Soldiers dismantle telecom network used by Mexican traffickers
Published October 31, 2011
Mexico City - Soldiers seized communications equipment being used by drug traffickers in Reynosa, a border city in the northeastern Mexican state of Tamaulipas, the army said.
The telecommunications gear was seized on Oct. 11 and Oct. 25 by army patrols, the 4th Military Region command said, without identifying the criminal organization operating the network.
A total of 21 antennas, 22 repeaters, 18 duplexers, eight filters and three transceivers were seized.
The telecom network was dismantled as part of the government's "Operation Northeast" targeting drug traffickers and other organized crime groups, the army said.
Marines dismantled an encrypted communications network last month being used by the Los Zetas drug cartel in 10 cities in the Gulf state of Veracruz.
The network employed 12 antennas, computers, radio transmitters, scanners, thousands of feet of cable, cell phones, decoders and solar panels.
The Gulf cartel and Los Zetas have been waging a brutal turf war in Tamaulipas that has left hundreds of people dead since last year.
The two drug trafficking organizations are trying to gain control of smuggling routes into the United States.
...
A total of 15,270 people died in drug-related violence in Mexico last year, and more than 40,000 people have died since President Felipe Calderon declared war on the country's cartels shortly after taking office in December 2006.
Comment: While it is understandable people should be concerned about vigilante killings, what is the alternative when the government of Mexico and its police forces are corrupt or inept? Vigilante groups can serve as a temporary stabilizer and/or change agent until something more functional can operate in the open without being targeted. In the meantime however, it is wise for Mexicans to fights from the shadows until they can stabilize their local areas enough to where it is safe for police forces to resurface without being targeted for killing and/or bribes.
No, the vigilante effort is not perfect, it’s a band aid. Had Mexico addressed the worsening plight of the people starting in the early days of the drug war in the 80s, we might not be looking at such a situation.
So, regarding who is behind the killings? That’s not important right now as the people’s security must come first, but the people of Mexico must develop an understanding of their protectors so they do not go into thermal runaway.
One cannot blame Mexicans for going this route, they are like any other human being, they are addicted to living and protecting their families. To be successful, the Mexicans need to disrupt the psychological grip the cartels have over the people by fighting back. The article below shows how they are doing this.
The only effective forces in Mexico at this time are the Mexicans willing to fight back, and the military. The government…so so.
Excerpts:
Shadowy group says it targets cartel; some in Veracruz are glad
MEXICO UNDER SIEGE
It is a sign of the desperation and outrage over drug-war violence that the vigilantes are not only tolerated but welcomed. But there is a disturbing question: Just who is behind their killings?
Suspected members of the Zetas drug gang are escorted this month for public… (Bernardo Montoya / Reuters)
October 19, 2011|By Tracy Wilkinson, Los Angeles Times
Reporting from Veracruz, Mexico — The callers to the radio program were voicing their support for the Matazetas, the Zeta killers.
Better they fight among themselves. Let them kill each other. Anything to rid us of the thugs who long ago took control of our city and are slaughtering our people.
It is a sign of the desperation and deep outrage over surging drug-war violence that a shadowy group of vigilante killers is not only tolerated but welcomed by many here in Mexico's third-most populous state.
In videotaped presentations, a group of masked men with military bearing has claimed responsibility for the spate of killings, portraying it as a cleansing operation. Many of the bodies had a "Z" for Zeta written on the back with ink marker, a witness said.
The mystery group announced that it was in Veracruz state as "the armed branch of the people, and for the people."
"We are asking officials and authorities who support the Zetas to stop doing so, and let the armed forces know that our only objective is to finish the Zetas," the spokesman for the group told the camera. "We are anonymous warriors, without faces, proudly Mexican."
…
Their sudden rise and the surgical precision with which the killers systematically picked off nearly 100 people in 17 days has led to conjecture among some people that they may be operating with implicit or direct support of the government or military. Some suggest that the June kidnapping, torture and killing of three marine cadets in Veracruz might have propelled the marine corps to begin acting outside the law. Officials dismiss such speculation, and others wonder why a group aspiring to be a clandestine death squad would post videos on YouTube.
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In the Michoacan case, the federal government tried, and failed, to prosecute several officials for their ties to La Familia. And Fernandez, a member of Calderon's political faction, was eventually reined in, or at least quieted, by party elders.
 | Vigilant Citizens: Vigilantism and the State |
Below is a copy of the source page:
Threat Posed by Mounting Vigilantism in Mexico
Authored by Dr. George W. Grayson.
- Added September 15, 2011
- Type: Monograph
- 75 Pages
- Download Format: PDF
- Cost: Free
Brief Synopsis
Until the 1980s, Mexico enjoyed relative freedom from violence. Ruthless drug cartels existed, but they usually abided by informal rules of conduct hammered out between several capos and representatives of the dominant Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), which ruled the country until the 1990s. Relying on bribes, the desperados pursued their illicit activities with the connivance of authorities. In return for the legal authorities turning a blind eye, drug dealers behaved discretely, shunned high-tech weapons, deferred to public figures, spurned kidnapping, and even appeared with governors at their children’s weddings. Unlike their Colombian counterparts, Mexico’s barons did not seek elective office. In addition, they did not sell drugs within the country, corrupt children, target innocent people, engage in kidnapping, or invade the turf or product-line (marijuana, heroin, cocaine, etc.) of competitors. The situation was sufficiently fluid so that should a local police or military unit refuse to cooperate with a cartel, the latter would simply transfer its operations to a nearby municipality where they could clinch the desired arrangement. Three key events in the 1980s and 1990s changed the “live and let live” ethos that enveloped illegal activities. Mexico became the new avenue for Andean cocaine shipped to the United States after the U.S. military and law-enforcement authorities sharply reduced its flow into Florida and other South Atlantic states. The North American Free Trade Agreement, which took effect on January 1, 1994, greatly increased economic activities throughout the continent. Dealers often hid cocaine and other drugs among the merchandise that moved northward through Nuevo Laredo, El Paso, Tijuana, and other portals. The change in routes gave rise to Croesus-like profits for cocaine traffickers--a phenomenon that coincided with an upsurge of electoral victories. Largely unexamined amid this narco-mayhem are vigilante activities. With federal resources aimed at drug traffickers and local police more often a part of the problem than a part of the solution, vigilantes are stepping into the void. Suspected criminals who run afoul of these vigilantes endure the brunt of a skewed version of justice that enjoys a groundswell of support.
Source: Threat Posed by Mounting Vigilantism in Mexico
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