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VIOLENCE AND CORRUPTION IN TAMAULIPAS: MATAMOROS AS KIDNAPPING HOTSPOT

According to the National Register of Missing Persons (RNPED), from 2007-2015, nation-wide, nearly 28,000 people are officially missing in Mexico, or in other words: dead, kidnapped or enslaved. At least 6,000 of those bodies - and thousand others that remain officially unreported - are the result of crime, violence and corruption in the state of Tamaulipas. Several other states in Northern Mexico like Nuevo León and Baja California also rank high. At least 2,500 missing are of unknown nationality, meaning both foreigners and nationals alike.

Currently, armed confrontations between rival drug cartels - along with dead and injured bystanders - keep going strong. Kidnappings, extortions and assassinations are steady. Most alarmingly, however, is the fact that public government officials hold a close-knit relationship not just with members of organized crime but also with individuals known to be involved with money laundering.

Many have noted that under Egidio Torre Cantú’s term - the state’s governor since 2011 - Tamaulipas social climate resembles a war-zone. In May of 2015, there was no doubt that such a comparison is not unreasonable at all: two explosive artifacts were indeed detonated outside the National Electoral Institute (INE) and the Municipal Police headquarters of Matamoros respectively. The event was reminiscent of 2012’s car bomb that killed several police officers just outside the mayor’s office in Nuevo Laredo.

In Reynosa, just last week, armed federal police forces engaged in a public confrontation against an unidentified group of armed criminals - in all likeliness belonging to drug cartels - that attacked a PGR headquarters by ramming a bulletproof vehicle against its garage doors and opening fire at police officers. The event escalated in a high-speed persecution - and shootout - across several areas of the city, leaving a toll of dead and wounded. It is not unreasonable to believe it was retaliation for a deal gone wrong between drug dealers and police forces.

It is definitely an ongoing problem. Many homicides in the state indeed come with the struggle for drug trade and territory control. We must remember that notwithstanding continued military presence and the advent of the Tamaulipas Coordination Group (GTC) - a specialized unit made of both state and federal security and armed forces - since 2014, authorities have been unable to stabilize, much less eradicate violence and the generalized sense of insecurity in several sectors of the state, as we’ve previously reported.

In fact, days after the PGR attack that took place in Reynosa, in the neighbor city of Matamoros, federal police forces seized - in different spots of the city - three vehicles loaded with weapons. Seven assault rifles, 30 magazines, and nearly ten thousand rounds. Interestingly enough - and such is not clear in the police reports - the drivers got away by foot.

Their escape cannot be taken entirely as a surprise: it actually speaks loudly about currently existing accords between organized crime and police authorities. It must be said: along with homicides and disappearances, corruption in the police force is another nation-wide problem that has recently become very visible, particularly in the Northern states of Mexico. Baja California is another example of both: 1,300 missing in 2015 as well as the assassination of several police officers in the beginning of December.

As we’ve mentioned, in Tamaulipas, however, part of the issue can be explained through the continued - and continuously re-shifting - struggle for power and territorial control between rival drug groups Los Zetas and the Gulf Cartel. Their confrontations - a kind of urban war - have not ceased to leave a trail of bodies in their midst.

Early December, for instance, several newspapers received information about the kidnapping and murder of Rogelio Rolando González - known as “Kelin” or “Z-2”, who is one of the original founding members of drug cartel and organized crime group Los Zetas. The Gulf Cartel is allegedly responsible for the incident.

The problem arose when González - shortly after his prison release - set out to dispute control over the Matamoros area and threatened to dispose rival Gulf Cartel leader Odon Azua Cruces, known as “El Gordo Cereza”. The latter had González - along with wife and family - kidnapped and killed. Though the bodies haven’t been found, they simply add on to the vast list - and counting - of disappeared bodies in the Mexican territory. In 2015, 5,700 bodies in Tamaulipas alone have been officially reported missing.

Azua Cruces has come to be known precisely for kidnapping and ransom. His group is but one of example of the 300% increase in kidnappings over the past three years in the state of Tamaulipas. 694% higher than in the rest of Mexico. In January and February of 2015: 40 reported kidnappings. The actual number is unknown since a considerably large number are never reported to authorities, for fear of repercussions and because of law enforcement’s notoriety for being unable to attend kidnappings - or making the situation worst.

Part of their inability to attend the issue can be explained as a lack of interest by part of authorities. Actually, the Specialized Attorney’s Office for the Search of Disappeared Persons declared they only count with 120 public servants that currently work in the search of missing bodies.

In fact, an ex municipal president of Matamoros, Alfonso Sánchez Garza, was nearly kidnapped in August of this year. His lack of trust in authorities to attend the problem was such that after managing to escape from his assailants - who attempted to stop his vehicle in the middle of the road - he simply went home and made a public call through social media about the incident. Such a maneuver has become considerably safer than an official report.

In May of 2015, 47 hostages - 18 foreigners and 29 Mexican nationals - were found in a safe house after an anonymous call supposedly alerted authorities. Last month, in November, 19 kidnappers were apprehended by authorities in the city of Matamoros. Along with two hostages, weapons and drugs were found.

Two of the kidnappers were actually underage. Again, it should be noted that Tamaulipas is the state with a larger amount of underage criminal activity: authorities arrest children for carrying guns, assault rifles and grenades more so than any other place in Mexico. Over 200 children were sanctioned in 2014. Over 30% of disappearances nation-wide indeed account for underage persons from Guerrero and Tamaulipas.

Moreover, streets and roads are increasingly a real danger to travel through. Francisco Rivas, spokesman or the National Citizen Observatory, has accurately explained that traveling the roads of Tamaulipas may very well result in “the entire vehicle” being seized. In the Matamoros-Reynosa highway particularly, robberies and kidnappings have increased since September.

Another recurring issue in the city of Reynosa, in fact, is the theft of gasoline. On the 15th of this month, 3 members of a group were arrested in the vicinity. They were seized along with 65 grams of heroine and 7 thousand dollars in cash. 157 thousand liters of gasoline were also taken from the group. Such events are yet another symptom of crime and corruption in the vicinity.

Yet, Governor Torre Cantú continues to announce the advent of police groups with the declared aim of bettering the situation while simultaneously undermining the issues by saying the wave of violence is merely a “rumor”. But what is there to be done of the daily kidnappings, shootouts, murders, and disappearances?

The relationship between drug cartels and the state’s government is not just known through Torre Cantú’s current term but it has been known through his predecessors’ terms: Tomás Yarrington Ruvalcaba and Eugenio Hernández Flores, for instance, both who have been known for previously held accords and money laundering activities with organized crime.

For instance, the U.S. government is currently investigating Hernández Flores - with whom Torre Cantú holds a public, open relationship - for money laundering and other related offenses. Over 30 million dollars and several assets are in dispute.

From 2005-2010 he collaborated with drug cartels and contributed to laundering their assets. Torre Cantú - during his government's last State of the Union - expressed that he “really appreciated the company of our state’s ex Governors” Cavazos Lema and Hernández Flores, who were sitting in the audience.

And even though merely two days ago authorities managed to capture regional narco leader Leonel Hernández Bautista – along with weapons, ammo and drugs – in the Valle Hermoso area within Matamoros, both the governor and police forces alike have been unable to curtail criminal activity coming from that particular area in Tamaulipas.

It is undoubtedly one of the most heavily impacted by organized crime. The recent attack on the PGR headquarters, the weapons and ammunition recently seized, the territorial dispute between Los Zetas and the Gulf Cartel, as well as the alarming amount of disappeared people in the region make Matamoros one of the most dangerous and unstable vicinities for both nationals and foreigners alike. The recent kidnapping bust confirms Matamoros’ reputation as one of the hottest spots in the state – and the nation – for kidnapping and extortion.

Things have escalated to such degree that even the maquiladora industry may be stumped in Matamoros. Gerardo Rodríguez Puente from the Mexican Institute of Social Security declared that workers in neighbor city Reynosa are nearly double than those in Matamoros. The necessity to disrupt the climate of violence and corruption in the city is undeniable: something must be done in order to attain greater social security while also stimulating the trust of companies interested in coming in – or continuing - to invest in Matamoros.

TIJUANA: 3 DEAD POLICEMEN IN A WEEK, 6 IN 2015 OR A POSSIBLE RETURN TO 2008

Authorities, civil society and newspapers alike have all expressed serious concern upon the deaths of 3 policemen in the city of Tijuana that took place during the concluding week of November and the beginning of December. They bring the number of killed policemen in the city to 6 during this year. It is an alarming way to finish this 2015 as well an invitation to reflect upon what’s at stake in the coming times.

Public shootouts between authorities and organized crime over disputes of narcotic merchandise, dead policemen, bloody corpses laid out on the street, basically: it’s a crime scene much too reminiscent of the notorious wave of violence that dominated public life and shut down business in the northernmost border city of Mexico during the 2008-2012 lapse.

In fact, Tijuana’s ex-police chief from that period, Julián Leyzaola released a video - through local newspaper agencies - titled A message for Tijuanenses, in which he expresses concern for the murdered policemen and warns authorities and civil society about a return to the insecure and volatile times recently overcome.

Leyzaola made another interesting point made well-worth considering: “when an off-duty policeman is attacked it entails a personal issue, mostly related to things he did or got involved with…when violence is executed against an active policeman, the attack is against the corporation”.

Yet, when attacks - both against off-duty policemen as well as the Tijuana police as an institution - become a trend - as it did in these three recent murders -, there is no question that it’s worth investigating because, in all likelihood they are probably related. Though the cases are not necessarily intertwined - after all, the attackers are all different individuals - they are undoubtedly connected in that they speak loudly about police involvement with organized crime.

Indeed, that is an issue that transcends the personal issue related to a single member of the institution: it is also telling of a general problem of corruption - involving many other actors - in various sectors - and areas of city - within the Tijuana police department.

Motorcycle officer José Iván Hernández Contreras, for instance, who was shot to death by four individuals outside his home - while off-duty - was actually actively involved, presumably, with narcos from the Arellano Felix Cartel (CAF) currently operating in Tijuana.

In the beginning of November, Hernández Contreras, along with seven others - 6 of them police officers - breached a CAF safe house and stole a white van filled “unknown” content, meaning: a large amount of drug merchandise. Because everything was filmed, members of the faction - whose current leader is “El piloto” or “the pilot” - sent authorities the surveillance video in which Hernández Contreras and other officers are seen during the robbery.

Precisely because it was not an isolated incident, drug dealers simply requested the merchandise to be returned but neither authorities nor police officers responded or complied. At the time, before the video information had been released, several police authorities declared on the matter, speculating on Hernández Contreras’ “possible involvement with organized crime”.

But it wasn’t just a possibility; it was an actuality that authorities were well aware of. Hernández Contreras, in fact, for years had been actively involved with drug dealers since the time of Eduardo García Simental - “el Teo” - and was presumably well-acquainted with Filiberto Parra Ramos, “La perra”. After becoming a police officer, in all likelihood, he continued to have a relationship with cartel members, hence why his death is a merely a hiccup or communication breakdown, a consequence of an unfortunate decision.

Yet this becomes not just an issue of the authorities’ lack of interest in reviewing and properly running background checks on police officers but of currently existing accords - an illegal business contract of sorts - between organized crime and police authorities.

The deaths of officers Victor Manuel Insunza and his patrol partner Janeth Cocolam Almeda, for instance, are telling of such agreements between certain police sectors - commonly organized in neighborhoods or zones - and corresponding active criminals that work in such vicinities.

They were basically killed because of a misunderstanding, so to speak. After stopping a suspicious black sedan - in Mariano Matamoros, a seemingly unrelated sector of the city - the officers were shot to death after they found the two suspects had an assault rifle in their vehicle.

The assailants were the Castro Aguayo brothers - two firearm traffickers, active in the area - who for over a year had been retrieving, transporting and selling illegal firearms for the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG), from the U.S. through Mexico to Guadalajara.

They were well-known in the neighborhood: members of the community declared they were often seen in company of police officers and that it was obvious that local authorities were aware of their activities. In fact, they had been recently arrested and later released - along with the confiscated weapons -, as described by neighbors who noted the incident.

That explains why immediately after killing officers Insunza and Cocolam, the Castro Aguayo brothers went back home, where police authorities retrieved them. They knew exactly where to find them precisely because they had a previous arrangement - a permit to operate, basically -.

The problem was that Insunza and Cocolam were not in on the deal - or had refused to participate - so when they stopped the black sedan they did not what was at stake. Similarly, the assailants of José Iván Hernández Contreras - who shot him nearly a block away from the police station - were never apprehended.

Initial reports note that a vehicle matching the one of Hernández Contreras’ shooters was found along with an individual who operated it, yet nor the vehicle nor the man were brought in to the station. Again, that could be indicative of either a previous arrangement or of the reluctance of other police officers to get involved with something they’d rather not.

Fidel Armas García, on the other hand, - a policeman classified as a commercial officer - was killed in what was presumably an armed robbery to a private company vehicle. He worked for a dairy processing company and was on route to deliver two envelopes with approximately two-thousand dollars cash each when he was approached by attackers, taken to the back of the van and shot. Interestingly enough, only one of the envelopes was taken, along with company documents.

Another interesting fact is that Armas García actually worked as a bodyguard for Jorge Hank Rhon during the 8 years he was the Mayor of Tijuana. Needless to say, the possible connections to organized crime there are definitely vast. His murder is indicative, again, of a connection between police authorities and organized crime.

Though after the wave of violence that for Tijuana began in 2008 – and coincided with the presidency of Felipe Calderon and his war on drugs – police authorities presumably installed a trust and control evaluation mechanism meant to prevent officers to participate in corrupt activities, it is evident that this system has not rendered the necessary results.

Though it is hard to gauge to what degree corruption in the police department today relates to corruption in 2008, it is undeniable that it is still a relevant issue, perhaps now more so than before. According to government data, only 16.5% of police officers nation-wide has actually been subjected to an evaluation. We have to remember, though, that corruption runs not just locally but statewide and in federal terms.

What’s at stake for the coming months? In trying to answer that question we must consider that previous drug cartels have been reconfigured, along with their territories. New factions entail new alliances, new areas, new modes of operation and renewed as well as severed relationships with police authorities and government representatives.

It is also quite interesting that General Augusto Moisés García Ochoa, commander of Baja California’s second division Army, announced last week that over 100 army officials would be working with police authorities in the coming months.

Though he claims this is a move that will “benefit the safety and structure of Tijuana”, it is also undeniable that it is a historical marker for the volatile times recently past, when public life as well as private enterprise became directly affected by the violent confrontations and alliance breaches and agreements between police and military authorities along with competing organized crime groups. The three Tijuana police officers recently murdered necessarily reminds us of persisting issues of corruption and organized crime, as well as the possibility of periods when that climate gets out of hand and becomes a threat to the relative social stability the city manages to maintain.

Mexico Remains In Turmoil Over The Disappearance Of Dozens Of Students

Lou

The 43 students police forces abducted in southern Mexico are most likely dead, the country’s Attorney General, José Murillo Karam, told the press last Friday.

Detainees informed authorities that they received about 40 young men, questioned them, killed them and incinerated the remains, Karam said.

After the confession, authorities went to the place where the criminals claimed they tossed the…

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