Cartel Violence in Zacatecas, A Vicious Circle

"Morogris" and "El Zacatecas" for Borderland Beat

Three people were killed in Fresnillo over the weekend. Sources say that the Sinaloa Cartel faction in Zacatecas is headed by lieutenants under Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada. The Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) under Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes ("El Mencho") reportedly has Gulf Cartel members on their side.

The state of Zacatecas is the home to a violent narco-war between the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) and the Sinaloa Cartel (CDS). In 2020 there were more than 1,200 executions in Zacatecas. Killings are on track to be much higher this year.

In the past few weeks, there have been several mass killings in the municipalities of Fresnillo, Jerez, and Monte Escobedo.

A few days ago, the CJNG stole the vehicle of a Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) candidate and left a gruesome surprise once it was recovered. Javier Torres Rodriguez, the candidate for mayor of Fresnillo, denounced last Tuesday that an armed commando stole his vehicle.

The robbery occurred when he was driving with his family and campaign team. Torres said that he was traveling with his entire entourage in a convoy, but the gunmen only targeted his vehicle. In other words, he suggested that the cartel was after him and knew what vehicle he was in.

A few days later, authorities located Torres's vehicle abandoned in Fresnillo. The discovery was gruesome: inside the vehicle were the bodies of two men who had been killed by gunfire. The insignias of the CJNG were also stamped on the vehicle's doors. Citizen journalists in Zacatecas say that the two men killed were members of the CJNG and that they died in a clash with members of the CDS.

The vehicle was recovered by the Zacatecas State Police (photo credit: Infobae)

The day before, these two cartels clashed for several hours in Monte Escobedo. Residents described on social media how gunmen poured through the streets and attacked their adversaries in the town's streets. Rumors on social media said that the CJNG gunmen had the support of the Gulf Cartel (CDG) during this gunfight with the CDS.

No authority issued a statement or was willing to confirm the number of causalities. Once the shootout was over, they cordoned off the areas where some of the vehicles used in the attack were found and nothing else was known.

Areas of dispute

The dispute for the control of Zacatecas started in 2018, when cells of the CJNG, led by Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, "El Mencho", made an act of presence in areas known as Los Cañones de Jalpa and Tlaltenango, which are located on the Jalisco border [Red on map below].

Photo credit: National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI)

As reported by Borderland Beat, El Mencho began displacing and/or absorbing local cells in Zacatecas. Up until then, much of the state had been under the control of Los Zetas and the CDG. In addition to absorbing local gangs, the CJNG was reportedly able to take control of large portions of Zacatecas by corrupting municipal and state police forces.

With the CJNG's aggressive expansion, cells of the Sinaloa Cartel entered through the municipalities of Sombrerete, Miguel Auza and Juan Aldama [Blue on map above].

In an interview, Arturo López Bazán, head of the Zacatecas Public Security Secretariat (SSPZ), assured that the CJNG and CDS have an interest in this region, among other reasons, due to its geographical position.

Through Zacatecas, he refers, cartel cross three main routes for drug and precursor chemicals, as well as arms trafficking and human smuggling. Zacatecas is the obligatory connection between these three routes: to the center (the Bajío and Mexico City areas), to the Pacific (the ports of Lázaro Cárdenas, Michoacán, and Manzanillo, Colima, as well as Guadalajara, Jalisco) and to the Gulf and north of Mexico (Nuevo León, Tamaulipas, and its border with Texas).

“Reality is what we see. I'm not trying to hide what happens out there. It is a readjustment between the two strong groups at the national level," the official said.

According to López Bazán, Zacatecas also became a huge market for drug consumption. Cartels compete for control of puntos, drug sale spots, because there is demand among Zacatecas residents.

There are other illicit businesses that the cartels dispute, he says. There are synthetic drug laboratories in the state. Then there also are extortion and kidnapping opportunities for cartels to tap into.

"If we do numbers, Zacatecas generates a lot of money," he stressed.

Sources: El Sol de Zacatecas; ExpressZacatecas; PeligroZac (1); (2); (3); (4); Infobae (1); (2) Borderland Beat archives