In a Friday press conference and presentation Mexico's Federal Police announced the capture of Victor Manuel Rivera Galeana, "Victor El Gordo", a co-founder and top operator of the La Barredora criminal organization.
La Barredora and CIDA (Cartel Indpendiente de Acapulco) are the two ultra-violent, local criminal organizations locked in a vicious battle for control of the retail drug market, extortion and kidnapping in Acapulco, Guerrero, one of Mexico's top tourist destinations and now one of the country's bloodiest cities.
Rivera Galeana, 35 years old and a native of Acapulco, was captured in Edomex (the state of Mexico that borders Mexico City).
This is the second arrest of a top La Barredora operator within the past month. Christian Hernández Tarín, "El Chris", another co-founder of La Barredora, was arrested on the 18th of October.
Jair Sosa Carbajal, "El Cremas", the third co-founder and leader of La Barredora, remains at large.
La Barredora is thought to be largely responsible for the extortion and kidnapping threats to Acapulco's school teachers that have paralyzed the city's schools.
La Barredora's rival, CIDA, has also been hard hit by arrests and attacks from La Barredora and is believed to have joined forces with Hector Beltran Leyva's Cartel del Pacifico Sur and Los Zetas.
La Barredora was originally a faction of CIDA that broke away in late 2010. Both gangs are composed of drug dealers and sicarios from cells once loyal to both Sergio Villarreal Barragan, “El Grande” and Édgar Valdez Villarreal, “La Barbie”, former top lieutenants in the Beltran Leyva Organization.
Acapulco, a city of aproximately 800,000 inhabitants, has suffered 746 murders from January to the end of August, 2011, according to figures released by the Sistema Nacional de Seguridad Publica (SNSP), a federal government agency responsible for the coordination of law enforcement policy.
The numbers game
A Mexican NGO, the Consejo Ciudadano para la Seguridad Publica y Justicia Penal (Citizen's Council on Public Security and Criminal Justice), published a report in October that concluded, by the end of 2011, Acapulco will overtake Ciudad Juarez as the world's most violent city.
Using projections based on SNSP figures for homicides per municipality from January 2011 to August 2011, the report predicted that Acapulco will end the year with a homicide rate of 139.11 (murders/100,000 inhabitants).
The report predicted that Ciudad Juarez's homicide rate will drop to 118.46
The report also predicted that 19 Mexican cities will rank within the world's 50 most violent large cities by the end of 2011.
The report calculated a national homicide rate for Mexico of 25.5 murders/100,000 inhabitants, much higher than the latest official SNSP figure of 11.6 murders/100,000 inhabitants for the year 2008.
(Table below- Mexican cities that will probably rank in world's 50 most violent cities in 2011:
entidad-state, municipio-city, datos SNSP-government homicide figures Jan-Aug 2011, proy-estimated homicides for Jan-Dec 2011, pob. proyec-estimated population, Tasa-homicide rate (murders/100,000 inhabitants)
download a pdf file of the study here:
http://www.seguridadjusticiaypaz.org.mx/biblioteca/view.download/4/106
Sources:
http://eleconomista.com.mx/seguridad-publica/2011/11/04/cae-lideres-cartel-que-operaba-acapulco
http://www.cronica.com.mx/nota.php?id_nota=615531
http://www.secretariadoejecutivo.gob.mx/es/SecretariadoEjecutivo/Guerrero_
http://www.secretariadoejecutivo.gob.mx/es/SecretariadoEjecutivo/Incidencia_Delictiva_a_Nivel_Municipal
http://www.seguridadjusticiaypaz.org.mx/sala-de-prensa/495-el-38-de-las-ciudades-mas-violentas-del-mundo-ya-se-situa-en-mexico
http://www.seguridadjusticiaypaz.org/temas-de-interes/seguridad/499-estiman-en-mexico-19-ciudades-violentas
http://www.secretariadoejecutivo.gob.mx/es/SecretariadoEjecutivo/Paises_segun_la_tasa_de_homicidio_por_cien_mil_habitantes
I will never be able to enjoy burying my friends in the sand up tontheor necks at the beach anymore. Thanks, la Barredora!!
ReplyDeletecan someone please translate the chart? thx
ReplyDeleteThat guy looks like a fat Mexican version of Prince. Sad that only a hand full of people have ruined what was once a beautiful and safe vacation spot. Hard to imagine all those resorts empty, and the lost revenue from these guys not being able to stay underground. You would think that the 2/3rds of the town that once depended on the tourism who are now in poverty would do all they can to exterminate this cancer from their city. I forgot. Guns are illegal, and only the bad guys are immune from laws.
ReplyDeleteYum, I'm eating lunch too... Always a great idea to visit BB while chowing down.
ReplyDeleteThe heads pic seems a bit gratuitous unless they are directly and specifically related to the story which they don't seem to be. The faces are clearly identifiable and not overly smashed up like in many photos of this nature.
Good info on the escalating violence just the same.
Does anyone really believe the predicted drop in homicide rate for Juarez? Remember, we are probably not hearing the full disclosure or reporting of all homicides. It would have to be juxtaposed and calculated against those who just "disappear" as well.
Finally, when one is captured or killed, another steps into the vacuum. Nothing I can think of will change that. At least nothing that will happen anytime soon. Probably not in our lifetimes. Because nothing can replace the lure for some at this kind of chance at fast "easy" money.
Acapulco is such a sickening display of the worst human characteristics and instincts, like rabid animals fighting tooth and nail for a bone. I doubt this changes much, but it is a good thing, can't criticize this. There are too many gangs that seem to feed off the lower level crime in Acapulco for this too stop.
ReplyDeleteI just finish reading a news article in Spanish, and the article says, he was arrested in the state of Mexico because he moved out of Acapulco because the violence in Acapulco was to intense.
ReplyDeleteAlmost all the leaders are getting arrested in the State of Mexico. It's funny...a few female friends of mine who live in Aca recently are only in Mex City now and one in particular was very suspicious girl from Sinaloa with lots of casholla on hand....Now I know why she's gotten out of town. The city is in shambles...There are many Hable Bien De Aca folks still with their heads in the sand, but it is what it is. It's almost hard for those of us who frequent the city to imagine the decline, but we have witnessed it over the past few years...Most in my circles are not going this year.
ReplyDeleteSomeone mentioned the 2/3rds now forced into poverty because of these crimes doing everything they can to extinguish the vermin......Guess again my friend and I quote from a female friend recently
"Today I so scared, somebody pull gun on me because you country want to buy the drugs" Still with the anti US rhetoric to the extent I actually have lost sympathy for many locals with a stupid attitude. Most of Aca's mess is local extortion of the population and owning the local drug sales including drugs, pirated cd,dvd and the list goes on. Most has nothing to do with actually real trafficking.....Until the realize they have a corrupt system of government more so in that state than others and realize the socia moral breakdown, they won't fix the problem. Another issue is now the military is everywhere and what do people do??? They reiterate stupidity from the archbishop and media about human rights and how they should not have military....I mean please! The stupidity and ignorance at times runs so thick that you almost lose hope and sympathy.