Mexico has recognized these 7 emerging cartels

Posted by DD.  Material from Business Insider and Insight Crime and Cronical Today

In the world of organized crime in Mexico where it is seemingly impossible to know, as Abbot and Costellp framed the question in their famous sketch "who is on first base"  (for you youngsters out there look it up) things just got a little crazier.

The PGR, (Attorney General's office) Specializing in the Investigation of Organized Crime has designated  seven groups operating in Mexico as the newest cartels.  

Designating emerging groups as cartels can be misleading, or at least confusing.  The term imvokes a image of a monolithic vertically integrated that controls the production, procurement, processing, packaging, transporting, and delivering the finished product (drugs) to wholesalers or retailers.  These new groups that have been designated as cartels do not fit that mold, but perhaps reflect reflect the changing face of drug trafficking in Mexico and the evolution of organized crime over the last few years.

The "King Pin Strategy" initiated by President Calderon on 2006 and continued through the first half of Pena Nieto's administration (even though he said when elected that he would pursue a strategy of eliminating local crime rather than just taking out the leaders of the large cartels) has been relatively successful in killing or capturing nearly all of the "top ranking jefes."

 This frontal assault on Mexico's once-powerful cartels has contributed to their fragmentation, with mid- and low-ranking members breaking off to form their own criminal enterprises.  These new "cartels" are the result, though few have gained the the power or success of their predecessor cartels.

As Insight Crime noted  these new groups have diversified their revenue streams, moving away from large-scale international drug trafficking into locally-focused criminal activities -- such as extortion, kidnapping, resource theft, or charging "piso" for the use of their territory. They also tend to specialize in one particular aspect of the drug trade (such as selling precursor chemicals or smuggling drugs through airports), forming part of a horizontal network of diverse, geographically disperse criminal groupings that coordinate (or not) their illicit activities.

The new groups identified by the PGR as reported in Cronicle Today are;  Cartel del Estate , Precursor Chemical Cartel, Mazatlecos, Chapo Isidro, Office, Airport and New People South ... in most cases they were born as cells or armed wings of criminal organizations  already known , but its criminal developments led to the SEIDO to designate or reclassify them as cartels in the current map of the narcos. . 

Contacts abroad -especially, South America and the United States for drug trafficking, presence in several states, regional leadership, firepower and recruitment are factors by which they left behind the label "cell".  .

THE NEW CARTELS

The Cartel del Estate.  It's main area of influence is  the center of the country and specifically the State of Mexico, hence its name. But its birth  will be defined as a split from La Familia Michoacana, but its portfolio of  violence, kidnapping,  charges for piso,  and distribution of narcotic granted it an independent feature.  

 
One of its major operating core is the city of Valle de Bravo, where ironically the National Gendarmerie premiered, (which EPN created to fight orgainized crime since mid-2014) 

The Precursor Chemical Cartel  Little is known of this organization and who leads it  but its reach is national and international, it has specialized in the trade of at least three dozen chemicals needed for the processing of poppy, coca and heroin. Some of these liquids are hexane, methanol, ethyl burilo, ethyl and isopropyl, kerosene, hydrochloric and sulfuric acid, butyl alcohol, chloroform and diacetone ..

As its name implies, it deals largely with the sourcing and distribution of the precursor chemicals needed for large-scale drug production,   It is believed they have hidden laboratories in the jungle and remote mountain areas for the use of customers to to process the chemicals into finished product.  This modality suggest a Columbian influence.

The Mazatlecos Cartel.  

It emerged in the Sinaloa coast under the shelter of a unique partnership: Beltran Leyva and Zetas. Its objective? Dispute the Sinaloa Cartel dominance in states like Sinaloa, Sonora, Durango and Nayarit. It came to be located in the chain of command to descendants of the Beltran: children, nephews and brothers and friends and other men loyal to the group.  

 Alfredo Beltran Leyva Mocha (arrested in 2008), is one of its most idealized figures ... It has come to be considered one of the most ruthless organizations for their torture and killing methods, such as using scissors or ice picks, his fascination with calcination at enemies and using mass graves. 

 In addition to the narcotics business, has specialized in extortion and kidnappings and in almost all cases, the victims are killed. One of its most structured aspects is the use of recruiters for the killings, especially young people and adolescents, many of whom belong to street gangs. They offer fixed salary and incentives for goals achieved prior confinement in training camps where the same are taught the use of weapons that use sophisticated technology for monitoring and warning. 

 The Cartel del Chapo Isadora. 

 Its name comes from Fausto Isidro Meza Flores, alias El Chapo Isidro, who became one of the leading managers in the trafficking of marijuana, manufacture of synthetic and communication systems of the Pacific drug cartel, now transformed into the enemy. The US government has identified the cartel responsible for distributing large amounts of methamphetamine, heroin and cocaine into the United States. 

 
The US Bureau of Foreign Assets (OFAC) has identified that their illegal activities allegedly used construction companies engaged in land transportation, gas stations and vehicles.

.Cartel de la Oficina  

The Office Cartel is comprised of defected members from the armed portions of the Beltran Leyva Organization, Zetas, and Sinaloa Cartel.  It is believed to operate in  the states of Baja California Sur, Mexico, Querétaro, Aguascalientes, Jalisco, Zacatecas and Coahuila.  The leader is believed to be the brother of the former leader, Daniel Fernandez de La Vega, known as El Pelacas, Calaveras or 7, arrested in 2014 in a luxury subdivision Puebla.  

As noted in Cronicle Today, SEIDO described him as;
 
"an extremely violent and bloody kind, strikes fear in chilling murders that generate fear and anxiety among the population. He is fond of absolute obedience "
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The group is known for its extremely violent tactics, the PGR notes, including kidnapping and murders that are intended to scare the local population into compliance.

 This group has been associated with the kidnapping of former presidential candidate PAN's Diego Fernandez de Cevallos, in May 2010. 

Cartel de Gente Nuevo del Sur

 Its tentacles reach Tabasco, Yucatan and Campeche, whose rule had been fought so far by different factions. Ciudad del Carmen is identified as one of its major operational centers,since  2014, when the first signs of criminal action. It differs because it has opted besides the range of narcotics, kidnappings, extortions  and floor- charges by the proliferation of illegal connections and subsequent trafficking of hydrocarbons.  

 For this portfolio, it has divided its structure composed of leaders, managers, assassins, hawks and so-called negotiators who do the extortion of  owners, managers and even security guards of companies engaged in business such as transport of goods, people and tourism, fishing and shipping industry.  One of their negotiating tactics is murder.

Cartel del Aeropuerto 

As noted by Business Insider:

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The PGR admits that it has little information about the Airport Cartel, but the group is thought to be spread across Mexico and is the most technically proficient at smuggling drugs through aerial operations.

Insight Crime notes that the cartel likely uses commercial airports and private airstrips to smuggle drugs throughout the country and to an international audience.