Mexican Police Notice More Guatemalans Joining Cartels
Law enforcement officials are beginning to notice larger numbers of Central Americans recruited into the ranks of Mexican cartels.
One instance occurred last week in Guerrero when a team of six gunmen tried to ambush a squad of state and federal authorities, the state government recently announced. A cell phone video shows the moment when the gunmen shout triumphantly as they attack the police convoy. The recording captures in detail the attack as police forces retreat.
The video does not capture when the police flank the gunmen and arrest them. Two shooters were identified as 24-year-old “Hector” and 25-year-old “Jose Rodin,” both from Guatemala. The four other men were identified as locals from Guerrero. Authorities seized multiple machine guns, rifles, ammunition, and tactical gear.
Breitbart News obtained law enforcement information from the statements made by the two Guatemalan suspects to law enforcement, which reveal they were staying in the Central Mexican state of Puebla and were hired in November to join the Familia Michoacán Cartel. The two men were promised a weekly salary of $5,000 pesos and were deployed Guerrero, a region where the Familia is in a turf war with Cartel Jalisco New Generation (CJNG).
The arrest of the two Guatemalan hitmen comes soon after Diego Sinhue Rodriguez Vallejo, the Governor of Guanajuato, announced the arrests of 20 Guatemalans with organized crime ties in a three-month span. Two of the suspects are former special forces better known as “Kaibiles.” In each arrest, authorities seized multiple machine guns and stolen vehicles.
Editor’s Note: Breitbart Texas traveled to the Mexican States of Tamaulipas, Coahuila, Nuevo León, and other areas to recruit citizen journalists willing to risk their lives and expose the cartels silencing their communities. Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles are published in both English and in their original Spanish. This article was written by Jose Luis Lara, a former leading member who helped start the Self-Defense Movement in Michoacán.