New Generation Cartel Jalisco

After the death in July 2010 of drug lord Ignacio Coronel Villarreal, his followers began to suspect the Sinaloa cartel of betrayal and moved away from the Guzman group to create a new cartel, and took part in the formation of the new generation Jalisco Cartel. Some members of the Sinaloa cartel left the organization, formed the La Resistencia group, and entered into a short-term alliance with Los Setas. Also, some members of the Milenio cartel (a breakaway group from the Sinaloa cartel in 1999) participated in the formation of the New Generation Jalisco Cartel . The founders of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel were Nemesio Osegera Ramos, Eric Valencia and Martin Arsola Ortega.

In June 2009, Mexican authorities discovered the bodies of three men in an abandoned truck in a residential area in Cancun ( Quintana Roo ). Together with their remains, a message was found:

We are the new Mata Zetas group, we are against kidnapping and extortion, and we will fight them in all states for a cleaner Mexico.

- The new generation cartel of Jalisco (Los Mata Zetas)

The victims were associated with those people who were shown on a YouTube video during their interrogation by masked men armed with machine guns. Many videos confirmed the existence of the New Generation Cartel, Jalisco, which then sought to kill members of the Golfo and Los Setas cartel . In a video filmed by the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, the captured cartel members admitted their criminal activities and revealed the names of the police chiefs and politicians who provided them with protection. On July 1, 2009, an unknown person called SIEDO government agency and said that members of the Los Setas cartel would be kidnapped and killed in Cancun and Veracruz.

In the spring of 2011, the New Generation Cartel, Jalisco, declared war on all other Mexican cartels and announced its intention to take control of the city of Guadalajara. However, by mid-summer, the group seemed to be reunited with its former partners, the Sinaloa cartel. In addition to an alliance with the Golfo Cartel to counter Los Setas, the Sinaloa Cartel entered into an alliance with the Templar Cartel in Michoacán in 2011. And to counter Los Setas in the state of Jalisco, the Sinaloa cartel entered into an alliance with the Jalisco New Generation Cartel.

September 20, 2011 in a tunnel near a shopping center in Boca del Rio ( Veracruz ), two trucks were discovered, in which there were 35 corpses. Presumably, all those killed were members of Los Setas, but it was later proved that only six were involved in minor crimes, and none of them was associated with organized crime. Some victims had their hands tied and signs of torture visible.

At about 5 p.m., cartel participants in cars blocked the largest avenue in Boca del Rio. As soon as traffic stopped, armed militants stopped two trucks in the middle of the highway. They pulled thirty-five corpses from the trucks. Other militants at that time kept car drivers at gunpoint. Then the cartel participants fled the scene, and frightened drivers started calling on mobile phones and sending messages on Twitter, warning other drivers to avoid this area.

Together with the corpses, the cartel members left a written message stating that they would kill the Los Setas cartel members and politicians who help them in Veracruz. Also in the message, they called on residents of Veracruz not to pay extortionists and announced that “this territory has a new owner.”

On September 27, 2011, CJNG released a video, confirming that they committed the massacre. The video showed five men in ski masks and black clothes. They apologized for the massacre in Veracruz, but reiterated their intentions to fight Los Setas. The man with the microphone stated that the Matazetas are “warriors without faces, but proud Mexicans,” and that their goal is to destroy Los Setas. Also, cartel members said they were “an armed detachment of the Mexican people.” They claimed that they respected the Mexican Armed Forces and understood the government’s stance against drug cartels, understood and respected the government’s decision to refuse to negotiate with the cartels. They also criticized the politicians who defended Los Setas. In addition, they argued that Matazetas "prohibits extortion, kidnapping, stealing, abuse of office, or doing anything that would harm the national heritage."

On October 6, 2011, 36 bodies were found by Mexican authorities in three different houses in Boca del Rio. Fleet members first discovered 20 bodies inside a house in a residential area. During searches in another house, they found 11 more bodies, in the third house one body was found. The authorities of Veracruz confirmed the discovery of 4 more bodies. The next day, Attorney General Reynaldo Escobar Pérez resigned, and another day later another 10 bodies were found in the city of Veracruz. By October 9, 2011, authorities had announced 100 killings in Veracruz in just 18 days.

Operation Veracruz

In response to the mass killings of drug cartels, the federal government launched a military operation in the state of Veracruz. In October 2011, the State of Veracruz was a disputed territory between Los Setas, the Golfo Cartel and the Sinaloa Cartel. Francisco Blake Mora, the former Minister of the Interior at the time, said the operation was carried out with five goals: 1) Deployment of the armed forces and the federal police in Veracruz to “regain control of cartel-controlled areas.” 2) create conditions for special services not only to capture cartel participants, but also destroy their financial and operational networks 3) Check the police in Veracruz to identify any possible links with cartels 4) Increase federal and state funding to strengthen security measures 5) Confirm that the government is the only organization that ensures law and order.

Attacks and massacres in Veracruz in 2012

Despite the presence of the military, on October 8, 2011, authorities discovered 7 bodies in Veracruz. On December 22, 2011, three public buses were attacked by drug cartel participants on the federal highway in Veracruz, while 16 people were killed, including three US citizens. Shortly after the shootout, which occurred early in the morning, the authorities conducted an operation to find the perpetrators, during which five militants died. The US Consulate in Matamoros has asked Americans to abandon highway travel between cities at night.

On December 23, 2011 in Alto Tampico (Veracruz), Mexican authorities discovered 10 corpses after receiving an anonymous call. The corpses were dumped on a dirt road, and all of them were handcuffed and with signs of torture, nine out of ten bodies were beheaded. Earlier, in February 2011, Saturnino Valdes Llanos, the mayor of the municipality of Tampico Alto , was abducted, a week later his body was found in a garbage dump with 10 more bodies. On December 25, 2011 near Tampico , a city on the border with Veracruz, a truck with 13 bodies was found. According to officials, the truck was from Veracruz. Authorities indicated that the massacre was related to other massacres that occurred in Veracruz. On February 9, 2012, Mexican authorities exhumed 15 bodies from secret mass graves in Akaukan (Veracruz). According to government sources, by March 2012, the level of killings in Veracruz and its surrounding areas decreased. President Felipe Calderon linked the low kill rate to the aftermath of Operation Veracruz.

On May 3, 2012, three photojournalists who reported on crimes in Veracruz were killed in Boca del Rio, their bodies were dumped into the canal. The three journalists had previously fled from Veracruz after receiving threats in 2011 . Over the previous eighteen months, 7 journalists were killed in Veracruz. Following the arrest of several cartel members, authorities in August 2012 confirmed that the CJNG was responsible for the killing of five journalists in Veracruz.

On November 23, 2011, a total of 26 corpses were found in several abandoned cars in Sinaloa (16 of them were burned). The incident began in the early hours of the morning in Kulikan (Sinaloa) with the discovery of a burning car. When the police managed to extinguish the flames, they found burnt bodies in the passenger compartment. All the victims were handcuffed. Anonymous calls later notified the police about another burnt car in the northern part of Kulikan. In this car, 4 corpses were found in body armor and handcuffs. During the night, 10 more bodies were found in Sinaloa.

These killings were allegedly committed by Los Setas in response to the CJNG massacres in Veracruz. This penetration of Los Setas into the territory of the Sinaloa cartel demonstrates the ability of Los Setas to attack the center of the territories of these cartels.

Guadalajara Massacre

November 24, 2011 on the avenue in Guadalajara (Jalisco), three trucks were found, in which there were 26 bodies of men. Around 19:00, the Guadalajara police received numerous anonymous calls from civilians reporting that several vehicles with more than 10 bodies were found on the largest avenue. Arriving at the place, the police found a green Dodge Caravan in a highway lane, and about 20 meters from it was a white Nissan Caravan. There was a van in the farthest right lane. Los Setas and the Milenio Cartel are reportedly responsible for the massacre of these alleged twenty-six Sinaloa cartel members. In addition, in November 2011, three members of the Milenio cartel were arrested on suspicion of the massacre of these twenty-six people. Authorities concluded that only six out of twenty-six killed had a criminal record, and ten more were reported as missing. Among those killed were small businesses, a cook, a mechanic, a dentist, a truck driver and a painter.

According to several relatives, several people were abducted by force by a group of well-armed men. One witness said armed men in two trucks abducted several teenagers while they were drinking soda in front of the store. The family of one of the abductees admitted that this man was a teenager without flaws or problems, and that the version that he was a member of the cartel is unfair and false. Other families claimed that their relatives had no problems with anyone and were honest workers. However, when members of the cartel were arrested and interrogated by the authorities, they claimed that those killed were not innocent victims and were participants in Los Torcidos (another name for the Jalisco New Generation Cartel). Cartel members also said that they did not torture their victims. One of the killers admitted that he was planning to leave the criminal organization, but other members of the group threatened him with death if he did so.

Authorities concluded that the massacre was almost an exact copy of what happened two months earlier in Veracruz. Investigators noted that the massacre was a response to the killings committed by the New Generation Cartel of Jalisco against Los Setas in Veracruz.

On March 9, 2012, one of the founders of the organization, Eric Valencia Salazar, was captured by the Mexican army along with a senior cartel lieutenant in Guadalajara. More than 30 machine guns, grenades and cartridges were confiscated from them. Anticipating the seizure, cartel members organized more than ten blockades throughout the city. 26 petrol buses were burned and then used to block city streets. Felipe Calderon , President of Mexico, congratulated the Mexican army on the capture of Eric Valencia Salazar.

On March 18, 2012, José Guadalupe Serna Padilla, another senior cartel lieutenant, was detained along with another member of the organization. On April 15, 2012 in Veracruz, together with five associates, was detained Marco Antonio Reyes, who is considered the head of the cartel’s fighters. The arrests also led to the capture of three other cartel members, including the head of cartel operations in the cities of Veracruz and Boca del Rio.

• InterAmerican Security Watch. January 26, 2012. Retrieved March 9, 2012 - “Polarization and Sustained Violence in Mexico's Cartel War”
• Borderland Beat - “Mexico Nabs Boss of Cartel Linked to“ Chapo “Guzman”