Grupo Sombre of CdG giving out Xmas dinners in Veracruz

Translated by Otis B Fly-Wheel for Borderland Beat from a Proceso article

Subject Matter: Fuerzas Especials Grupo Sombra, Cartel del Golfo
Recommendation: No prior subject matter knowledge required

The Secretary of Public Security (SSP) and the State Attorney General informed that in the last few weeks they have captured various members of "Grupo Sombra", who are part of the Cartel del Golfo, a criminal group with a strong presence in zones of Huasteca de Veracruz, as well as Hidalgo, Tamaulipas and San Luis Potosi.

Reporter: Zoe Zavaleta
According to Police Chief, Jaime Tellez Marie, the detained were accused of various crimes such as kidnapping, extortions and homicides. Even though nothing specific was given in relation to the numbers of persons captured, and assures that they are in the custody of the corresponding authorities.



Grupo Sombra (Shadow Group) came to the authorities attention in the first three months of 2017 in the municipalities of Tuxpan, Poza Rica, Coatzintla and Tihuatlan with narco mantas that threatened the authorities, as well as other criminal cells at those places and Policemen who had "fingered" them, as well as other cartels such as Los Zetas and CJNG.

This situation has exacerbated the violence in the northern area of Beracruz, especially in the Totonacapan and Huasteca regions. On Xmas eve and New Years eve,, in central neighborhoods of cities such as Tuxpan and Poza Rica, vans marked and unmarked distributed dinners and drinks on behalf of that criminal organizations.




The cartulinas stuck in the vehicles indicated: "These dinners were sponsored by Special Forces Grupo Sombra, happy festivities".

In an afternoon press conference on Thursday, the Coordination Group for Veracruz reported that, in addition to the dismantling of the Grupo Sombra, four criminal gangs dedicated to kidnapping had also been taken down.

"In a year, 247 criminals have been arrested for aggravated kidnapping and 38 gangs dedicated to this crime have been dismantled," said SSP head Jaime Téllez and attorney general Jorge Winckler.

The authorities alleged that they have dismantled organized crime groups in Tuxpan and Coatzintla. And they highlighted that in Xalapa the capture of the gang of kidnappers who kept Dr. Gerardo Ahued, brother of the candidate to the Senate by Morena, Ricardo Ahued Bardahuill, was deprived of his freedom.

Prosecutor Winckler Ortiz explained that 23 arrests were made and four gangs dedicated to kidnapping were dismantled, in compliance with five arrest warrants.

During his first 12 months in office, the headache of the government of Miguel Ángel Yunes Linares has been security.

Statistics from the Executive Secretariat of the National Public Security System (SESNSP) indicate that 163 kidnappings and 2200 homicides have been committed, according to Yunes Linares, 70% of the victims were organized crime syndicates and crime workers.

The platform of the Ministry of the Interior (Segob) also accounts for 19343 robberies, of which  2492 vehicles with violence stand out, as well as 234 house invasions between December 2016 and October 2017. In these figures, Victims who do not report criminal threats or distrust the authorities are not counted.

In the presidency of Javier Duarte the criminal groups of Gente Nueva, Matazetas, Zetas and CJNG predominated. With Yunes Linares there is a maelstrom of adjustments of accounts between cells of Los Zetas, CJNG,  Los Antrax, Sinaloa Cartel, Grupo Sombra, Cartel del Golfo and independent groups of Huachicoleros, which have left hundreds of executed and bodies planted on the banks of the road and vacant lots.

Categories: cartel del golfo, Grupo Sombra