Coahuila: Governor says CDN attempting a return to the northern region of the state

Chivis Martinez for Borderland Beat

There was once a time that Los Zetas cartel ruled over the northern state of Coahuila.  Any point of business, state government, municipal government, the press, all functioned only by going through the cartel.

A series of events and decisions then weakened the cartel; the death of leader Lazca, the arrests of brothers Omar and Miguel Trevino, the appointment of nephew Kiko Trevino as leader, infighting and a split of Zetas into two prominent cartels, CDN [Cartel del Noreste]  and ZVE [Zetas Vieja Escuela/Old School Zetas]

The cartel as a whole were weakened, and discontinued advancement, which had been the fastest in narco history.

They lost territory and control, even in Coahuila, for the past few years the north in places like Piedras Negras, Acuna, Sabinas, Five Springs cities and other cities formed a Zeta hotbed of violence.  Disappearances, shootouts, extortion, kidnappings were the norm.  This is the area where I put down roots when arriving in Mexico.  I knew nothing of organized crime, but after a shootout between the Marina and Zetas, with the former in pursuit of the latter going through my property, I became a narco student.  Which is what brought me to Borderland Beat, a mentor of mine, a police chief of a city in Texas, told me about the blog.

It is true I came to realize that some of my nice friends, high powered folks who were helping my work, turned out to be in collusion.  It was a confusing, upsetting, dangerous time. 

Who can forget the atrocities of Coahuila?  The thousands of skeletal remains discovered at a Zetas ranch in Five Springs? Or the hundreds killed in Allende? The murder of Lalo Moreira?

The disappearances stand out.  And we were able to get a glimpse into how bodies were disposed of by a Wikileaks report. 

But that was then, and everything worked well for the Coahuilense, a peace surfaced, narco killings have been rare. 

Now my friends tell me that over the past year the situation has heated up. And over the last few months and uptick.  Enough of the old violence to indicate a return of narco violence and activity.

Yesterday Coahuila  Governor Miguel Riquelme, was visiting  Carbonifera, when he made an announcement at a presser. He said that CDN is making moves to enter Carbonifera, and he did not stop there.  He also stated that CDN is making strides into the central [probably central east] and the northern part of the state which is logistically important because its proximity to the border and Tamaulipas, especially Nuevo Laredo, CDN’s home base.

Since the murders at a Guerrero Ranch a few months ago, the uptick was established. On Christmas Eve Piedras Negras, after a murder of two, a CODE RED was implemented for the city.  Code Red used to be implemented on a regular basis, but not so much in recent years.

Felix Batista, a Cuban America from Florida, was an “Anti-Kidnapping” and security expert, who negotiated over 100 successful kidnapping cases, many in Mexico.

In 2008, Batista, 55, traveled to Saltillo, the capital of Coahuila, to conduct a seminar for an industrial group.  He was a consultant of ASI Global. But known to few he was also there to attempt to negotiate a release of a kidnapping victim, a friend of Batista, Pilar Valdez who worked with Batista at the same security firm. 

He was eating dinner with several others at a Saltillo restaurant, when he received a phone call.  He told his colleagues that people were picking him up in a white truck to give him a message.  However his same colleagues say he did not get into a white truck but another vehicle.

He was never seen again.

Valdez was released an hour after Batista left.

Subsequent statements by Valdez to the FBI indicate that his abductors believed that Batista had been passing information on the drug cartels to Mexican federal law enforcement authorities.

Another theory is that there are two separate industries, drug trafficking and kidnapping, and Batista got into trouble when he included background information on the extent of cartel influence in his anti-kidnapping presentation.

In the WikiLeaks cable, years later, members of the embassy and administration were at a meeting with Governor Humberto Moreira and members of his cabinet when one of the U.S. delegations asked about Batista.  Moreira suggested a side meeting.

Moreira directed his AG to tell the U.S. team what happened.  As it turned out he was killed and disposed of in the same way thousands of others in Coahuila had, gun shot and burned in a steel drum.

“per intel information they had uncovered, Mr. Batista was murdered a few days after his abduction, with the body being `cooked' to dispose of the remains. The state had identified the Gulf Cartel Saltillo plaza boss, `Tatanka,' as the intellectual author of the crime.’

Zetas were the perps, but ordered by CDG, who Zetas worked for as enforcers.

But that was always the signature move of Zetas when killing one or two victims, burning bodies leaves little behind. 

It would appear that by killing Batista they were indeed sending a message, of warning the same would happen to those interfering in their business.

Coahuila Governor is asking the federal government to maintain its military forces in Coahuila. In Saltillo there are now 6000 soldiers.

The last six years it started with 1,800 Army elements in the entity, and now there are more than 6,000 military personnel in different functions. He said of the 6 thousand elements "we want to keep them, we want them to stay here, in our state".