Thread: Mexico: Cartels team up to destroy hit-men gang

Mexico: Cartels team up to destroy hit-men gang

Apr. 12, 2010 11:23 AM
Associated Press .

MEXICO CITY - Two Mexican drug cartels have joined forces to destroy a feared gang of hit men along the border with Texas, a shift in allegiances that is fueling drug-war violence, federal police said Monday.

Intelligence reports indicate the Gulf and La Familia cartels - formerly bitter rivals - have formed an alliance to fight the Zetas gang in the Mexican border state of Tamaulipas, said Ramon Pequeno, the head of the anti-narcotics division of Mexico's federal police.

It was the first official confirmation of the alliance, which has been rumored since banners appeared throughout the region announcing the pact and warning residents not to leave their homes, saying the conflict would get worse. E-mails were also sent with the same message.

The campaign to wipe out the Zetas has raised fears of open warfare in Tamaulipas, with armed men throwing up roadblocks around army garrisons and ambushing military patrols, brazen tactics that experts say are meant to get soldiers out of the way of the turf war.

Mexico has deployed tens of thousands of troops to the border and other regions to combat drug trafficking groups, an effort backed by U.S. intelligence work and aid. Gang violence has surged despite the three-year-old deployment, claiming more than 18,000 lives since 2006.

Last weekend, assailants threw a grenade at the U.S. consulate in Nuevo Laredo, a city across the border from Laredo, Texas. Nobody was hurt.

On Monday, the State Department extended until May 12 the authorized departure of relatives of U.S. government employees from consulates in Nuevo Laredo and five other border cities - an indication that Washington does not expect the violence to subside soon.

La Familia, whose stronghold is in the Pacific coast state of Michoacan, has sent a large number of members across the country to Tamaulipas to help the Gulf cartel, Pequeno said.

He spoke at a news conference to announce the arrest of three alleged members of La Familia, a brutal gang known for beheading its rivals and staging bold attacks against federal police in Michoacan. One of the three suspects confirmed the alliance to police, Pequeno said.

Mexican and U.S. authorities previously confirmed a break between the Gulf and the Zetas, which once was the enforcement arm of the Gulf cartel.

The feud escalated when a member of the Zetas was killed in January in Reynosa, a city across the border from McAllen, Texas. Battles ensued when the Gulf cartel refused to hand over the man responsible.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/ ... am-up.html

If the 5 or 6 largest cartels team up they can't completely take over Mexico in less than 6 months.

Wow! I just had a great idea! Why don't we close the borders and send the National Guard to help the border patrol?
I guess that would be highly insulting to Mexico, and it sure would tick off private business that needs cheap labor. After all, what is more important than national security: campaign contributions!