Spike in Violence in Northern Chihuahua

By Buggs for Borderland Beat 

The mayor of Ciudad Juárez, Cruz Pérez Cuéllar, said that the rise in homicides in recent days is due to confrontations between gangs that are dedicated in trafficking people and drugs (as seen in the second video below). 

Mayor Cuéllar went on to say “There are indications that it has to do with human trafficking, there is a dispute between criminal groups that are dedicated to trafficking. Apparently, there was a dispute that elevated to violence of crime, but we are attempting to control it. It appears there was an internal rupture in the criminal groups in the city and this is what caused this spike in homicides. We are in full coordination with the prosecutor's office,” he said in a press conference. 

The spike in violence prompted Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) to deploy 400 military forces around the city of Ciudad Juárez. These soldiers belong to a special unit that is characterized by their fast mobility in their deployment capacity.

The military forces arrived last week August 30, 2023, aboard a military plane. This deployment of military forces was an attempt to combat the wave of violence that has engulfed the border city. Two days ago alone, Juárez registered 16 homicides in just one day.

The US Consulate Travel Alert System is largely barring its officials from specifically traveling through Janos, Chihuahua. The city of Janos is roughly 125 miles southwest of Juárez and El Paso. This region is a travel route for migrants seeking to cross into the US.

Last Tuesday, the US agency issued a "Level 3 Alert" for officials or citizens to not travel or pass through Janos, where the director of Public Security, Higinio Solís González, was recently killed by elements of the Army whom he confronted so that he would not be arrested for his links to organized crime.

The Chihuahua State Prosecutor's Office confirmed the death of Solís González, who was the director of Security for the municipality of Janos and who was also going to be arrested for the crimes of attempted homicide linked to a forced disappearance, extortion, and abuse of authority. After being notified of his arrest, the uniformed Solís resisted arrest and tried to escape. He also used a firearm to threaten the military soldiers that were part of the operation to arrest him. The military forces responded with gunfire, killing Director Solís González.

The city of Janos in the northwest of Chihuahua was recorded as a place of great risk for the safety of US citizens, for which the alert cautions to reconsider traveling or going through Janos due to the high volume of violence.

Some critics (as seen in the first video above) point out that in order to solve the problem of insecurity, more coordination is required than just deploying soldiers, due to the fact that on several occasions the military has arrived without putting a dent to the increase in violence.

Despite the large presence of the military forces, the wave of violence has continued to spread unabated around the city.

The bodies of three dead people were found dismembered and wrapped in plastic, in an uninhabited area of the Puerto Santa Fe neighborhood in Ciudad Juárez.

The discovery of the bodies was reported in Refugio de la Libertad and Manuel Talamas Comandar streets by a driver of a tow truck who managed to flag down officers of the Municipal Police.

The discovery prompted an intense mobilization of police, military forces, and members of the National Guard.

At the moment the identity or sex of the victims remains unknown. The office of the State Prosecutor's Office was on scene investigating.

The city of Ciudad Juárez has remain fragmented by numerous criminal organizations. Split in half, on the west by the Juárez cartel/La Línea and on the east Sinaoa Cartel/Gente Nueva. The gangs of Los Mexicles have lately been dominant in the streets and the prison of Juárez

The large city of Ciudad Juárez has been the scene of increased violence this year, primarily due to criminal gangs, such as Los Mexicles and La Empresa, that are fighting for control of the trafficking of people into the US. The influx of migrants from South and Central America has been a good business opportunity for these criminal groups.

According to a report by the United States Congress, prepared during 2021, the presence of at least 12 criminal organizations has been registered in Chihuahua and pointed out that the Sinaloa Cartel and the Juárez Cartel operate in the state.

Other sub-criminal groups identified by the US authorities are: Gente Nueva, Cártel del Poniente, Artistas Asesinos, Los Mexicles, Los Aztecas, Los Salazar, Nuevo Cártel de Juárez, Cártel de Juárez, La Güera, La Línea, Los Cabrera and Los Salgueiro .

Some of the Sources used: Lopez-Doriga Digital, DW Espanol, La Vangaurdia, EF Television, Infobae, US Consulate and US Congress.

Categories: chihuahua, ciudad juarez, crime, Higinio Solís González, Janos, US Alert