Unpunished and armed to the teeth in broad daylight: images of the CJNG deployment in Valparaíso, Zacatecas

In Zacatecas, as in most of the country, death and barbarism are discovered very early on in ditches, dirt roads and sometimes in the middle of the road. Daily, anonymous and unpunished crimes that only remained in January 108 victims of intentional homicide, according to the figures of Executive Secretariat of the National Public Security System.

For six years, groups of hired killers fought with blood and fire over the neighboring entity with Coahuila, Nuevo Léon, San Luis Potosí, Aguascalientes, Jalisco, Durango and Nayarit. But it was not until a year ago that the clashes intensified in the presence of Jalisco’s Next Generation Cartel (CJNG).

On April 21, a series of recordings preceded the wave of blood, which led Zacatecas to become Mexico’s most dangerous state.

In a caravan, the CJNG crisscrossed the streets of the municipality of Valparaíso and crossed the center of the community. “We don’t have a war with women, but if the old woman gets it, we go through it too. Here we are in Valparaíso for whatever they want. Pure Mr. Mencho, Zacatecas, ”they shouted.

A few days later, the local media asked the mayor of Valparaíso, Eleuterio Ramos Leal, for the fact, and stated that the public force did not intervene because it was outnumbered.

It was the first video in which the cartel led by Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, the Mencho announced a clean “We’ve come to help you rats,” they boasted. The Jalisco referred to their rivals from the Sinaloa Cartel, who of the silver and lead law They tried to prevent the CJNG from advancing in Zacatecas, in particular in the neighboring towns of Durango and Nayarit.

Valparíso, west of the capital of Zacatecas, It is crossed by the highway that connects Fresnillo to the towns of Jalisco and Tepic, Nayarit. It has been the scene of criminal acts attributed to drug-related violence, as it has become a point of contention for the cartels.

In recent days in this region there have been videos of suspected CJNG members marching through the streets showing their firepower with armored vehicles, known as monsters. Atop them, the armed men are seen with their faces covered and armed with goat horned weapons.

Even now five drug trafficking groups They seek to take over the territory to distribute fetanyl, which, unlike cocaine, is much easier to manufacture and sells faster. The problem has led to a huge increase in the death toll – currently 90% of homicides in Zacatecas are linked to organized crime-, where there are also serious problems due to extortion and kidnapping.

Although there have so far been no massive attacks by criminal organizations, the zero confidence and lack of collaboration of local forces to arrest drug traffickers who roam the city with impunity.

The lead that reigns in Zacatecas

Zacatecas Its geographical location has made it a highly desirable area for drug trafficking, as it connects the Pacific to the border with the United States. According to the authorities, for a year, alerts were activated in the entity before the intense dispute between the Jalisco Nueva Generación cartel and the Sinaloa cartel for the production and marketing of opioids.

The first cartel that settled in the lands of Zacatecan was Los Zetas, when they were still the armed wing of the Gulf Cartel. After the capture of their leaders, the brothers Miguel Ángel, José, Omar, Alejandro and Ana Isabel Treviño Morales, Los Zetas fragmented into various organizations: in the Northeast Cartel – which has its base of operations in Tamaulipas – and The Taliban.

Over the past five years, the struggle that broke out between these three groups has diminished in relation to drug trafficking, mainly in the center of the entity, which triggered violence and insecurity. Additionally, the problem has worsened with the Sinaloa and Jalisco Nueva Generación cartels, both seeking to control the booming fentanyl market and trafficking in the United States.

In 2019, the cartel led by Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada it became more visible in the municipalities of Mazapil, Juan Aldama, Río Grande, Chalchihuites and Sombrerete until reaching Fresnillo. While the CJNG agreed with the Gulf cartel to control the entity’s territory.

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