Veracruz/Sayula de Alemán: Four Mutilated Bodies Dumped by CJNG

Oaxaqueño for Borderland Beat

A week ago, on Monday night, four mutilated corpses were left on a road leading to the community of Almagre, which is part of Sayula de Alemán, located some 190 kilometers southeast of Veracruz. The killed men were identified as two 24-years-old, a 27-years-old, as well as a 41-years-old, who were all living in the area or the wider region. Their corpses showed signs of torture, particularly when it comes to their hands and genitals, as well as a bullet wound to the heads. Additionally, a narcomensaje signed by CJNG was left. In it, it was written that this happens to all who pretend to be members of CJNG. Furthermore, the narcomensaje warns that women are not to be touched.

Cartulina translation by Sol

This will happen to everyone who pretends to be the Jalisco cartel. Especially those of community ALMARGE. Bitches, our women will not touched. Keep fucking around in the name of Jalisco. And your world will go to shit. We are not filthy dogs. 

Sincerely “80” “30” “40” CJNG

Oaxaqueño Analysis:

Local media outlets have drawn a potential connection to the temporary kidnapping of a woman, happening on Thursday afternoon, the 3rd of January, in Acayucan, situated about 15 kilometers north of Almagre. In the course of that incident, at least three armed men abducted a woman. However, authorities confirmed last Monday that the student was found alive. Given that it was written in the narcomensaje not to touch women, the kidnapping of the student might have either triggered or been taken as a justification for the mutilation and killing of the four men. A notable fact, which has to be taken into consideration, is that one of the deceased was arrested back in 2011 for kidnapping charges in the nearby city of Coatzacoalcos, which is notorious in the state of Veracruz for this kind of crime.

Without making a judgment whether the four deceased were alleged criminals/kidnappers, it seems that the narcomensaje suggests so (although the word kidnapper is not explicitly written). However, the fact that the narcomensaje claims that the victims were falsely posing as members of CJNG further supports this assumption. Again, without assessing the credibility of this statement, it is a known occurrence across Mexico that small-scale criminal groups often use the name of a prominent criminal group, such as CJNG, without having any real affiliation. The aim is to both delude their victims into thinking that they are affiliated to a powerful cartel and subsequently to induce fear among them, thereby facilitating the payment of either extortion or ransom money.

Generally speaking, CJNG has had a presence in the state of Veracruz for years. Most notoriously, they made their presence known in 2011, back then in the form of Los Mata Zetas, when they dumped 35 bodies, all of them presumed Los Zetas members, in Veracruz (eventually it turned out that all of them were innocent as none of them had any relation to organized crime). As this war between CJNG and Los Zetas (nowadays represented by Zetas Vieja Escuela in southern Veracruz) has been ongoing since then, Veracruz’ citizens are far from being strangers to violence. Nevertheless, the extraordinary high number of violent incidents in recent time in Sayula de Alemán and its surrounding region, including among others Acayucan and Coatzacoalcos, stands out.

To just name a few of these, four people were shot dead by an armed group in a restaurant in Sayula de Alemán in November. In the end of December in the community of San Isidro which belongs to Sayula de Alemán, the heads of four men were left on a vehicle while their corpses were found dismembered inside the car. CJNG took responsibility, stating in the placed narcomensaje to “clean” the south of Veracruz from delinquents.

 About a week later in January, CJNG left two dismembered bodies inside a taxi in Minatitlán, situated some 44 kilometers northeast of Sayula de Alemán, alongside a narcomensaje stating the “cleansing” of kidnappers and extortionists. The most prominent recent incident, which caused nationwide media coverage, was the abduction and subsequent killing of three young tourists from Mexico City in the beginning of December. They were on their way to the tourism destination of Los Tuxtlas in southern Veracruz when their car broke down, so they were forced to stay in Acayucan. From there, their relatives last heard from them. Some days later, their dismembered bodies were found packed inside bags in a truck on federal highway 145 Sayula – Ciudad Alemán.

The epidemic violence in the region can also be highlighted by numbers: nearby coastal city Coatzacoalcos, located 60 kilometers northeast of Sayula de Alemán, has had the highest number of intentional homicides in the state in the last two years. In addition to that, the city has also seen the highest number of kidnappings in Veracruz in 2018.

In consequence to the rampant crime in southern Veracruz, a so-called pacification plan including the deployment of 1’500 security forces has been put in place last month. However, it remains to be seen whether this will calm down the situation markedly. Considering past experiences, this is rather unlikely.

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