Año Nuevo de la Segunda Guerra

Federación de Sinaloa Divide

If you thought that it was all love, unicorns and rainbows within the Sinaloa Federation Narcotics Cartel, you'd be wrong.  

The biggest personal loser for the New Year's Narco War might be Gonzalo Inzunza Inzunza (Macho Prieto). His nephew, El Cholo was assassinated in Sinaloa, his brother was gunned down in Nogales and his cousin, El Celasar, was murdered in Sonorita, SON. Then again, he might not care much about the family. Gonzalo has always been a narcissist.

The Sinaloa Federation now has two factions at war with each other. And you can't tell the players without a program.

Faction #1 Leadership

Joaquin Guzman Loera (El Chapo)

Ismael Zambada Garcia (El Mayo)

Juan Jose Esparragoza Moreno (El Azul)

Allied with: 

Arellano Felix Organization, which the USGOV declared to be non-existent but just captured San Luis Rey de Colorado (across the US Border from Yuma) two days ago from Faction #2.

Los Caballeros Templarios, which used to be La Familia Michoacan, which MEXGOV declared to be non-existent but they've been marching steadily from Michoacan, through Colima and into Jalisco (headquarters of Faction #2). LCT has four thousand armed men in the field (trained to the spray and pray level), which isn't half bad for an organization that MEXGOV destroyed.

Faction #2 Leadership

Ruben Osegevera Cervantes (El Mencho)

Gonzalo Inzunza Inzunza (Macho Prieto)

They don't seem to have many allies, but they are taking some key players from the old Sinaloa Federation including most of the Manuel Torres Felix's (M-1) organization. Torres is in custody, but you will recall that he worked for Macho Prieto so his people are expected to fall into line behind this cartel.

Where are La Gran Fuerzas de Mexico (Mexican Army)? Glad you asked. They seem to be sitting on the sidelines, eating chicharones, and waiting to see who wins. It's not a bad strategy.

Yes the coffin and funeral business in Mexico is thriving.
It's clearly been a growth industry over the past six years.

The Mexican press is covering some of the major shoot outs, but they also miss some big ones. That may be because they don't have enough surviving journalists to cover it all because the war is widespread throughout Western and Northern Mexico. There was a two-hour gunfight between Faction #1 and Faction #2 yesterday in Cuidad Guzman, JAL and not a peep about it in the newspapers - not even in Zeta, and they're generally quite reliable.

The Livable, Lovable, Port of Veracruz

The Sinaloa Federation is a practical organization. When you intend to take over a major hub or region, it's better to simply flip the current warlord to your team than it is to try and install somebody from outside (Sinaloa) than it is to keep the figurehead in place where he is. 

It's been over a year now since SEDENA assaulted Veracruz (very effectively) and drove out Los Zetas (circa September/October 2011). Within two weeks, the Sinaloa Federation moved in and installed the formerly #3 in the Los Zetas command structure as their man in Veracruz. Sure, Rafael Acosta Croda has people keeping an eye on him, but life is good. The police leave him alone. The Army leaves him alone, the politicians tip their hats to him and all is well with the world.

Rafael Acosta Croda - and one of his wives.

The drugs move through the port of Veracruz with the occasional seizure to insure that MEXGOV authorities take credit for their vigilance. [usually somebody else's dope - rarely is a load belonging to Gonzalo Inzunza Inzunza (Macho Prieto) bagged] DEA has been wondering how all of the drugs are moving through the East Coast. This is one route. There are others.

Zeta one day, Sinaloa Federation the next. Expedient moves are necessary for survival. But sometimes it's tough for USGOV to keep up with the program.

How Narcos use C-TPAT to their Advantage

Yuma Regional Update

M1 and M2 - Compadres

A narco cell belonging to the Sinaloa Federation operating in the area bounded (generally) by Peñasco, SON and Sonoyta, SON, that is part Ismael Zambada Garcia's (El Mayo) faction is actively looking to purchase between sixty and one hundred fully automatic AK-47 (7.62x39 caliber) weapons. It's part of the aftermath that's come as a result of the arrest of Manuel Torres Felix (M-1). Manuel Torres worked under Gonzalo Inzunza Inzunza (Macho Prieto) and ran the Mexicali Plaza. Nature abhors a vacuum and the same is true of narcotics territories. 

As a result of the build up of El Mayo's cell, the San Luis Rio Colorado/Yuma, Arizona US Port of Entry is seeing an increase of narcotics traffic. Methamphetamine, marijuana and some cocaine is crossing. The friction between Macho Prieto and El Mayo is increasing as a result. It's interesting to note that this particular turf/region is also claimed and used heavily by the Beltran Leyva Organization and Fausto Isidro Meza (Chapo Isidro) in particular. There don't seem to be many tunnels in play. It comes across the border by body-pack and across at the ports of entry.

C-TPAT - The Narco's Friend

The US Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism is a key strategy of US Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

CBP is one of the Department of Homeland Security’s largest and most complex components, with a priority mission of keeping terrorists and their weapons out of the U.S. It also has a responsibility for securing the border and facilitating lawful international trade and travel while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws and regulations, including immigration and drug laws.

About C-TPAT

Essentially this is how the narcos (primarily Los Caballeros Templarios or LCT) use C-TPAT to their advantage: Much of the avocado and mango crop from Mexico is shipped to the US from only a few regions (as a matter of agreement and law between Mexico and the USA). Agricultural products are brought from the fields to C-TPAT approved facilities where both US Customs and the US Department of Agriculture inspects the loads. They then put a C-TPAT seal on the rear loading doors of the trailer holding agriculture.

The truck and trailer(s) depart for the US Border under official US Government seal. Usually with ten minutes of leaving the facility where they were certified, the rear doors are lifted from their hinges by the use of a fork lift (seal intact). The produce is off-loaded and put in another truck. The (certified) produce trailer is filled with narcotics products. The sealed doors are replaced and the trailer is driven from the Mexican interior to the US Border region including the city of Peñasco (see Yuma Regional Update above). Having transited Mexico with their sealed and certified load, the rear doors are again lifted from their hinges, the produce is replaced and the narcotics crosses the border in broken up loads. That means some of it might come in through the C-TPAT certified load of produce, and it's also body packed over the border and brought across ports of entry by other means.

While CBP is proud of their expensive and lauded program, the only thing that it does in this scenario is to facilitate the shipment of narcotics over a thousand miles of Mexican highway. The Mexican Police will not break a USGOV applied C-TPAT seal to inspect the cargo.

A Lack of Harmony in the Sinaloa Federation

José Manuel Torres Félix is now communicating from hell - so says the narco mata (left) announcing a message from the late El Ondeado (also known as M-1), who was killed on October 13th.  Narco matas are a common sight, hanging from freeway and highway overpasses in mexico. They are anonymous messages to the public that the Mexican press might have not carried. Call if a blog, if you will.

José Manuel Torres Félix ran a cell that dealt primarily with Plaza Management, which means that he handled everything from money movement and narcotics movement to turf control. Sometimes there was a little money laundering as well. While alive, he was more or less on a par with Gonzalo Inzunza Inzunza (El Macho Prieto) in terms of ranking. 

His former subordinates, Mario Aguirre and Lamberto Verdugo feel that the big boss, Joaquin Guzman Loera (El Chapo) and the #2 man, Ismael Zambada Garcia (El Mayo) gave Torres up to the Mexican government. That is precisely what they did and the messages hanging from the overpasses in Sinaloa and Jalisco are accurate.

But what else is new. MEXGOV needs victories in the endless war on drugs and El Chapo thins the ranks of the bold, cocky and insubordinate this way with a double win. The subordinate is killed or captured (life in prison) and out of El Chapo's hair and it makes for gruesome but flamboyant headlines as MEXGOV remains on the road to victory.

http://youtu.be/7x93aqiZ51w       (Sanguinarios del M1)

Maybe it was the song? Chapo prefers that the people in Sinaloa sing songs about HIM, not his lieutenants. Maybe the song went to Torres' head? Who knows?