The Mexican Drug Cartel

Hole of Justice

By Peter G. Jimenea

 

The Mexican Drug Cartel

Mexico to date, doesn’t run out of bad news that Acapulco, its iconic beach resort that has been working for a comeback in recent years was greatly affected. Officials say they are trying hard, but it is still moving in snail pace due to drug war.

Gunfights have been taking place in the seaside neighborhood of homes frequented by Mexicans, situated from main strip of tourists complexes that guests were evacuated from the nearby hotels. No tourists, however, was known to have been caught in the crossfire.

The specter of Mexico's drug war has spilled into the country's best-known resort spots - Acapulco. It is a fresh blow to tourism industry that was hit hard by a swine-flu outbreak and the previous worries about escalating drug-related violence.

A reported in Los Angeles Times, the zone that offers budget motels, scenic views and once favored by Hollywood stars such as "Tarzan" actor Johnny Weissmuller, who co-owned Los Flamingos Hotel with John Wayne, is now hardly visited by foreign tourists.

“Yes, there was fear on the part of guests. The shooting is not always close to us but can be heard from the Hotel Paraiso and you can see the movement of soldiers," hotel spokesman Ruben Morales said. "That frightened people who live here and tourists, of course."

Tourism has taken a beating after the outbreak in late April of the H1N1 flu virus. It shut down the country for weeks. Tourism Minister Rodolfo Elizondo said the downturn due to the flu had cost Mexico 100,000 jobs and $4 billion this year.

The flu episode only aggravated damage caused by travelers' concerns over drug-related violence that killed more than 36,000 people since December 2006, when Mexican President Felipe Calderon announced a crackdown on organized crime.

In Abasolo, a Northeastern Mexican town, seven police officers killed while transporting two prisoners in Western Mexico on Monday. They were ambushed but the Tamaulipas state government has released no details. The media often ignore this report of violence.

The known drug cartels in Mexico are the Zetas of Tamaulipas, Juarez of northern state of Chuhuahua, the Beltran Leyva of Acapulco-Padilla and the Tijuana based Arellano Felix drug gang. Reports say they have a pact of non-aggression with the police. But a Mexican drug expert Jorge Chabat said the pact is hard to corroborate.

The four have one common enemy, the powerful Sinaloa Cartel led by Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, one of the worlds most wanted drug lords. The Beltran Leyvas were once part of the Sinaloa Cartel and bitter enemies of the Zetas. But since splitting from the Sinaloa the Leyvas gang has struggled to survive.

The Zetas were once hit-men but become a potent gang in their own right after learning that the Sinaloa gang and the Gulf cartel made a pact to destroy them. Their violent character has made them a fast rising power from northeastern Mexico to Central America.

But Marcos Carmona Hernandez 29, leader of the Zetas was arrested. His predecessor, Flavio Mendez Santiago was earlier apprehended on Jan. 7. Hernandez is suspected of several kidnappings and murders and said to have the collaboration of corrupt state and municipal police.

President Calderon has brought down a number of cartel bosses since he declared war against illegal drugs. But violence soared when gangs splintered and become aggressive. Mexican officials said the splinter of Arellano Felix Gang has allowed the Sinaloa to penetrate an inroad to the City of Tijuana, thus, become the most powerful Mexican drug cartel to date.