Northeast Mexico: Cartels don't believe in a change of administration

Proceso (3-29-13)

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Translated by un vato for Borderland Beat

The narcos have shown that they do not believe in a change of government. Far from lying low to wait for a new government strategy for dealing with them, criminal organizations continue to dispute territories amongst themselves and, within their organizations, for their respective leaderships. Since Tuesday, (March) 19, Monclova, Coahuila and Reynosa, Tamaulipas, were the scene of  violent confrontations between cartels that, with no government authority able to suppress them, see the entire region as booty that will go to the most bloodthirsty among them.  

SALTILLO, Coahuila (Proceso).-- In recent weeks, Ciudad Victoria, Gomez Palacio and Monclova were transformed into the most violent cities in Coahuila, causing this state to join Tamaulipas and Durango as the most violent in the region.

Recent splits within the cartels that control the territories -- the Gulf, Sinaloa and the Zetas cartels-- are taking violence to levels similar to those in Torreon, Reynosa and Monterrey.

Beginning at 6:30 a.m. on Tuesday, March 19, there were reports of confrontations in Monclova  between criminal groups using grenades and high power weapons. Afterwards, Federal Police and Army troops intervened in the fight.

City residents informed Proceso that skirmishes broke out simultaneously at several points in the metropolitan area, which includes the municipalities of Monclova, Castanos and Frontera.

Minutes prior to 7:00 a.m., dozens of young men began to seize trucks, trailers and cars from drivers to use them to block the main streets and place as obstacles to prevent the arrival of federal forces.

"They used city buses to block the entrance to Monclova, at Castanos," says a woman who was interviewed. The same thing happened in places like Harold Pape Blvd., which runs through the three municipalities, where the federal forces pursued and exchanged fire with criminal gangs.

The State Office of Attorney General (PGJE: Procuraduria General de Justicia del Estado) reported only one of the confrontations between gunmen: "At 7:45 a.m., it was reported that in Socrates Street in Colonia Tecnologico there was a confrontation between armed civilians.

When the Federal Police got there, they were received with gunfire. At this location, a Federal Police officer dies (sic) as a result of gunfire," says the report.

(The report) also revealed that, in addition, the police secured a house in Socrates Street, where they found an AK-47 and an AR-15, eight loaded magazines and a .40 caliber grenade, also including a Jetta car without license plates (in which were found two full magazines) and a Pacifica pickup.

Hundreds of residents were trapped by the gun battles on the way to work. Schools suspended classes; students and teachers already at the schools threw themselves on the floor to avoid being hit by bullets.

Monclova Mayor Melchor Sanchez reported that 250 municipal police were deployed to protect school buildings and to prevent students from leaving,. After the confrontations ended, around 10:00 a.m., the public official confirmed that "he had reports of several killed."

For one of the witnesses, "the gunfire sounded stronger in Frontera." In that municipality, other witnesses interviewed said that "around 20" bodies were left lying on the streets and "were then  picked up by soldiers."

The gunshots and explosions lasted approximately two hours. Although official reports only reported one Federal policeman killed and one civilian wounded, conservative estimates by the residents state there were around 40 killed.

Monclova [at left] and its metropolitan zone are under the iron grip of Los Zetas, and is part of its border corridor from Ciudad Acuna to Piedras Negras. Also, it was at one time the refuge of Heriberto Lazcano, El Z-14.

This gang's control is such that when a guest arrives at one of the many underground clubs it owns, the host welcomes customers with this basic information: "You are coming into a business (owned) by the Compania." And he offers them "products" and shows them special places where they  can be consumed.

To this day, it is not known whether the men who came to "heat up the plaza" for the Zetas were from the Gulf or Sinaloa cartel, or both.

On Tuesday afternoon, March 19, they had not even finished picking up evidence in Monclova when there were reports of narco blockades and gun fights in Reynosa, Tamaulipas.

According to the State attorney general's office, "at 1730 hours, in the City of Reynosa, there were reports of confrontations between armed civilian groups, causing street blockades and one person wounded, a young woman who was a bystander." The victim, 16 years old, was shot in the leg and taken to a Social Security hospital for treatment.

                 

"The events took place on several streets in the Colonia Balcones de Alcala and, to prevent law enforcement forces from intervening, the armed groups blocked (the streets)," concluded the Tamaulipas government agency.

The criminals closed off all access into Colonia Balcones in that manner. When the military troops arrived, they had to stop and listen to the volleys of gunfire coming from a street where gunmen overran a home and its residents. It was the second confrontation of that nature reported this month.

On Sunday night, (March) 10th, right at 11:00 p.m., hundreds of armed individuals who were traveling in caravans of up to 30 pickups exchanged gun fire and grenade attacks until sunrise at several points in the city, including areas adjacent to the international bridges to the United States.

Hour prior to that, Gulf Cartel men led by Miguel El Gringo Villarreal stole about 18 pickups from six dealerships and used them in their battles. However, the Tamaulipas attorney general reported that the final result was "one collateral victim." In addition, a minor was injured while riding in the car with his father.

The official version was contradicted by a police source who informed the McAllen, Texas,  newspaper, the  Monitor, that the fighting left at least "thirty dead." The source added that the new wave of violence was the result of a power struggle in the Gulf Cartel: 

"The most recent internal disputes have immersed the city of Reynosa in shootings, like the one that took place on March 10, which lasted 3 hours, between factions of the Gulf Cartel loyal to Mario Pelon Ramirez and the groups with Miguel El Gringo Villarreal," explained the source.

                          Reynosa Below

According to the same source, the shooting started when Pelon Ramirez ordered his gunmen to erase El Gringo Villarreal and promised that they could keep whatever they could grab as booty.

Ramirez has attempted to take control of the Gulf Cartel, allying himself with his Sinaloa rivals since Jorge Eduardo Cosilla Sanchez, El Coss, and Mario Cardenas Guillen were arrested by marines in September of 2012.

Meanwhile, Miguel Villarreal, born in Texas and former plaza boss in Miguel Aleman, is in a dispute for power with El Pelon, with the support of some of the heads of the oldest Cartel families.

An ally of Villarreal, El Puma Garcia Roman, was shot in one of the nighttime battles of March 10, in which grenades, .50 caliber Barrett machine guns and armored trucks were used.

(Fragment of a report published in Proceso magazine, Edition No. 1899, now in circulation.)

Subsequent to the March 10th balaceras commenced this shootout on the 15th.  Rapid fire with only one short lull.  Amazing.  And no deaths reported "officially".