Guerrero: Los Rojos, Los Ardillos and ICDA are now dominant in Guerrero

Lucio R. Borderland Beat sent in by "Daily Reader"

There has been a shift in cartel control of Guerrero.  Whereas some groups have spread their territorial ground,  at least one has advanced from a small cell to a full-fledged cartel.  The shift occurred when Guerrero Unidos, once having a strong hold in key areas, became greatly weakened.  G.U. became weakened after the Iguala massacre of 49 presumed dead, including 43 normalistas (students) still unaccounted for.  The story went global and public pressure for answers unrelenting.  This resulted in the killing and arrests of many G.U. leaders, as G.U. is the cartel pointed at as responsible for the killings.  G.U. still has control, albeit tentative, of the much sought after drug hub Iguala.  Despite federal and state forces present in Iguala, violence is far from unabated, in fact many of those on the ground report it has only become worse.

As for Cartel Jalisco New Generation, their operational control is primarily along the upper coast, adjacent to Lazaro Cárdenas port and Michoacán. Michoacán is the birthplace of CJNG’s premier leader El Mencho,  a territory he sought after, and subsequent to the crumbling of Caballeros Templarios, he now has prominent control of.  To read the full story, in Spanish, use this link…..L.R.

From El Sur Guerrero: Los Rojos, Los Ardillos and  el Cártel Independiente de Acapulco are now the dominant criminal groups in Acapulco, and Guerrero, according to a report published last Friday in Mexico’s newspaper, EL Universal, “Three Cartels Disputing Control of Acapulco.”

The report was based on investigation of the (federal) Criminal Agency of the attorney general (PGR),  Information and Analysis to Combat Crime, dated March 8th. 

The document also claims that there are 5 other groups operating in Guerrero; Guerreros Unidos, La Familia Michoacana, Los Granados, La Empresa, and Cartel Jalisco New Generation (CJNG).  The report attributes these eight groups to the high episode of violence, and homicide that has erupted in the past couple of years.  Guerrero now holds the undesirable title of most violent state in Mexico.

That is the new setting of drug trafficking in Guerrero, and surprisingly, the PGR has reclassified the status of Los Rojos, and Los Ardillos,  groups that used to exercise its activities in the area from Chilpancingo to Chilapa de Álvarez, for which in recent years they have fiercely clashed for control. 

Even more surprising that the PGR grants to the cartel  category,  Los Ardillos because of its modus vivendi, belonging to a group that plagued the region of Quechultenango, where they originated,  their leaders are the brothers of former PRD local deputy (something on the lines of congressman) Bernardo Ortega Jimenez .

Unlike Los Rojos, created from BLO (Beltran Leyva Brothers) having more leeway state wide, Los Ardillos seemed constrained to their place of origin, but took advantage of the passivity, or complicity, of the authorities, which allowed them the spread out and appear in Acapulco.  

This action corresponds to the governments of Ángel Aguirre Rivero and  Rogelio Ortega Martínez, whose governments date the migration and mutation of Los Ardillos into a cartel.

But, the PGR report is incomplete.  The state prosecutor, Xavier Olea Peláez  said in January of this year, that  Guerrero now has about 50 operating criminal groups but said that none of them is a large organization but rather "small cells" formed by five or six people.

Also missing in the report in the large group of Cártel de la Sierra. The commander, at the time, of the eighth naval region, (he later became public secretary of the state) released a map

Four years ago, in November 2012, Sergio Lara Montellanos, then commander of the Eighth Naval Region, (who later became secretary of Public Security of the state), released a map of the criminal structure of Guerrero that included gangs in the neighborhoods of Acapulco. 

In the premier level, were included Los Zetas and the Gulf Cartel. On a second level were regional criminal groups, which the Navy called "street gangs or superpandillas" among those listed were La Barredora and its enforcer group,  el Comando del Diablo alsoLos Rojos, Los Pelones, La Familia Michoacana and Guerreros Unidos.   The Ardillos were not on the list at that level. 

On the  third level the Navy listed,  groups of less than five members.

In a course of four years, there has been a significant change in the criminal structure primarily in Acapulco but also the state. However, among the changes of the Navy map is the striking growth of Los Ardillos, and that regional criminal groups have became a threat of larger scale criminality in the state.