21-07-2009, 04:28 PM
INTEL REPORT (Mexican/American Special operations Task Force)
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".... Regional trend: Mexico’s cartel violence
The pace of the cartel war in Mexico has held steady throughout 2009 so far and there is little to suggest that there will be major changes in the third quarter. At the current rate, cartel-related deaths for the year are on track to reach close to 7,500 — 1,500 more than in 2008. The cartels controlling Mexican drug trafficking are at war with the government and each other. Alliances and rivalries among the cartels remain highly unstable, and the degree of volatility in these relationships makes it difficult to predict the course of the violence.
Since 2006, the Mexican military has been pushed into a wide range of counternarcotics operations normally conducted by law enforcement agencies, such as drug eradication, maritime and airborne interdiction, signals intelligence operations, local security patrols, raids and arrests. In the third quarter, Mexico will reexamine the appropriateness of these roles for the Mexican military, which did not traditionally perform these functions. The debate is unlikely to reach a conclusion by the end of the quarter, but it is one that is well worth watching as the outcome could change the way the cartel war is fought.
The months ahead also likely will shed more light on the shifting geography of cartel operations. Central America’s rising importance as a drug trafficking route will make the Mexican border with Guatemala increasingly important to the cartels and will continue affecting the security situation in the region....".
XXXXXXX XXXXXXX XXXXXXXX (classified)
".... Regional trend: Mexico’s cartel violence
The pace of the cartel war in Mexico has held steady throughout 2009 so far and there is little to suggest that there will be major changes in the third quarter. At the current rate, cartel-related deaths for the year are on track to reach close to 7,500 — 1,500 more than in 2008. The cartels controlling Mexican drug trafficking are at war with the government and each other. Alliances and rivalries among the cartels remain highly unstable, and the degree of volatility in these relationships makes it difficult to predict the course of the violence.
Since 2006, the Mexican military has been pushed into a wide range of counternarcotics operations normally conducted by law enforcement agencies, such as drug eradication, maritime and airborne interdiction, signals intelligence operations, local security patrols, raids and arrests. In the third quarter, Mexico will reexamine the appropriateness of these roles for the Mexican military, which did not traditionally perform these functions. The debate is unlikely to reach a conclusion by the end of the quarter, but it is one that is well worth watching as the outcome could change the way the cartel war is fought.
The months ahead also likely will shed more light on the shifting geography of cartel operations. Central America’s rising importance as a drug trafficking route will make the Mexican border with Guatemala increasingly important to the cartels and will continue affecting the security situation in the region....".