Narcos Burn Zacatecas Two Days in a Row

"HEARST" for Borderland Beat 

Recently, a series of narco blockades were erected on multiple main highways in the state of Zacatecas. These blockades were so numerous that it forced state authorities to ask residents not to travel during the weekend. 

The Events Before the Blockades 

Before the blockades began, two rival cartel groups battled each other in the town of Enrique Estrada, which is located to the south east of the city of Fresnillo, according to newspaper El Sol de Mexico.  Very few details about what occurred in Enrique Estrada are available. 

Which groups exactly were involved is unclear but the two major cartel forces in Zacatecas are the Sinaloa Cartel (CDS) and the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG). 

Both sides are supported by some locals associated with Los Zetas or the Gulf Cartel, with the Sinaloa Cartel’s subgroup Operativo MZ in an alliance with a part of Los Talibanes, led by Martín del Río. 

They are a former Zetas group, turned CDG group, which is now divided, with one side working under CDS and another working independently. For an overview of Los Talibanes history, please see this previous story.  

The CJNG is allied with a few local CDG-associated leaders like El Fantasma, from Monte Escobedo, (supposedly arrested in February 2022) and Óscar Javier Escalante Zurita, alias “La Mosca”. 

La Mosca was presented as a key link in the CDG and CJNG Zacatecas alliance at a federal press conference in a story covered here. He was said to have hitmen operating in “Villanueva, Jerez and Tabasco” municipalities of Zacatecas, but he was arrested in May 24, 2022. 

In addition to the battle in Enrique Estrada, Milenio reported a battle occurred in the towns of Mimbres and Trojes, in Valparaíso region during this same time. It's less clear if those battles are related to the narco blockades that would later be created.

August 27 - Road Blockades

In the pre-dawn hours of Saturday, August 27, 2022, residents of Zacatecas attempting to drive on major highways discovered that cartel members had created a large number of road blockades.

These were created out of vehicles, such as tractor trailers and box trucks, that hitmen had commandeered from passing motorists, parked across lanes of traffic and then set on fire. 

These blockades continued to grow in number, continuing into the light of the morning and spreading to further locations. La Jornada reports that at least 15 blockades were created.

El Pais and Excelsior report that five highways were hit, among them were:

Highway 54, on a stretch of road between the city of Villanueva and Zacatecas city, in the state of the same name

Highway 45, which connects Zacatecas city and Fresnillo 

Highway 44, which connects Valparaíso and Fresnillo

Highway 23, which connects Zacatecas City and Fresnillo

In addition to the burning of vehicles, the hitmen also utilized metal tire spikes, called ponchallantas. Local news sources also reported the presence of hitmen on the streets of the towns of Sombrerete and Rio Grande.

August 27 - Road Blockades Videos

Video Source: La Jornada

Video Source: Unfitaccount

Video Source: SalvadorZA

Video Source: Curry

Video Source: Arturo Luna Silva

Video Source: Que Poca Madre

Video Source: Mr_Civico

The Government Response

When hitmen appeared on the highways near his town, the mayor of Sombrerete, Alan Murillo Murillo, gave a public safety warning, asking residents not to travel to Fresnillo or Zacatecas city "...and if you do [travel], take extreme precautions".

Meanwhile Eleuterio Ramos Leal, the mayor of Valparaíso, recommended the inhabitants of his municipality "stay in their homes, go out only if necessary and avoid using the highways" saying that there are "violent scenes at various points, with confrontations occurring between armed civilian groups".

Meanwhile, the municipality of Jerez, through a press release, asked its inhabitants "to avoid traveling to the municipalities that are affected.”

Municipal, state and federal forces were sent to clear various roadblock points. The hitmen who had created them were long gone by the time they arrived and no arrests were reported. Personnel collected the metal tire spikes and removed vehicles after the long process of putting out the fires concluded. 

At 3:00 pm, General Adolfo Marín, the state’s head of security, released a video (linked here) saying:

“We believe that the recent incidents which occurred on Zacatecas highways were done in reaction to the results obtained by the security forces. 

The investigation has been handed over to agents from the federal Attorney General’s Office (FGR) and by the state Attorney General's Office (FGE), with all considerations to due process being upheld.

I want to inform you that we have reinforced security and that, at the moment, the situation is under control. I want to emphasize that actions are being carried out to remove vehicles and operations [are being carried out] that will allow us to find those responsible. 

These actions [road blockades] were undoubtedly done in response to the strong operations and blows we have dealt to criminal groups in different municipalities of the state.

Evidence of this are the more than 90 priority targets that have been arrested since the implementation of the ‘Zacatecas 2’ plan. Through the 911 emergency systems, it was reported that there were vehicles on fire, blocking Highway 54, 45, as well as on Highway 23, all sites where the security forces from the three levels of government were deployed to.

I want to emphasize that what happened in the early hours of this Saturday morning was a reaction of the criminal groups to the strong operations and blows that we have dealt them.”

The “Zacatecas 2” plan the general mentioned is a security program championed by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador as part of his administration’s "Zero Impunity" initiative. 

This initiative emphasizes, among other things, that each state should arrest a certain number of “priority targets” or so called “main generators of violence”. This language is then echoed in the press releases and public statements made about the arrest of any and all criminal figures, regardless of their actual level of importance within the criminal landscape. 

August 28 Road Blockades

But the cartel members from the day before weren’t done with Zacatecas just yet. 

At around 7:00 pm on Sunday, August 28, the very next day, they created more narco blockades on the highways throughout the state. They started with a double cab tractor trailer near the town of Fresnillo, which they commandeered and burned on Highway 49, near the exit to Rio Grande. 

Cartel members also placed ponchallantas at various points on the same highway, with some social media users uploading photos of them along with warnings to fellow travelers in the area. Personnel was called to the area to clear the highway for motorists. 

Then, according to Proceso, there were reports on social media about another blockade on Highway 45, near the exit to Calera. Cartel member allegedly commandeered both a  private vehicle and a truck, then burned them in order to create another blockade. 

The spokesperson for the Security Roundtable denied the second blockade, stating that "at the moment no similar events have been reported in other parts of the state".

Government authorities emphasized that no injuries have been reported and that work is being carried out to remove the vehicle and the metal stars however newspaper El Universal writes that “on social media there have been alerts of probable confrontations between armed civilians.” 

Newspaper El Sol de Zacatecas also wrote about these same battles, despite the state government’s statement to the contrary. El Sol wrote “residents of the Plenitud and Santa Ana communities, both located within the municipality of Fresnillo, reported confrontations between alleged members of antagonistic groups of organized crime.”

They detail that, “inhabitants of the community of Plenitud, located west of the municipal seat of Fresnillo, reported a confrontation occurring between members of antagonistic cartel groups, who then also violently entered some of their homes and after evicting their occupants, set them on fire."

"Meanwhile, in the community of Santa Ana, near the town of San José, armed men forced their way into a house, kidnapped one and set fire to the van that was parked outside the house.”

August 28 Road Blockades Videos

Video Source: RuedasErik

Video Source: Paco Elizondo

Video Source: Erika Velasco

First image in the article is a stylized version of a photo originally published by El Financiero in this article about the August 27, 2022 blockades.

Events Before Sources: El Sol de México, Milenio, Excelsior

August 27 Road Blockades Sources: El Pais, Excelsior, Heraldo de Mexico, Puerto Vallarta Daily, La Jornada

August 27 Road Blockades - Videos Sources: La Jornada, Unfitaccount, SalvadorZA, Curry, Arturo Luna Silva, Que Poca Madre, Mr_Civico

The Government Response Sources: Secretary of Security’s Response Video, NTR Zacatecas, Milenio, Zacatecas Web News, El Financiero

August 28 Road Blockades Sources: LatinUS, El Financiero, El Universal, Proceso, Reporte Indigo, NTR Zacatecas, Radio Formula, El Sol de Zacatecas

August 28 Road Blockades Video Sources: RuedasErik, Paco Elizondo, Erika Velasco