03-02-2010, 02:56 PM
anuary 2010: The Most Violent Month
The first month of the new year ended with 904 drug-related murders in Mexico, which makes January 2010 the deadliest month since Mexican President Felipe Calderon took office in December 2006. The last week of the month was characterized by an abnormally high number of beheadings, 12, which took place throughout the country. The second and third most violent days during Calderon's term in office also occurred in January 2010, with 52 drug-related deaths on the first day of the month and 46 drug-related deaths on Jan. 29.
Chihuahua has been the most violent state in Mexico for more than two years, and in January 2010 it accounted for more than one-third of all the drug-related deaths during the month with 327, including the deaths of 16 individuals (many of them teenagers) at a high school house party in Ciudad Juarez that was a case of mistaken identity and location. The violence in Juarez stems from the ongoing conflict between the Sinaloa and Juarez cartels over control of the Juarez Valley trafficking route into the United States. The federal government shifted strategies Jan. 13 when it deployed the federal police as the primary force against the cartels in the urban areas of northern Chihuahua state. While the effects of this change will not likely be felt in the short term, authorities hope the federal police, with their higher level of investigative skill, will eventually be able to root out the causes of the violence in that part of Mexico.
Throughout 2009, Sinaloa state reportedly did not have more than 100 drug-related deaths in any given month, but that changed in January 2010, with 169 drug-related murders in the state. Previously, the deadliest month in Sinaloa was July 2008, with 139 deaths as a result of the conflict between the newly separated BLO and Sinaloa cartels, which began battling each other for control of marijuana fields and trafficking routes in the state.
The violence taking place there now can be largely attributed to local gangs backed by BLO and Sinaloa, which are still battling each other for control of domestic drug markets, mostly in the Culiacan-Navolato metropolitan area. Additionally, Sinaloa is home to several rival Mexican drug-trafficking leaders, such as Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman Loera, Vicente Carrillo Fuentes, Hector Beltran Leyva and the Arellano Felix family. This is, in part, why Sinaloa has been traditionally one of the most violent states in Mexico; many cartel leaders lay claim to at least some portion of the state, regardless of their organizations' primary areas of operation.
With violence continuing to soar, Calderon and Public Security Secretary Genaro Garcia Luna have come under increasing political pressure to reduce the violence to a politically acceptable level. Despite the mounting pressure, however, Calderon and Garcia Luna have yet to deviate from their overall plan, though STRATFOR sources in the Mexican government indicate that the change in strategy in Juarez is a test for a possible shift in strategy nationwide. Still, the accelerating levels of violence in Mexico show no signs of slowing in the foreseeable future.
(click here to view interactive map)
Jan. 25
A firefight erupted between gunmen and soldiers on the border of Nuevo Leon and Coahuila states, leaving four gunmen and two soldiers dead.
Four days after the disappearance of Veracruz city official Nayeli Reyes Santos, his body was found dismembered in Veracruz, Veracruz state. Los Zetas were implicated in the murder.
Members of the Mexican military seized 80 centimeters of detonation cord, seven satchels of explosives, 160 kilograms of marijuana and several rounds of ammunition.
Jan. 26
Federal police detained four suspected hit men associated with Sinaloa cartel leader Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman Loera. The four were detained in a safe house not far from the Ojinaga-Bahia de Kino highway near Gran Molino, Chihuahua state.
Mexican soldiers surrounded the University Hospital in Guadalupe, Nuevo Leon state, after the target of a suspected Los Zetas assassination attempt was transported there.
Jan. 27
The head of a decapitated body was discovered by authorities in Quiroga, Michoacan state, near the town's main square. Authorities located the decapitated body sitting upright at a nearby bus station.
Members of the Mexican military raided two suspected safe houses in Cuernavaca, Morelos state, and arrested 10 suspected members of a kidnapping gang.
Soldiers located and destroyed a synthetic drug laboratory near the Michoacan-Jalisco state border and arrested six suspects.
Jan. 28
Two female officers of the Uruapan police department were abducted by unknown assailants.
The Quiroga police chief and two officers were executed in front of a local high school in Quiroga, Michoacan state.
The quartered remains of an unknown individual were discovered in two black plastic bags near Morelia, Michoacan state.
Local authorities discovered four bodies at various locations around Mazatlan, Sinaloa state. The victims had been shot several times.
Jan. 29
Authorities found six human heads near the city of Apatzingan, Michoacan state. The decapitated bodies were found later in the day on the other side of the city with the letter "Z" carved into their chests.
The body of a commander of the Teloloapan municipal police department who had been kidnapped a day earlier was found mutilated, showing signs of torture and several gunshot wounds.
Federal police engaged in a firefight with gunmen near Maravatio, Michoacan state, near the border with Mexico state. Six federal police agents were injured in the confrontation.
A Sinaloa state police commander was assassinated in his car near the El Rosario neighborhood in Mazatlan, Sinaloa state.
Jan. 30
The bodies of seven individuals were found in different parts of Guerrero state with their hands tied behind their backs and showing signs of torture.
Jorge Ochoa Martinez, the editor of El Oportuno and Despertar de la Costa Chica, was assassinated near Chilpancingo, Guerrero state.
The decapitated bodies of two individuals were discovered by members of the Mexican military in Juarez, Chihuahua state. Their heads were discovered nearby wrapped in notes left by the attackers.
Elements of the Mexico state investigative police arrested seven suspected members of La Familia Michoacana in the cities of Tejupilco and Luvianos, Mexico state.
Jan. 31
An unknown number of gunmen broke into a high school house during a party in Juarez, Chihuahua state, opened fire and killed 16 people while wounding 14. Reportedly, the gunmen attacked the wrong party.
The bodies of two blindfolded individuals were discovered outside of Acapulco, Guerrero state, along with two notes left on top of the bodies.
A group of armed men attacked and killed five individuals near the El Limoncito neighborhood in Navolato, Sinaloa state.
Copyright 2010 Stratfor.
The first month of the new year ended with 904 drug-related murders in Mexico, which makes January 2010 the deadliest month since Mexican President Felipe Calderon took office in December 2006. The last week of the month was characterized by an abnormally high number of beheadings, 12, which took place throughout the country. The second and third most violent days during Calderon's term in office also occurred in January 2010, with 52 drug-related deaths on the first day of the month and 46 drug-related deaths on Jan. 29.
Chihuahua has been the most violent state in Mexico for more than two years, and in January 2010 it accounted for more than one-third of all the drug-related deaths during the month with 327, including the deaths of 16 individuals (many of them teenagers) at a high school house party in Ciudad Juarez that was a case of mistaken identity and location. The violence in Juarez stems from the ongoing conflict between the Sinaloa and Juarez cartels over control of the Juarez Valley trafficking route into the United States. The federal government shifted strategies Jan. 13 when it deployed the federal police as the primary force against the cartels in the urban areas of northern Chihuahua state. While the effects of this change will not likely be felt in the short term, authorities hope the federal police, with their higher level of investigative skill, will eventually be able to root out the causes of the violence in that part of Mexico.
Throughout 2009, Sinaloa state reportedly did not have more than 100 drug-related deaths in any given month, but that changed in January 2010, with 169 drug-related murders in the state. Previously, the deadliest month in Sinaloa was July 2008, with 139 deaths as a result of the conflict between the newly separated BLO and Sinaloa cartels, which began battling each other for control of marijuana fields and trafficking routes in the state.
The violence taking place there now can be largely attributed to local gangs backed by BLO and Sinaloa, which are still battling each other for control of domestic drug markets, mostly in the Culiacan-Navolato metropolitan area. Additionally, Sinaloa is home to several rival Mexican drug-trafficking leaders, such as Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman Loera, Vicente Carrillo Fuentes, Hector Beltran Leyva and the Arellano Felix family. This is, in part, why Sinaloa has been traditionally one of the most violent states in Mexico; many cartel leaders lay claim to at least some portion of the state, regardless of their organizations' primary areas of operation.
With violence continuing to soar, Calderon and Public Security Secretary Genaro Garcia Luna have come under increasing political pressure to reduce the violence to a politically acceptable level. Despite the mounting pressure, however, Calderon and Garcia Luna have yet to deviate from their overall plan, though STRATFOR sources in the Mexican government indicate that the change in strategy in Juarez is a test for a possible shift in strategy nationwide. Still, the accelerating levels of violence in Mexico show no signs of slowing in the foreseeable future.
(click here to view interactive map)
Jan. 25
A firefight erupted between gunmen and soldiers on the border of Nuevo Leon and Coahuila states, leaving four gunmen and two soldiers dead.
Four days after the disappearance of Veracruz city official Nayeli Reyes Santos, his body was found dismembered in Veracruz, Veracruz state. Los Zetas were implicated in the murder.
Members of the Mexican military seized 80 centimeters of detonation cord, seven satchels of explosives, 160 kilograms of marijuana and several rounds of ammunition.
Jan. 26
Federal police detained four suspected hit men associated with Sinaloa cartel leader Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman Loera. The four were detained in a safe house not far from the Ojinaga-Bahia de Kino highway near Gran Molino, Chihuahua state.
Mexican soldiers surrounded the University Hospital in Guadalupe, Nuevo Leon state, after the target of a suspected Los Zetas assassination attempt was transported there.
Jan. 27
The head of a decapitated body was discovered by authorities in Quiroga, Michoacan state, near the town's main square. Authorities located the decapitated body sitting upright at a nearby bus station.
Members of the Mexican military raided two suspected safe houses in Cuernavaca, Morelos state, and arrested 10 suspected members of a kidnapping gang.
Soldiers located and destroyed a synthetic drug laboratory near the Michoacan-Jalisco state border and arrested six suspects.
Jan. 28
Two female officers of the Uruapan police department were abducted by unknown assailants.
The Quiroga police chief and two officers were executed in front of a local high school in Quiroga, Michoacan state.
The quartered remains of an unknown individual were discovered in two black plastic bags near Morelia, Michoacan state.
Local authorities discovered four bodies at various locations around Mazatlan, Sinaloa state. The victims had been shot several times.
Jan. 29
Authorities found six human heads near the city of Apatzingan, Michoacan state. The decapitated bodies were found later in the day on the other side of the city with the letter "Z" carved into their chests.
The body of a commander of the Teloloapan municipal police department who had been kidnapped a day earlier was found mutilated, showing signs of torture and several gunshot wounds.
Federal police engaged in a firefight with gunmen near Maravatio, Michoacan state, near the border with Mexico state. Six federal police agents were injured in the confrontation.
A Sinaloa state police commander was assassinated in his car near the El Rosario neighborhood in Mazatlan, Sinaloa state.
Jan. 30
The bodies of seven individuals were found in different parts of Guerrero state with their hands tied behind their backs and showing signs of torture.
Jorge Ochoa Martinez, the editor of El Oportuno and Despertar de la Costa Chica, was assassinated near Chilpancingo, Guerrero state.
The decapitated bodies of two individuals were discovered by members of the Mexican military in Juarez, Chihuahua state. Their heads were discovered nearby wrapped in notes left by the attackers.
Elements of the Mexico state investigative police arrested seven suspected members of La Familia Michoacana in the cities of Tejupilco and Luvianos, Mexico state.
Jan. 31
An unknown number of gunmen broke into a high school house during a party in Juarez, Chihuahua state, opened fire and killed 16 people while wounding 14. Reportedly, the gunmen attacked the wrong party.
The bodies of two blindfolded individuals were discovered outside of Acapulco, Guerrero state, along with two notes left on top of the bodies.
A group of armed men attacked and killed five individuals near the El Limoncito neighborhood in Navolato, Sinaloa state.
Copyright 2010 Stratfor.