Editor’s note: This report is an analysis of the Beltran-Leyva Brothers cartel. This assessment will focus on the current state of the cartel, as well as the efforts of Mexican activist groups to address growing cartel violence.
Highlights
-The truce between the Beltran-Leyva cartel and the Sinaloa cartel unlikely to last
-Vigilante activity will increase as citizens become more frustrated with the failure of law enforcement efforts
-Widespread corruption likely to offset troop deployments intended to stem violence
According to recent news reports, trafficking chiefs in the state of Sinaloa agreed last month to curb their bloody rivalry – since then, killings have declined sharply in the area. According to Ricodoce, a weekly periodical from the state of Sinaloa, a meeting brought together top-level representatives of the so-called Sinaloa cartel, run by Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, and the group commanded by the Beltran Leyva brothers. Even if true, the truce is likely only temporary and we exhibit killing to return to the state
The Beltran Boys
Brothers Alfredo and Arturo Beltran-Leyva originally worked for the Sinaloa cartel under Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman. However, while working for the group, Alfredo Beltran-Leyva was arrested and it was suspected that Guzman provided law enforcement with the information that led to Alfredo’s arrest. The Beltran-Leyva brothers subsequently separated from the Sinaloa cartel and formed their own organization, in which they allied themselves with Sinaloa rivals the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas.
Recent Arrests
While news of the truce suggests killings in the area may decrease in the coming weeks, government officials have made their own inroads into the cartels’ operations.
•Geronimo Garcia: Garcia was responsible for the logistics and financing for the Beltran-Leyva cartel and was responsible for the acquisition of high-quality cocaine from Colombia. Garcia was arrested in February 2009.
•Enrique Gain: Although Gain was a relatively low-level operator; his arrest provided significant insight into the sophistication, funding and capabilities of the Beltran-Leyva cartel. Gain was responsible for drug smuggling operations in Guerrero state.
Current Situation
Currently, the Beltran-Leyva organization is aligned with both The Gulf Cartel and the Zetas organizations. The Beltran-Leyva cartel is one of the major smugglers of cocaine from Colombia to the United States, as well as a major supplier for marijuana smuggled into the United States from Mexico. The Beltran-Leyva cartel, along with the Gulf Cartel’s enforcement arm, the Zetas, are currently engaged in territorial wars, primarily against Joaquin Guzman, for control of the northern border states of Mexico. The border states are strategic territory for smuggling operations, as they are key smuggling points to markets in the United States.
However, in January 2009, reports from local media outlets in Mexico indicated an agreement between the cartels may have been signed. Supporting this assertion is the radical change in statistics on murders that have taken place in the area – a mere 40 murders were recorded in January, versus 120 in December.
Local investigative journalists in the region reported that the alleged truce was established in a meeting on December 11, 2008, in a secret room of an up-scale restaurant in Culiacan. Additionally, a second meeting allegedly took place where agreements were reached to halt gun battles and ambushes. However, contract killings already in progress were allowed to continue, according to local reports.
The suspected truce is not an unprecedented measure for organized crime groups in the region, especially “El Chapo”, who arranged a similar agreement with the Gulf Cartel in 2007. The agreements are normally short-lived, and are intended to salvage profits and personnel rather than to establish peace. We expect the current truce to be in the same vein as the 2007 agreement.
Vigilante Response
On January 20, 2009, Mexican media reported that vigilante groups were assembling across the US-Mexico border to take action against the rising violence and extortion from drug trafficking gangs vying for drug routes to US markets. A group in Ciudad Juarez, called the “Juarez Citizens Command”, recently pledged to “clean the city of these criminals” by killing a trafficker every 24 hours. The group announced its mission in a news release via e-mail which stated that it is better to kill a “bad person” than to have them continue, “contaminating the region.” The group claimed to be non-partisan and funded by local businessmen who stated they are tired of the violence that in 2008 alone killed over 1,600 people in Juarez.
Rivaling cartels, namely the drug gang La Familia, have also participated in several vigilante-type activities. The leader of the La Familia’s public relations arm, a man known as “El Tio”, has stated that a principal goal for the group is to remove the “scourge” of methamphetamine from the state, as Michoacan remains a center of methamphetamine production for Mexico.
La Familia routinely targets Joaquin “El Chapo,” “Shorty” Guzman and the Beltran-Leyva brothers who control the Sinaloa cartel’s interests in Culiacan, Sonora and Monterrey respectively. While the group continues to traffic cocaine, heroin and marijuana, it is against methamphetamine production and addiction, as that particular drug has had negative impact on its own communities.
Outlook
The Beltran-Leyva cartel is rapidly becoming one of the most powerful drug cartels operating in Mexico, and will likely continue operations to cultivate, produce and smuggle drugs to the United States, in addition to maintaining its ties with the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas in the medium to long-term. Further, the current truce is unlikely to last between the warring groups as both likely intend to salvage profits and personnel rather than establish lasting peace.
Recently, President Calderon sent 45,000 troops to the border to attempt to stem the growing violence in the region. However, we believe the Beltran-Leyva organization will continue to expand its operations, despite pressures from security forces and rival cartels, as security personnel are targeted just as frequently as other individuals in the area. As a result, profits from continued drug operations will be used to procure military grade weapons, pay off corrupt Mexican government officials and hit men to carry out contract killings. Despite high-profile arrests of government officials linked to the cartels, we do not forsee any significant reduction in violence in the near-term.
•Noe Ramirez, who was the chief of SIEDO – Mexico’s principal federal agency in the country’s war against drugs – until July of 2008, was detained by authorities in February 2009 for allegedly receiving $450,000 for passing secrets to the Sinaloa cartel. Two other anti-drug agents were also jailed in 2008 for receiving $500,000 in bribes from the Beltran organization.
Corruption that rises to this level of government is endemic in Mexico and will permit drug cartels to continue their operations despite the efforts of President Calderon to stem violence in the region.
