Video: Sinaloa sicarios convoy, arrives in Guanajuato supporting El Marro in removing CJNG

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Alleged hitmen of the Sinaloa Cartel aboard several trucks, one of them a modified narco tank, arrived in the municipality of Allende, in Guanajuato, which was captured in a video that quickly went viral on social networks.

Unofficially, about 200 alleged members of the Cartel commanded by Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada and "Los Chapitos" arrived at the site in order to support José Antonio Yépez, aka "El Marro", leader of the Santa Rosa Cartel from Lima (CSRL), to remove the Cartel Jalisco New Generation (CJNG) from the entity.  CJNG is  led by “El Mencho”.

The Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel, dedicated mainly to fuel theft (criminality known as “huachicoleo”) and to extortion, has its base of operations in the community of the same name and since 2017 maintains a strong dispute with the bloodthirsty Cartel Jalisco, which has a strong presence in the municipalities of León, Silao, Dolores, the town of Rincon and the northwest of the state.

Salamanca, Celaya, San Luis de la Paz, Villagrán and the Apaseos area is dominated by the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel. While in the south of Guanajuato there are incursions of cells from the Michoacán cartels, which have great rivalry with the CJNG.

According to authorities, the Sinaloa Cartel along with the Gulf Cartel (CDG), Los Zetas, among many others, agreed to finance and support the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel (CSRL), led by José Antonio Yépez, aka “El Marro “to stop the advance of the Jalisco Cartel. This alliance is known as Cárteles Unidos (Cartels United) and operates mainly in the state of Michoacán.

The struggle for control of Guanajuato between the CJNG and the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel led by José Antonio Yépez Ortiz "El Marro”, has not left only rivers of blood and violence, but has also effected the state economy.

Violence caused the closing of  businesses

At the end of September, the car dealership “Montes Ford” closed its doors, after years of operation. The agency was emblematic in the region.

An attack occurred on September 19, when armed men arrived at the scene and fired at the facilities, causing damage to the windows of the facade and some vehicles that were on display. No injured people were reported, but the incident caused terror.

This closure adds to a long list of shops, restaurants and even tortilleries affected by organized crime.

Organized crime groups have diversified their operations and found in extortion an important source of resources.

Last August, several tortillerías located in the municipality of Celaya lowered their curtains due to extortion. The situation was exposed by the merchants themselves, but after the complaint came the revenge of the criminals.

An armed command entered at 5:00 p.m. on Monday, August 5 at the “La Indita” tortilleria located in the Lagos neighborhood and fired at three women who were on the site: the owner, identified as Virginia "N", 60, in addition to Dalinda "N" and Martha Cecilia "N", employees. All three were killed.

The events caused the massive closure of tortillerías, affecting not only the employees of those businesses, but the population, which is around 500,000 inhabitants, who were left without the product.

The attack was allegedly perpetrated by extortionists because the owner of the tortilleria had not paid the “piso” (narco tax) collection fee. The criminals could belong to the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel.

Narco  messages from CJNG

Days later, several narcomantas appeared, allegedly signed by CJNG, who announced their arrival in the municipality and threatened “El Marro” and the Santa Rosa de Lima cartel for extortion from tortilleria merchants.

"The  Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación  is here in Celaya and we come to stop extortion, theft and piso collection of the tortilleros," said the messages.

“And to all the merchants and businessmen who work honestly. To the owners of tortillerías, stores and companies, we ask to have cameras in their businesses and those who already have photos, publish in social networks and we will take it from there!. ", the message continued.

The narco messages warned the government not to intervene in their crimes and reiterated that the war is with the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel and its leader "El Marro", for control of the territory.

“And to the government, we ask you not to intervene because the war is not with you, it is with the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel and with all those who support and help the filthy extortionist and killer of the Marro,” concluded the narco-message.

SMA

San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato , is one of the tourist destinations in Mexico that have been best positioned for both domestic and foreign visitors; however, several businesses have suffered from a wave of extortion and for that reason have been forced to close their premises.

According to information from El Universal published on August 9, tenants of the historic center of the city reported that they have been victims of extortion when subjects left suitcases containing  cocaine and marijuana in addition to notes where they were given 22 days to sell the drug .

The merchants chose to throw the drugs in the trash bags and close their businesses, so around 100 people lost their jobs.

Although it is known as an important tourist destination, San Miguel de Allende has been hit by violence in recent times. According to data from the Criminal Traffic Light, the investigation folders for homicides in that city went from 15 in the first half of 2018, to 49 in the same period of 2019.

Guerrero businesses close

Between March and July 2018, Coca-Cola, Pepsi and Bimbo decided to close some of their plants located in Guerrero, due to violence and extortion by organized crime groups.

In June of that year, the Pepsi bottling plant closed its distribution center located in Ciudad Altamirano, Guerrero, in the absence of sufficient minimum conditions for the normal operation of the plant, in which a hundred people worked.

Months earlier, in March, Coca-Cola Femsa, its main competitor, decided to temporarily leave Ciudad Altamirano due to the harassment of organized crime over its 160 employees

While in July 2018, Grupo Bimbo suspended the operation of 9 routes in Acapulco due to the situation of violence and insecurity.

In April 2019, the Employers' Confederation of the Mexican Republic (Coparmex) revealed that 67% of its members have been victims of a crime in the last year.

According to Coparmex, the states with the highest percentages of companies victims of a crime are Oaxaca (90%), Tabasco (85%), Hidalgo (80%), Guerrero (78%) and Baja California (78%).