal with an\u00a0internal rift<\/a>, as one of its member-gangs, Matar o Morir (Kill or Be Killed \u2013 MOM) kept a shipment of drugs for themselves as a declaration of independence.<\/h3>\nIn December of 2019 Bagdad retaliated by orchestrating a\u00a0shootout in La Joyita<\/a>, one of Panama\u2019s largest high-security prisons. One group of prisoners opened fire on another, using high-caliber assault weapons and leaving 15 dead and 11 more injured.<\/h3>\nThe incident became known as the \u201cLa Joyita Massacre,\u201d and has set off a wave violence that both continues to\u00a0flare up<\/a>\u00a0in the La Joya prison complex, but which has also spilled into the\u00a0streets of Panama Oeste<\/a>\u00a0and caused homicides rates to skyrocket.<\/h3>\nSince then, Bagdad has drawn the\u00a0wrong kind of attention<\/a>\u00a0from the DEA, which has a long track record of dismantling drug gangs in Central America once they reach a certain size.<\/h3>\nProspects<\/h3>\nBagdad\u2019s operations in transnational drug trafficking have become more sophisticated and its role has changed from a subordinate to a subcontractor that brokers shipment of drugs for Colombian and Mexican groups through Panama and beyond, according to InSight Crime field research. Though Bagdad is likely to remain a middleman in the transnational drug trade, the business is lucrative, and the stakes are getting higher.<\/h3>\nBecause\u00a0there is more money<\/a>\u00a0to be made than when they were first formed Bagdad, as well as its rival Calor Calor, has\u00a0responded by consolidating<\/a>\u00a0power and upping the violence.<\/h3>\nHowever, the scale of violence involved in the La Joyita massacre may have marked a turning point. In April 2021, US and Panamanian authorities\u00a0carried<\/a>\u00a0out large-scale raids, targeting Bagdad leadership, after a year-long investigation, which involved tapping phones, identifying front businesses and money laundering techniques. It is uncertain how Bagdad will be able to stand up to such pressure.<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
According to my contacts these groups\/gangs are operating in some capacity here in the U.S. either as drug couriers, enforcers or in human trafficking. Most all of them are felons with violent records for murder, rape and assault. Stay Sharp and Know Your Enemy. Barrio 18 The 18th Street Gang, also known as…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[5150,2636,6896,2351,2717,13,74,3688,4892,7372,3986],"tags":[9740,16732,8490,7177,7984,7190,6949,5803,4090,3781],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70632"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70642,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632\/revisions\/70642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Originally based in Panama City, Bagdad is now strongest across the canal in West Panama province, which borders with Panama City, Col\u00f3n and the Pacific Ocean. The violent territorial conflict between Bagdad and Calor Calor has expanded from Panama City into West Panama, where drug shipments enter and leave from La Chorrera coastal area.<\/h3>\nBagdad and Calor Calor members often live in close proximity.<\/h3>\nAllies and Enemies<\/h3>\nBagdad is made up of numerous youth gangs. Groups that have been described as allies of Bagdad include \u201cEl Pent\u00e1gono,\u201d \u201cVietnam 23,\u201d and \u201cNadie ta\u2019 Bien.\u201d Its main rival is Calor Calor, itself an agglomeration of groups.<\/h3>\nThe two organizations are the biggest criminal blocs in Panama and their rivalry centers around control of\u00a0strategically located ports<\/a>, shares of the international drug trade, especially the European market and over the personal rivalry between Yunya and the leader of Calor Calor, Eduardo Macea, alias Marshall.<\/h3>\nYunya and Marshall started out working together under Juan Vicente Blandford, alias El P\u00e1tron Juancito, but began fighting in 2014, when members of Calor Calor\u2019s structure moved to Bagdad. Yunya has the reputation of being the less violent of the two criminals, while Marshall has a reputation for ruthlessness. \u00a0El P\u00e1tron Juancito\u00a0was captured<\/a>\u00a0in 2019, but is, reportedly, still trying to unite the two from within prison.<\/h3>\nSince 2019, Bagdad has also had to deal with an\u00a0internal rift<\/a>, as one of its member-gangs, Matar o Morir (Kill or Be Killed \u2013 MOM) kept a shipment of drugs for themselves as a declaration of independence.<\/h3>\nIn December of 2019 Bagdad retaliated by orchestrating a\u00a0shootout in La Joyita<\/a>, one of Panama\u2019s largest high-security prisons. One group of prisoners opened fire on another, using high-caliber assault weapons and leaving 15 dead and 11 more injured.<\/h3>\nThe incident became known as the \u201cLa Joyita Massacre,\u201d and has set off a wave violence that both continues to\u00a0flare up<\/a>\u00a0in the La Joya prison complex, but which has also spilled into the\u00a0streets of Panama Oeste<\/a>\u00a0and caused homicides rates to skyrocket.<\/h3>\nSince then, Bagdad has drawn the\u00a0wrong kind of attention<\/a>\u00a0from the DEA, which has a long track record of dismantling drug gangs in Central America once they reach a certain size.<\/h3>\nProspects<\/h3>\nBagdad\u2019s operations in transnational drug trafficking have become more sophisticated and its role has changed from a subordinate to a subcontractor that brokers shipment of drugs for Colombian and Mexican groups through Panama and beyond, according to InSight Crime field research. Though Bagdad is likely to remain a middleman in the transnational drug trade, the business is lucrative, and the stakes are getting higher.<\/h3>\nBecause\u00a0there is more money<\/a>\u00a0to be made than when they were first formed Bagdad, as well as its rival Calor Calor, has\u00a0responded by consolidating<\/a>\u00a0power and upping the violence.<\/h3>\nHowever, the scale of violence involved in the La Joyita massacre may have marked a turning point. In April 2021, US and Panamanian authorities\u00a0carried<\/a>\u00a0out large-scale raids, targeting Bagdad leadership, after a year-long investigation, which involved tapping phones, identifying front businesses and money laundering techniques. It is uncertain how Bagdad will be able to stand up to such pressure.<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
According to my contacts these groups\/gangs are operating in some capacity here in the U.S. either as drug couriers, enforcers or in human trafficking. Most all of them are felons with violent records for murder, rape and assault. Stay Sharp and Know Your Enemy. Barrio 18 The 18th Street Gang, also known as…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[5150,2636,6896,2351,2717,13,74,3688,4892,7372,3986],"tags":[9740,16732,8490,7177,7984,7190,6949,5803,4090,3781],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70632"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70642,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632\/revisions\/70642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Allies and Enemies<\/h3>\nBagdad is made up of numerous youth gangs. Groups that have been described as allies of Bagdad include \u201cEl Pent\u00e1gono,\u201d \u201cVietnam 23,\u201d and \u201cNadie ta\u2019 Bien.\u201d Its main rival is Calor Calor, itself an agglomeration of groups.<\/h3>\nThe two organizations are the biggest criminal blocs in Panama and their rivalry centers around control of\u00a0strategically located ports<\/a>, shares of the international drug trade, especially the European market and over the personal rivalry between Yunya and the leader of Calor Calor, Eduardo Macea, alias Marshall.<\/h3>\nYunya and Marshall started out working together under Juan Vicente Blandford, alias El P\u00e1tron Juancito, but began fighting in 2014, when members of Calor Calor\u2019s structure moved to Bagdad. Yunya has the reputation of being the less violent of the two criminals, while Marshall has a reputation for ruthlessness. \u00a0El P\u00e1tron Juancito\u00a0was captured<\/a>\u00a0in 2019, but is, reportedly, still trying to unite the two from within prison.<\/h3>\nSince 2019, Bagdad has also had to deal with an\u00a0internal rift<\/a>, as one of its member-gangs, Matar o Morir (Kill or Be Killed \u2013 MOM) kept a shipment of drugs for themselves as a declaration of independence.<\/h3>\nIn December of 2019 Bagdad retaliated by orchestrating a\u00a0shootout in La Joyita<\/a>, one of Panama\u2019s largest high-security prisons. One group of prisoners opened fire on another, using high-caliber assault weapons and leaving 15 dead and 11 more injured.<\/h3>\nThe incident became known as the \u201cLa Joyita Massacre,\u201d and has set off a wave violence that both continues to\u00a0flare up<\/a>\u00a0in the La Joya prison complex, but which has also spilled into the\u00a0streets of Panama Oeste<\/a>\u00a0and caused homicides rates to skyrocket.<\/h3>\nSince then, Bagdad has drawn the\u00a0wrong kind of attention<\/a>\u00a0from the DEA, which has a long track record of dismantling drug gangs in Central America once they reach a certain size.<\/h3>\nProspects<\/h3>\nBagdad\u2019s operations in transnational drug trafficking have become more sophisticated and its role has changed from a subordinate to a subcontractor that brokers shipment of drugs for Colombian and Mexican groups through Panama and beyond, according to InSight Crime field research. Though Bagdad is likely to remain a middleman in the transnational drug trade, the business is lucrative, and the stakes are getting higher.<\/h3>\nBecause\u00a0there is more money<\/a>\u00a0to be made than when they were first formed Bagdad, as well as its rival Calor Calor, has\u00a0responded by consolidating<\/a>\u00a0power and upping the violence.<\/h3>\nHowever, the scale of violence involved in the La Joyita massacre may have marked a turning point. In April 2021, US and Panamanian authorities\u00a0carried<\/a>\u00a0out large-scale raids, targeting Bagdad leadership, after a year-long investigation, which involved tapping phones, identifying front businesses and money laundering techniques. It is uncertain how Bagdad will be able to stand up to such pressure.<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
According to my contacts these groups\/gangs are operating in some capacity here in the U.S. either as drug couriers, enforcers or in human trafficking. Most all of them are felons with violent records for murder, rape and assault. Stay Sharp and Know Your Enemy. Barrio 18 The 18th Street Gang, also known as…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[5150,2636,6896,2351,2717,13,74,3688,4892,7372,3986],"tags":[9740,16732,8490,7177,7984,7190,6949,5803,4090,3781],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70632"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70642,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632\/revisions\/70642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
The two organizations are the biggest criminal blocs in Panama and their rivalry centers around control of\u00a0strategically located ports<\/a>, shares of the international drug trade, especially the European market and over the personal rivalry between Yunya and the leader of Calor Calor, Eduardo Macea, alias Marshall.<\/h3>\nYunya and Marshall started out working together under Juan Vicente Blandford, alias El P\u00e1tron Juancito, but began fighting in 2014, when members of Calor Calor\u2019s structure moved to Bagdad. Yunya has the reputation of being the less violent of the two criminals, while Marshall has a reputation for ruthlessness. \u00a0El P\u00e1tron Juancito\u00a0was captured<\/a>\u00a0in 2019, but is, reportedly, still trying to unite the two from within prison.<\/h3>\nSince 2019, Bagdad has also had to deal with an\u00a0internal rift<\/a>, as one of its member-gangs, Matar o Morir (Kill or Be Killed \u2013 MOM) kept a shipment of drugs for themselves as a declaration of independence.<\/h3>\nIn December of 2019 Bagdad retaliated by orchestrating a\u00a0shootout in La Joyita<\/a>, one of Panama\u2019s largest high-security prisons. One group of prisoners opened fire on another, using high-caliber assault weapons and leaving 15 dead and 11 more injured.<\/h3>\nThe incident became known as the \u201cLa Joyita Massacre,\u201d and has set off a wave violence that both continues to\u00a0flare up<\/a>\u00a0in the La Joya prison complex, but which has also spilled into the\u00a0streets of Panama Oeste<\/a>\u00a0and caused homicides rates to skyrocket.<\/h3>\nSince then, Bagdad has drawn the\u00a0wrong kind of attention<\/a>\u00a0from the DEA, which has a long track record of dismantling drug gangs in Central America once they reach a certain size.<\/h3>\nProspects<\/h3>\nBagdad\u2019s operations in transnational drug trafficking have become more sophisticated and its role has changed from a subordinate to a subcontractor that brokers shipment of drugs for Colombian and Mexican groups through Panama and beyond, according to InSight Crime field research. Though Bagdad is likely to remain a middleman in the transnational drug trade, the business is lucrative, and the stakes are getting higher.<\/h3>\nBecause\u00a0there is more money<\/a>\u00a0to be made than when they were first formed Bagdad, as well as its rival Calor Calor, has\u00a0responded by consolidating<\/a>\u00a0power and upping the violence.<\/h3>\nHowever, the scale of violence involved in the La Joyita massacre may have marked a turning point. In April 2021, US and Panamanian authorities\u00a0carried<\/a>\u00a0out large-scale raids, targeting Bagdad leadership, after a year-long investigation, which involved tapping phones, identifying front businesses and money laundering techniques. It is uncertain how Bagdad will be able to stand up to such pressure.<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
According to my contacts these groups\/gangs are operating in some capacity here in the U.S. either as drug couriers, enforcers or in human trafficking. Most all of them are felons with violent records for murder, rape and assault. Stay Sharp and Know Your Enemy. Barrio 18 The 18th Street Gang, also known as…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[5150,2636,6896,2351,2717,13,74,3688,4892,7372,3986],"tags":[9740,16732,8490,7177,7984,7190,6949,5803,4090,3781],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70632"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70642,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632\/revisions\/70642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Since 2019, Bagdad has also had to deal with an\u00a0internal rift<\/a>, as one of its member-gangs, Matar o Morir (Kill or Be Killed \u2013 MOM) kept a shipment of drugs for themselves as a declaration of independence.<\/h3>\nIn December of 2019 Bagdad retaliated by orchestrating a\u00a0shootout in La Joyita<\/a>, one of Panama\u2019s largest high-security prisons. One group of prisoners opened fire on another, using high-caliber assault weapons and leaving 15 dead and 11 more injured.<\/h3>\nThe incident became known as the \u201cLa Joyita Massacre,\u201d and has set off a wave violence that both continues to\u00a0flare up<\/a>\u00a0in the La Joya prison complex, but which has also spilled into the\u00a0streets of Panama Oeste<\/a>\u00a0and caused homicides rates to skyrocket.<\/h3>\nSince then, Bagdad has drawn the\u00a0wrong kind of attention<\/a>\u00a0from the DEA, which has a long track record of dismantling drug gangs in Central America once they reach a certain size.<\/h3>\nProspects<\/h3>\nBagdad\u2019s operations in transnational drug trafficking have become more sophisticated and its role has changed from a subordinate to a subcontractor that brokers shipment of drugs for Colombian and Mexican groups through Panama and beyond, according to InSight Crime field research. Though Bagdad is likely to remain a middleman in the transnational drug trade, the business is lucrative, and the stakes are getting higher.<\/h3>\nBecause\u00a0there is more money<\/a>\u00a0to be made than when they were first formed Bagdad, as well as its rival Calor Calor, has\u00a0responded by consolidating<\/a>\u00a0power and upping the violence.<\/h3>\nHowever, the scale of violence involved in the La Joyita massacre may have marked a turning point. In April 2021, US and Panamanian authorities\u00a0carried<\/a>\u00a0out large-scale raids, targeting Bagdad leadership, after a year-long investigation, which involved tapping phones, identifying front businesses and money laundering techniques. It is uncertain how Bagdad will be able to stand up to such pressure.<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
According to my contacts these groups\/gangs are operating in some capacity here in the U.S. either as drug couriers, enforcers or in human trafficking. Most all of them are felons with violent records for murder, rape and assault. Stay Sharp and Know Your Enemy. Barrio 18 The 18th Street Gang, also known as…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[5150,2636,6896,2351,2717,13,74,3688,4892,7372,3986],"tags":[9740,16732,8490,7177,7984,7190,6949,5803,4090,3781],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70632"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70642,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632\/revisions\/70642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
The incident became known as the \u201cLa Joyita Massacre,\u201d and has set off a wave violence that both continues to\u00a0flare up<\/a>\u00a0in the La Joya prison complex, but which has also spilled into the\u00a0streets of Panama Oeste<\/a>\u00a0and caused homicides rates to skyrocket.<\/h3>\nSince then, Bagdad has drawn the\u00a0wrong kind of attention<\/a>\u00a0from the DEA, which has a long track record of dismantling drug gangs in Central America once they reach a certain size.<\/h3>\nProspects<\/h3>\nBagdad\u2019s operations in transnational drug trafficking have become more sophisticated and its role has changed from a subordinate to a subcontractor that brokers shipment of drugs for Colombian and Mexican groups through Panama and beyond, according to InSight Crime field research. Though Bagdad is likely to remain a middleman in the transnational drug trade, the business is lucrative, and the stakes are getting higher.<\/h3>\nBecause\u00a0there is more money<\/a>\u00a0to be made than when they were first formed Bagdad, as well as its rival Calor Calor, has\u00a0responded by consolidating<\/a>\u00a0power and upping the violence.<\/h3>\nHowever, the scale of violence involved in the La Joyita massacre may have marked a turning point. In April 2021, US and Panamanian authorities\u00a0carried<\/a>\u00a0out large-scale raids, targeting Bagdad leadership, after a year-long investigation, which involved tapping phones, identifying front businesses and money laundering techniques. It is uncertain how Bagdad will be able to stand up to such pressure.<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
According to my contacts these groups\/gangs are operating in some capacity here in the U.S. either as drug couriers, enforcers or in human trafficking. Most all of them are felons with violent records for murder, rape and assault. Stay Sharp and Know Your Enemy. Barrio 18 The 18th Street Gang, also known as…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[5150,2636,6896,2351,2717,13,74,3688,4892,7372,3986],"tags":[9740,16732,8490,7177,7984,7190,6949,5803,4090,3781],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70632"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70642,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632\/revisions\/70642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Prospects<\/h3>\nBagdad\u2019s operations in transnational drug trafficking have become more sophisticated and its role has changed from a subordinate to a subcontractor that brokers shipment of drugs for Colombian and Mexican groups through Panama and beyond, according to InSight Crime field research. Though Bagdad is likely to remain a middleman in the transnational drug trade, the business is lucrative, and the stakes are getting higher.<\/h3>\nBecause\u00a0there is more money<\/a>\u00a0to be made than when they were first formed Bagdad, as well as its rival Calor Calor, has\u00a0responded by consolidating<\/a>\u00a0power and upping the violence.<\/h3>\nHowever, the scale of violence involved in the La Joyita massacre may have marked a turning point. In April 2021, US and Panamanian authorities\u00a0carried<\/a>\u00a0out large-scale raids, targeting Bagdad leadership, after a year-long investigation, which involved tapping phones, identifying front businesses and money laundering techniques. It is uncertain how Bagdad will be able to stand up to such pressure.<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
According to my contacts these groups\/gangs are operating in some capacity here in the U.S. either as drug couriers, enforcers or in human trafficking. Most all of them are felons with violent records for murder, rape and assault. Stay Sharp and Know Your Enemy. Barrio 18 The 18th Street Gang, also known as…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[5150,2636,6896,2351,2717,13,74,3688,4892,7372,3986],"tags":[9740,16732,8490,7177,7984,7190,6949,5803,4090,3781],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70632"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70642,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632\/revisions\/70642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Because\u00a0there is more money<\/a>\u00a0to be made than when they were first formed Bagdad, as well as its rival Calor Calor, has\u00a0responded by consolidating<\/a>\u00a0power and upping the violence.<\/h3>\nHowever, the scale of violence involved in the La Joyita massacre may have marked a turning point. In April 2021, US and Panamanian authorities\u00a0carried<\/a>\u00a0out large-scale raids, targeting Bagdad leadership, after a year-long investigation, which involved tapping phones, identifying front businesses and money laundering techniques. It is uncertain how Bagdad will be able to stand up to such pressure.<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n
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According to my contacts these groups\/gangs are operating in some capacity here in the U.S. either as drug couriers, enforcers or in human trafficking. Most all of them are felons with violent records for murder, rape and assault. Stay Sharp and Know Your Enemy. Barrio 18 The 18th Street Gang, also known as…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[5150,2636,6896,2351,2717,13,74,3688,4892,7372,3986],"tags":[9740,16732,8490,7177,7984,7190,6949,5803,4090,3781],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70632"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70642,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632\/revisions\/70642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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According to my contacts these groups\/gangs are operating in some capacity here in the U.S. either as drug couriers, enforcers or in human trafficking. Most all of them are felons with violent records for murder, rape and assault. Stay Sharp and Know Your Enemy. Barrio 18 The 18th Street Gang, also known as…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[5150,2636,6896,2351,2717,13,74,3688,4892,7372,3986],"tags":[9740,16732,8490,7177,7984,7190,6949,5803,4090,3781],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70632"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70642,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70632\/revisions\/70642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}